If Zack de la Rocha’s ability to rage against the machine ever seemed diminished after he split with his band in 2000, it’s been sparked back up by a guest spot on a new Run the Jewels track. Titled “Close Your Eyes (And Count to F–k),” the song features rap titans El-P and Killer Mike spitting ferocious, status quo–decimating verses over a throbbing beat and a twitchy de la Rocha sample/refrain.
And then, at the 2:45 mark, the 44-year-old de la Rocha jumps in for a volcanic appearance that makes you want to listen to nothing but Rage for the next few weeks. Sample bars include: “With clips in the bottom, we dippin’ from Gotham / yes, eclipsed by the shadows, a dark dance to the coffin / I’m a fellow with melanin, suspect of a felony / ripped like Rakim Allah, feds is checkin’ my melody.”
“We worked on music together in the late ’90s after Rage broke up but it never came out,” El-P told BuzzFeed about the collaboration with de la Rocha. “We remained friends, though, and when I was in L.A. working on the record I bumped in to him literally on the way to the studio. He came by and listened to what we had and a day later was recording with us.”
Due Oct. 28, RTJ2 is the sequel to Run the Jewels’s self-titled 2013 album. The new full-length will feature guest appearances by Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, Beyoncé producer BOOTS, and Memphis rapper Gangsta Boo. Killer Mike and El-P kick off a tour on Wednesday in College Station, Texas and will be on the road in North America through the end of November. In January 2015, they’ll hit Australia and New Zealand.