It's crazy to think that one of the most New York-sounding rap songs of the year could come from someone an ocean away. On "We Run," Swedish producer iSHi recruits outer-borough legends Raekwon and French Montana to snarl gritty raps atop a classic, familiar-feeling boom-bap beat. Over a bouncing piano riff played by iSHi himself, the Chef and young Montana bridge the two decades worth of NYC rap history stretched out between them.
"'We Run' brings in the organic hip hop sound that I grew up with—guys like Wutang Clan, Raekwon, Ghostface. The idea was to take someone like Raekwon who’s an old school classic rapper and connect that sound with the new school, in this case French Montana," iSHi told The FADER over email. "I thought those two worlds could work really nicely. I wanted both the arrangement and with the actual collaboration to shock people."
