Watch Blood Orange Debut “Chewing Gum” With A$AP Rocky & Project Pat On Kimmel
A week from today, Blood Orange’s new album Negro Swan will go out into the world, and thus far, Dev Hynes has shared videos for the songs “Charcoal Baby” and “Jewelry.” The album comes with a bunch of prominent guests, and two of those guests joined Hynes on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night to debut “Chewing Gum,” another of the album’s songs.
“Chewing Gum” turns out to be a shimmery, ethereal synth-soul track with a very serious bottom end and contributions from two very different rappers. The most famous guest on the entire album — probably the most famous person who has ever showed up on a Blood Orange album — is A$AP Rocky, who drops in with a characteristically casual and flossy rap verse. And on the song’s outro, things get woozy and screwed-up, and Project Pat — the brother of Juicy J, auxiliary Three 6 Mafia member, and general all-around Memphis rap legend — adds a few words.
Debuting the song on Kimmel last night, Hynes stood behind a bank of electronics, singing airily, while a whole array of still and silent extras sat around them. One of them was Pat, whose presence wasn’t immediately apparent but who seemed to be silently rapping to himself the whole time. (I wish he would’ve done more on the song.) Rocky got to make a dramatic entrance, throwing his considerable charisma all over the stage. As with most of the things Hynes does, it all made for a cool and dramatic gesture, the visuals just as considered and meticulous as the music. Watch the performance below.
Negro Swan is out 8/24 on Domino.