Gorillaz’s 2005 album Demon Days is a classic. It’s full of highlights, including De La Soul’s collaboration on the track “Feel Good Inc.” But during an interview on the Kyle Meredith With… podcast, De La Soul co-founder Maseo divulged that Damon Albarn initially wanted De La Soul on “Kids With Guns” instead.
“When we went to do ‘Feel Good Inc.,’ the initial song was ‘Kids With Guns,’” Maseo said. “When we were having a conversation about ‘Kids With Guns,’ I honestly came out and said, ‘Hey man, I think we forcing it.’ […] I think we’re not really collaborating, we’re just featuring on the record. It’s like Gorillaz featuring De La. We really need to do like a collaboration, where we both artistically show our flavor.’”
“He’s truly out there for artistic value, and I got a lot of love for that,” he said about Albarn. “No idea is a bad idea until we try it — all egos are checked at the door. Everybody is doing their best to make a great song. He hears people on songs like instruments. Everybody’s vocal technically is an instrument, and that’s how he hears the track.”
Gorillaz recently shared “Crocadillaz,” which features De La Soul, following the death of Trugoy The Dove (real name David Jolicoeur) in February.
Listen to the podcast episode here.
Gorillaz is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.