Run the Jewels gave a glimpse of what’s to come on their new album by sharing “The Yankee and the Brave” on Sunday. Today, they shared “Ooh LA LA,” which features the legendary DJ Premier and Greg Nice. It’s the second track from RTJ4.
On the song, the duo samples Gang Starr’s “Dwyck.”
“There’s not a lot of classic undermined golden age material that hasn’t been turned into a jam…and I’ve been plotting on this for probably the last three albums,” El-P told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe via FaceTime. “We don’t intentionally do old school music…But our influences and who we are come from an era that is very real”.
For the first time, the duo used a sample on one of their tracks. And there’s a good reason why.
“I’m going to be very honest with you Zane, this is the first one we could afford,” El-P says.
In the interview with Lowe, Killer Mike and El-P also discussed how they’re dealing with quarantining and their measured approach after the first leg of the Rage Against the Machine tour being postponed (they were set to open for the reunited rockers).
“I was already sick. I got allergies. I was disappointed we weren’t going to get on the road, but in terms of how I felt, I was already laid out anyway. So nothing much changed in terms of it,” Killer Mike said.
“For sure. And it’s really hard. Listen man, we’re really grateful to be able to get to do what we do. Run the Jewels has always been a little unpredictable. The whole ride has been crazy and we never really planned it that much. And it’s just, for me, I think the toughest thing is that we really want to share it with the people that have supported us,” El-P continued. “We love the music, we think that this is our best record. It was really exciting to us to be on the verge of being on a huge global tour with Rage Against the Machine.
“So, there are disappointments, obviously. That’s obvious, but at the end of the day, man, what the f*ck can you do? We’re just adapting and trying to be cool about it- and it’s ridiculous for people like us to really complain about the situation.”
Listen to the song below:
