André 3000 remains one of Hip-Hop’s most elusive figures. The Outkast legend and flute-wielding globe trotter rarely performs and doesn’t pop up on singles too often. But Killer Mike, a longtime collaborator and fellow ATLien, got him out of retirement. On Tuesday (June 13), the Run The Jewels spitter released a new single called “Scientists & Engineers” featuring Future and—yep!—the inimitable 3 Stacks. The track serves as the inaugural single from Killer Mike’s forthcoming solo album, Michael, out Friday (June 16).
Par for the course, André 3000 is in top form, rhyming, “All I know is when the portrait paintеd, better have your portion of thе rent/A dollar more and you will get upgraded when you’ve think you’ve made it, you are then/Just tolerated, overrated, hope I’m 80 when I get my second wind.”
Paired with an angelic chorus, the soothing yet relentlessly hard-hitting single finds Future stepping up to the mic for the second verse, while Killer Mike lays down the third and final verse.
Much like Future, Killer Mike focuses on his ongoing hustle with lines such as, “Man, I’m a villain with children’/So I’m never chillin’, I gotta make millions/I used to be dope with the dealin’, but that got a ceilin’
And we know the usual endin’/N###as get rich and go b####, and go fail and go snitch/And then f### up they family and friends.”
Future’s inclusion isn’t as random as some people may think. Future is the younger cousin of Dungeon Family member Rico Wade, who’s also a part of Organized Noise. Organized Noise, of course, worked with fellow Dungeon Family members Outkast and Goodie Mob, to name a few. Listen to it above.