Spillage Village is just days away from releasing their album Spilligion. Judging from their singles, “End Of Daze,” last week’s “Baptize,” and the newly released single “Hapi,” it will be a far more spiritual affair than anything they’ve done before. “Hapi” is shot through with references to the celestial and the beat borrows influence from American folk music, gospel, and jazz for an avant-garde reflection featuring a spoken word poem from Atlanta icon Big Rube.
Rube, who has collaborated over the past three decades with ATL luminaries from Outkast and Goodie Mob to Future and Killer Mike, anchors the song, which opens with a sung chorus by seemingly the whole group and includes verses from Mereba, Olu, and newcomer Benji. The chorus finds the band lamenting the violent nature of their stomping grounds and praying for safety from “Gunshots ringing in my hood.”
Spillage Village also shared the tracklist for Spilligion, which will find them joined by Ari Lennox, Buddy, Chance The Rapper, Lucky Daye, and Masego and continue the quasi-religious themes of tracks like “Baptize” and “End Of Daze.”
Listen to Spillage Village’s “Hapi” featuring Big Rube above.
Spilligion is due 9/25 via Dreamville Records. You can pre-save it here.