DJ Shadow is back, and he’s brought along hip-hop pioneers De La Soul for the ride. “Rocket Fuel” is the track, and aside from a Roma-inspired track earlier this year, it’s Shadow’s first new music since 2017. The song will appear on a forthcoming full-length that’s expected before the end of the year. “Rocket Fuel” will also be featured on the Madden NFL 20 playlist.
“It’s been awhile since my last album, The Mountain Will Fall, and the corresponding tour, and since the tour ended, I’ve been mostly silent,” Shadow revealed in a press statement. “This is because I’ve been focused and working on a ton of music. I usually try to avoid hyperbole, and I’m not super-comfortable hyping up my own stuff, but things are about to get pretty exciting. My heroes De La Soul were kind enough to join me on the debut single, “Rocket Fuel,” and the collab encapsulates so much of what I love about hip-hop…energy, beats and fun.”
The track lives up to its title, boasting an energetic break-beat and sampled vocal bass line for the legendary rappers to use as a springboard for their lyrical schemes. Topped off with bracing marching-band horns, “Rocket Fuel” is the kind of track prime for opening live shows.
Could there be a DJ Shadow/De La Soul joint tour in our future? One can only hope. In the meantime, tune into “Rocket Fuel” below.
