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Music

Listen to Rich Gang's "Take Kare," the First Song from Young Thug and Lil Wayne

How did this not exist already?

How did humanity exist before this moment? Last night, the first collaboration between Young Thug and Lil Wayne dropped. Again, I’ll repeat that: the first collaboration between Young Thug and Lil Wayne dropped. It’s called “Take Kare,” and the song is the first single from the upcoming Rich Gang 2 album. That doesn’t yet have a release date—but you can cop the Rich Gang mixtape right now.

“Take Kare” is significant because of a few reasons. The primary being that this song just straight up kicks ass. It’s weird and messy and captures the scrappy yet smooth WTF-kind of sound that’s grown in popularity in rap over the last year, much of which can be credited to the success of Young Thug on the heels of fellow Atlanta rappers Future and Rich Homie Quan.

But what’s more is that this is the first official song Young Thug and Lil Wayne have put out together—which is a pretty weird statement, because even as I type that, this feels like something that already should’ve existed. But, no, and here we are, finally, seeing the teacher and the student come together. And when they do, they produce something great. Young Thug has spoken over and over about his admiration for Lil Wayne—dude stated he wants to name his debut record Tha Carter VI, tipping his hat to the path Weezy laid for the raspy weird world of rap in which we’ve currently found ourselves. And on “Take Kare,” both rappers dive in, displaying similar flows that just don’t give a fuck about a bar—venturing outside what many perceive to be the traditional rules of hip-hop. Thugger and Weezy each sound like they’re practically sobbing as they rap (even though the song exudes confidence), squawking and yelping and bringing the best out of each other. Wayne continues to make 2014 the year he sounds like the Wayne we all fell in love with. Is that because of Young Thug? Is it because he’s received so many power ups on his tour with Drake? Is it because of the Illuminati? Who fucking cares. This song rules. Stream “Take Kare” below, and cop it on iTunes here.

@ericsundy