Rustie: "Attak" [ft. Danny Brown]

It’s kind of surprising that the inevitable took this long: Rustie has released his first collaborative single with a high-caliber rap artist. Admittedly, the Glaswegian beatmaker is no stranger to working with vocals—2011′s excellent Glass Swords featured singer/producer Nightwave woven through its hyperactive synths and clicking beats, and it was followed by an alternate version of “After Light”, which boasted the featherlight harmonies of AlunaGeorge. But for anyone who thought 2013′s hard-knocking “Slasherr” wouldn’t have suffered from a couple verses and choruses, “Attak” delivers on all fronts.

The second single to surface from Rustie’s forthcoming Green Language LP, “Attak” succumbs to the fast-talking and foul-mouthed Danny Brown, and the combination would be hard pressed to work any better. Maybe because Brown is already a living cartoon character (albeit more in line with Fritz the Cat than Bugs Bunny) and Rustie’s helium-huffing, dayglo beats sound readymade for fidgety Saturday morning TV, but the two personalities compliment and challenge each other throughout the formidable tune. Hefty 808s boom and bounce underneath a campy synth hook and repurposed rave stabs, giving Brown a radiant throne from which to posture, “Got the game on lock like we changed the keys.” And even though Rustie would never be one to offer the metaphor himself, it’s a cocksure sentiment that rings true for all parties involved.

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