Peter CottonTale

Jamila Woods and Peter CottonTale’s Video for ‘WYD (You Got Me)’ Is Sweet As Pie

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Jamila Woods and Peter CottonTale are two of Chicago hip-hop’s most illustrious minds. Woods is a noted singer, poet, and activist whose 2019 album LEGACY! LEGACY! paid tribute to Black luminaries and rightfully cracked the top 25 of our Uproxx Music Critic’s Poll that year. CottonTale came up as a core producer for the breakthrough material of Chance The Rapper, Vic Mensa, and Woods, and has recently claimed credits with the likes of DJ Khaled and Justin Bieber.

Now the the pair have joined forces for the latest single “WYD (You Got Me)” and it manages to preserve the feeling of summer sunshine as winter starts to creep in. There’s a childlike melody to the tune, reminiscent of the innocence of summer cookouts and spending time with friends and family. There’s autotune vocals sprinkled throughout from both, but Woods’ voice is as sweet as peach pie. The hook is definitely something we’ll be repeating as she sings: “Good evenin’, I called you. I hope you will see that. So hit me as soon as you see this. I’ll be there in times when you need me… to be there, someone you can lean on. When I see ya. If it’s something you needed, believe me. If got it. If you got it. You got me.”

The song is part of the new film Summertime. Directed by Blindspotting‘s Carlos López Estrada, it weaves the tale of 27 different youth spoken poets throughout the streets of Los Angeles.

Watch the video for “WYD (You Got Me)” above and watch the very cool trailer for Summertime below.

Vic Mensa Delivers A Defiant Performance Of ‘Shelter’ On ‘The Late Show’

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Chicago rapper Vic Mensa appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to perform a medley of new songs, “Shelter” and “FR33DOM.” Recruiting “Shelter” guest Wyclef Jean and longtime Windy City collaborator Peter Cottontale, Vic’s prerecorded performance finds him performing from the floor of an empty warehouse and visually condemning the prison system. For the second half of the performance, red highlighting accentuates a riotous rendition of the defiant “FR33DOM.”

Both songs are due to appear on Vic’s upcoming EP, I TAPE, the follow-up to last year’s V TAPE. The activist/rapper revealed the I TAPE due date via a press release after the performance: March 26. It’s clear that Vic is building up to a larger project, so a C TAPE can’t be very far behind that.

“Shelter,” I TAPE‘s first single, featured the reunion of Vic and his musical brother-in-arms Chance The Rapper. The two rappers came up at the same open mic together and had parallel career tracks early on, but when Chance’s Coloring Book took off, the two apparently had a falling out that lasted for several years. In the meantime, Vic released an experimental punk album, became an outspoken critic of various US policies, and even visited Palestine, deciding to recommit to the social justice cause and apparently getting back to his musical roots. You can read more in Uproxx’s new interview with Vic Mensa here.

Watch Vic Mensa’s The Late Show performance of “Shelter” and “FR33DOM” above.

I TAPE is out 3/26 on Roc Nation.