Plastic On The Ceiling

Gorillaz featuring De La Soul “Momentz”

If you could go back in time and tell me as a teenager in the ‘90s that Damon Albarn from Blur would one day find even greater success as a respected rap producer, I never would have believed you. But here we are 20 years after “Song 2” and Albarn has been doing Gorillaz so long that it’s not even a novelty anymore. “Momentz” is his third collaboration with De La Soul, and it might be the best so far – obviously “Feel Good Inc” is a classic and “Superfast Jellyfish” has its surreal charms, but I love the way these guys sound rapping over the ecstatic pogo bounce of this track. The music is so hyper and supercharged that it sounds like it could break apart at any moment. It makes perfect sense that the De La guys would hear this track and decided it had to express a “carpe diem!” sentiment. It’s basically “1999” all over again: “We could all die any day, but before I’ll let that happen I’ll dance my life away.” The thrill in this song is in how close it comes to crashing and burning, and hearing these guys rap as if they’re trying to make the thing go even faster and harder.

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