Track features Kirby
Grammy Award-winning legendary MC and The Roots Co-Founder Black Thought and acclaimed cinematic soul luminary El Michels Affair serve up a new single “Glorious Game” featuring singer-songwriter Kirby. It stands out as the title track of their highly anticipated collaborative LP Glorious Game out April 14th on Big Crown Records.
Bass and drums form the track’s foundation, eventually joined by beautifully spare guitar playing as Black Thought goes to work on the mic in controlled bursts of intensity, rapping about the trials of fame while being the best version of himself. He laments, “Too fake for me to waste time,” only to warn, “I’m the one-man army.” On the chorus, Kirby’s eccentrically soulful singing enriches the mellow production, both her voice and Thought’s suiting perfectly the deep instrumental work from El Michels Affair. The song is accompanied by an enthralling music video with fluid animated visuals that perfectly suit Black Thought’s effortless flow and El Michels Affair’s mellow production.
Recently, they dropped “That Girl.” The duo initially paved the way for the album with “Grateful.” Beyond tallying half-a-million streams and counting, it received widespread critical praise.
As the story goes, Black Thought and El Michels Affair founder Leon Michels initially crossed paths in the early 2000s, exhibiting mutual admiration for one another’s craft. This respect manifested on stage as they performed together at a handful of charity concerts in New York and Philadelphia. Black Thought began to occasionally pull up to the group’s studio to collaborate. During the global pandemic, he reached out to Michels for material, building the foundation for Glorious Game. Now, this 12-track hip hop soul opus layers the rapper’s elite rhyme-play and intense storytelling above cinematic soundscapes brought to life by the band.
