Black Thought & El Michels Affair – “Glorious Game”
Next month, the Roots’ veteran virtuoso rapper Black Thought will follow up Cheat Codes, the very good album that he and Danger Mouse released last year, with Glorious Game, a new team-up with the lush and retro-minded soul act El Michels Affair. They’ve already shared the early singles “Grateful” and “That Girl,” and now they’ve also dropped the LP’s title track.
“Glorious Game” rides a slow, gurgling bassline, and it’s got Black Thought’s voice weaving through hazy guitar stabs and a languid falsetto hook. There’s probably nobody on the planet who’s more experienced than Black Thought at rapping along live instrumentation, and he sounds fully relaxed and in-control here. Below, watch director Gurgen Aloian’s crystalline animated video for “Glorious Game.”
Glorious Game is out 4/14 on Big Crown Records.