Baauer teams up with M.I.A. and G-Dragon for ‘Temple’

by: David Klemow Mar 17, 2016

In the final moments before his debut album’s release, Baauer is sharing one last piece of the puzzle before listeners devour the long-awaited Aa in its entirety. Offering new single “Temple,” Baauer follows up on the hip-hip heavy appeal of “Kung Fu” with the tamer temperament of M.I.A.’s sultry flows and G-Dragon’s wiry rhyme schemes. “Temple” treks through a thick sonic jungle of evident eastern influences, offering a welcomed counterpoint to the UK grime of the Novelist and Leikeli47-assisted “Day Ones.” Baauer’s drive has always been tethered to his ever-expanding worldly view, and “Temple” offers the perfect glimpse of this facet in the LuckyMe proponents’s production method.

“Temple” pairs a knocking drum beat and swooping sample cuts with infectious stringwork, taken straight from the orient and dropped in a project file. The track originally surfaced in a special mix commissioned for the recent Alexander Wang fashion show, though Baauer is now choosing to share the single as the final note ahead of his highly-anticipated full-length project, due to be released March 18.