Next Monday, a total solar eclipse will be visible in the United States for the first time since 1979. Not only that, but it’ll be the first one that’s viewable across the entire contiguous country since 1918. Today, we get the rap equivalent of that momentous celestial event: Jay Electronica and DOOM, hip-hop’s two most notorious flakers, have both shown up in the same place for once.
America’s Most Elusive have linked up for a song that double-dips as part of two separate Adult Swim series, the first being their 52-week-long singles program, and the second being their recently-announced DOOM compilation, The Missing Notebook Rhymes. But wait– there’s more! The song in question, “True Lightyears,” is also set to appear on a forthcoming album by KMD, DOOM’s first group, who haven’t released an album in nearly 25 years. That’s a lot of rare occurrences for one song.
None of that would matter if DOOM and Jay Elec didn’t spit their hearts out on “True Lightyears,” but for two minutes and twenty-four seconds, that’s exactly what they do. Jay calls himself a “Big black chief like Robert Parrish” before claiming that he “broke the deputy’s neck while Metal Face shot the sheriff”; DOOM lets us know that he’s been “Accused of using hot pepper sauce on the mic.” Brief and mind-bogglingly complex, the track is a veritable highlight reel of one-liners.
However, there are still questions that need answering. Namely, how is this a KMD song? The group’s other MC, Onyx the Birthstone Kid, is nowhere to be heard, so unless the beat is an unreleased one by DJ Subroc (DOOM’s deceased younger brother), the title is nominal only. Also, as always, what’s with Jay Elec’s one-verse-per-year pace?
But for now, as the country’s becomes more of a flaming heap of garbage with each passing day, we should just find solace in the fact that this Voltron of unlikely happenstances has formed and is now available for our listening pleasure.
Be sure to check out the previous track from The Missing Notebook Rhymes, as well as another recent gem from the Adult Swim Singles Program by Helado Negro.
