Mike D has dropped a new track, “What We Got,” the second release in May, and one that coincides with rare live shows in Brooklyn.
With “What We Got,” what we get is hardcore and saturated hip-hop that has the guitar, bass and boom-bap meters in the red while Mike D rhymes with his brash swagger through some slap-back echo. The song swerves into an emotional and dreamy coda.
The single follows “Switch Up,” unveiled May 8th, which broke a 15-year new music drought from members of The Beastie Boys.
Like “Switch Up,” the latest song was spawned from a series of experimental sessions with Mike D, his sons, Davis and Skyler Diamond of the band Very Nice Person, as well as musicians Jason Lader, Benjamin Pacheco, Kevin Rhomberg, Carter Lang, and Tyran Donaldson.
“What We Got” was produced by Lang and Donaldson and mixed at NoName Studios by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali, who has worked with Kendrick Lamar, Nipsey Hussle, and Childish Gambino.
The new song’s release comes the same day as a sold out show in Brooklyn at Xanadu Roller Arts, according to a press release. A second show at the same location is also sold out.
The 60-year-old rapper, born Michael Diamond, hasn’t toured as a Beastie Boy since the death of his bandmate Adam “MCA” Yauch in 2012. Mike D and fellow Beastie Boy, Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, retired the group after Yauch’s death.
Mike D has been more outgoing as of late. He performed two shows in California in early May and a string of unexpected performances, such as ones at Malibu’s Brothers Marshall Surf Shop and The Ojai Valley Women’s Club.
