Macklemore’s long-rumored collaboration with Tones And I is apparently in the can, and we now know what it sounds like.
The Grammy-winning rapper shared a snippet on social media, with the music man looking particularly pleased with himself as he tested the cut on his car’s sound system. “Can you guess who’s singing on the hook,” he writes.
It is, of course, Toni Watson, better known as Tones And I, who can be heard singing “I’m on fire,” and pumping up the song with the empowering line, “You can’t take my voice from me. I will rise up.”
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The Australian singer and songwriter, who had a monster hit with 2019’s “Dance Monkey,” is a huge fan of Macklemore, as is much of her homeland. Almost a decade ago, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” came in at No. 1 on the fan-voted triple j Hottest 100 countdown.
In a followup post, Tones revealed that “Chant” would be out “real soon.” The song is “special” she continues.
Tones teased the forthcoming release last September with an Instagram post of the pair posing in the studio, and gave an update in January during an interview with triple j.
“This year I might be finally releasing a song with my favorite artist – Macklemore,” Tones explained.
“It’s been a long time coming since he first surprised me in Seattle in 2019,” she continued. “He wanted me to record vocals on a track we’re doing together so I had to do that in person.”
There’s no word yet on a release date, though in that interview earlier in the year, Tones confessed, “I’ve already started this next album that’s coming out in August; it’s very different.”
Tones’ sophomore album is the followup to Welcome to the Madhouse, which hit No. 1 in Australia after its July 2021 release, and featured her followup hit “Fly Away,” which peaked at No. 11 in the U.K.
The record-smashing “Dance Monkey” appeared on Tones’ 2019 EP The Kids Are Coming.
That viral hit dominated sales charts for months, including Australia where it held top spot for an all-time record 24 weeks. “Dance Monkey” also reigned over the U.K. list for 11 weeks, a record for a solo female artist; it cracked the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100; led charts in some 30 territories, and is recognized as the No. 3 most-streamed song on Spotify.
