Now You Ain’t Having It

Little Shalimar featuring Killer Mike, Bun B, and Cuz Lightyear “Savage Habits”

In the Pitchfork review of the Rubble Kings soundtrack, Jonah Bromwich says that this song “doesn’t quite pound in the way you might hope” for a track featuring both Killer Mike and Bun B. I think I know what Bromwich is getting at, but at the same time I’m pretty sure “Savage Habits” is a better song than the sort of generic banger one “might hope” for. Little Shalimar’s arrangement gives Killer Mike and Bun B plenty of space for some prime alpha male chest-thumping, but offsets that with a strange looped sample – I think it’s a violin? – that induces a sick, paranoid feeling. That trilling sound just kinda gnaws at you, and while it doesn’t undermine the vocal performances, it does contrast sharply in a way that subverts the toxic masculinity on display. The sung chorus retains some of the aggression but amps up the melancholy, shifting away from the intimidating style of Mike and Bun for something more obviously tragic.

Get it for free from the Adult Swim site.