West Coast electro-Hip-Hop pioneer Egyptian Lover and Stones Throw Records’ Sudan Archives have collaborated on a new single called “Freakalizer (The Egyptian Lover Remix).” The track and accompanying video arrived earlier this week and, as the title suggests, came with a healthy dose of 808 beats and funky synths. The song has been a long time in the making. As Egyptian Lover explained to AllHipHop.com, it was initially conceived in 2020 during the pandemic.
“I am friends with Peanut Butter Wolf and he told me about his new artist when he signed her,” Egyptian Lover said. “I invited them down to one of my studio sessions and met her. I offered that I would do a song for her. After about a year she asked if I could still do it, so I created the beat and a few elements, and her and her people hooked it up. I wrote some and she wrote some and then a year later, Peanut Butter Wolf, Brian Ellis and I did the remix for it.
“People really like the mix of our two worlds. We shot part of the video at my 60th birthday party. She even did a surprise performance and rocked it. I’m always glad to work with new artists. I love their energy and creativity. M.I.A. was also a very creative person that I loved working with, and Masarima’s ‘Freak like U’ is doing well. I hope the DJs play both of these songs back to back.”
Egyptian Lover made a seismic impact on the Los Angeles dance scene when he first emerged in the early 1980s. In June, Snoop Dogg invited Egyptian Lover and Newcleus—most famous for their 1984 single “Jam On It”—to perform during a Death Row Records private party at his California compound.
“I played there before,” he told AllHipHop.com at the time. “He’s a big fan. After 40 years it really feels good to still see OGs grooving to my songs. So many older cats at the party came and was talking about the old days and hearing my first songs on the radio and hearing Uncle Jamm’s Army live on the radio. Being one of the first to do it on the West Coast, getting props still to this day is an incredible feeling.”
As he briefly mentioned, Egyptian Lover turned 60 on August 31 and is still touring the world with his timeless catalog. Sudan Archives, meanwhile, released her latest full-length album, Natural Brown Prom Queen, in 2022. She dropped four singles from the project, including “Home Maker,” “Selfish Soul,” “NBPQ (Topless)” and “OMG Britt.”
