Hip-hop and rock have always maintained a strange relationship as familial frenemies, but when they work together, they sometimes manage to pull off an odd couple chemistry that brings out the best in both. With that said, there’s probably no odder pairing than Watts rapper 03 Greedo and pop punk drummer Travis Barker — which is exactly why the news that the duo is putting out a collaborative EP, Meet The Drummers, is so exciting. The upcoming project was announced today along with the first single, “Cellout.” Check it out below.
Unexpectedly, “Cellout” isn’t the rap-rock hybrid you might expect from seeing those names matched up. Instead it’s a bubbly, colorful trap bop that borrows a lot from the samba-influenced soundtracks of the Super Nintendo Super Mario games, in the same vein as DRAM’s breakout single, “Cha Cha.” It’s a pretty far cry from the energetic thrash that Barker produced for Lil Nas X on 7‘s “F9mily,” but it really works and if it’s representative of the sound the rest of the EP will have, we can’t wait to hear more.
Greedo himself explained the stylistic shift in the press release for the announcement, saying: “A lot of people are gonna wonder if the EP is on some rock n roll or if it’s taking me out my element, but it’s kinda like Travis stepped into my world for this one. It’s gonna shock a lot of people when they hear it. It’s just about putting more great music out into the world. This is just a preview of the music Travis and I are about to start working on coming soon. I want him to do more production on my next solo album, and I’m sure we’ll do a full project together later on too.”
Of course, the world may have to wait for that prediction to come to fruition. Greedo is currently serving a 20-year prison bid for drug and gun possession in the state of Texas, and Drummers is the result of a feverish run of collaborative recording the rapper did ahead of turning himself in. That run also includes his most recent full-length project, Still Summer In The Projects, which was produced by Mustard. Greedo and Alamo Records president Todd Moscowitz promise plenty more in store during Greedo’s incarceration and Meet The Drummers is just a fraction of what’s to come.
Meet The Drummers is due July 5 via Alamo Records. You can pre-order it here.
