Breakdown: We On

UK Drill + Playground Xylophones + AI-generated R&B Vocals. Just the usual buzz...

Looking back at the work Nick “Thank You 41 Beats” Maclaren and I have made over the past two decades, there's a clear thread running through the catalogue. “Who Betta Than This”, “P-N-Whoa”, “Bazooka Kid”, “Tonight”, “That Kinda Guy”, “Ring Bells”—there’s a tendency to tap into dominant, distinct sounds from either the past or present, without overthinking how the song might be received. I think we both subscribe to Biggie’s sentiment in The Show, that “this shit is supposed to be fun."

What makes Nick’s work stand out is that his production never feels replicated. Even when borrowing from current trends, 41 has always had the ability to transform that inspiration into something uniquely his.

In 2006, Just Blaze reworked Rick Jame’s “Super Freak”, which was more importantly the sample used for MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This”, and posted it to his MySpace. His intent was to take the most played-out sound in rap history, and flip it into something undeniable. Nick embodies that same ethos—a proclivity to flex. He can take what, on paper, might seem like a risky choice and throws it back at you with his signature flair. Because of that audacious spirit, I was not at all surprised when Nick text me to see if I’d be interested in jumping on a “drill kinda beat.” Naturally, I was even less surprised that the beat was insane. 

The instrumental Nick sent me was titled “playground.mp3”, and it’s exactly that. He sampled a giant xylophone in a nearby playground and used it as the foundation for the production.

I actually refrained from writing to this for a while. When I get a beat that I connect with instantly, I often put off working on it. I think it’s this immediate anxiety that I’ll ruin it with something sub-par. I’m sure producers love hearing this.

The synth line in the hook—what I’d started calling “the whistle”—had a definite ear-worm factor off the bat. I thought it could carry the chorus, so my aim was to just add some lines that would complement it. I was thinking of something like Future’s “Mask Off”, where the flute does most of the heavy lifting.

I had the flow of the chorus locked in early, but it was taking a while to find the lyrics. One day, I was working on the song and I saw a comment from @kiwinrlpodcast on my Instagram that read “We onnnnn” and I realised that phrase actually fit what I had. Shoutout to the bro for the clutch assist on that one.

When Nick sent back his changes to the first demo, he’d added those screwed vocals and the R&B sample you hear in the chorus. I was fixated on the R&B part, trying to guess where he’d pulled it from—I figured it was someone like Case or Donnell Jones. Nah, in standard 41 harness-the-moment style, it turns out those are AI-generated vocals, crooning “We on” throughout the chorus.

Nick was in Japan when we were trying to finalise this one, so he wasn’t able to mix it like he normally would. That’s where Nathan Sowter, who I’ve been recording with for most of Unbothered Rapper, stepped in to handle the mix. Nathan made a key adjustment, turning those AI vocals way up, transforming them from a subtle layer into a centrepiece of the track.

I’ve gone through about six different ideas for the music video for this track. My bro Stacy, who’s handling the visuals for the project, must be completely confused by my constant pivots. I heard David Chase say in the Wise Guy documentary that you have to throw out the first five ideas because they’re shit. I choose to use that as my justification. I think I’ve finally locked in on the right vibe over the past few days though—so stay tuned for that…