Last year, Harper Simon introduced his self-titled debut album under his multimedia moniker Meditations on Crime, which saw a broad collection of artists—ranging from Sun Ra Arkestra to Animal Collective’s Geologist, King Khan to Royal Trux’s Jennifer Herrema—contribute to the project’s central mission of dizzying hypnagogic pop and neo-psych. Yet the collective’s first single since that release pivots to driving, nocturnal hip-hop with the help of Beastie Boys collaborator Money Mark and the husband-wife rap duo of Quelle Chris and Jean Grae, teaming up on a track for the first time since their 2018 collaborative full-length Everything’s Fine.
“Mark and I ended up building a track together with him programming the drum loop and providing keys while I played the bass and added a synth melody,” Simon shares of how the recording initially came together. “Carla Azar overdubbed live drums. Then Quelle Chris and Jean came on and killed it, in my opinion. Since then, Jean’s moved on from her career as a rapper, so this ended up being one of her last features on a record, maybe. Very honored to have worked with all of them!”
The driving verses from Quelle and Jean are anchored by Simon and Money Mark’s hardcore beat—which is engaging in and of itself, though steady enough to leave plenty of room for the track’s seasoned lyricists. “If it rocks your body, fine; but please let it rock your mind,” Money Mark adds. “What an honor to work with Harper, Quelle Chris, and Jean.”
The track precedes a busy weekend for Simon, who’ll be performing August 12 at Zebulon alongside Meditations on Crime contributors including Julia Holter and Geneva Jacuzzi ahead of a screening of his and Jonah Freeman’s short film, also titled Meditations on Crime. The following day he’ll be tabling at Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair in support of his new art book (called, you guessed it, Meditations on Crime).
You can check out the new track below, and pre-order Meditations on Crime (book and vinyl, with the option to toss in a t-shirt—presumably also called Meditations on Crime) here.
