Girl Talk delivered new single “Believe in Ya” on Wednesday, enlisting Grammy winner T-pain and Yaeji for the eclectic track.
The song is crafted around cut samples from Change’s 1981 disco track, “Hold Tight,” and layered by a hint of French House influence, according to a press release. “Believe in Ya” is the second collaboration to come from Girl Talk and T-Pain after 2019’s “Getcha Roll On.”
In the sweeping chorus, T-Pain sings: “I got in faith ya/You can do it, you can do it/I believe in ya baby, put your all into it/Get your back up off the wall.”
Soon, Yaeji swoops effortlessly in, coaxing listeners to “Repeat it and play it back/Follow me and T-Pain singing/The messages are ringing/I have faith in you and you got to trust the process to 3, 2, 1. Repeat on loop.”
“T-Pain is a living legend, and an absolute master of his craft. It was an honor to make music with him again,” said Girl Talk, whose given name is Gregg Gillis. “I was excited about getting T-Pain on some sample-based production. He has such a distinctive vocal style, and I wanted to put it into a complimentary but unique musical environment. I wanted to give him a different sound, something that takes elements from the past but transforms it into a modern style.”
Gillis added, “Once the T-Pain parts were finished, I thought it would be amazing to have Yaeji on the song. Her vocal style is obviously really different from T-Pain, and I loved how it worked as a contrasting element. Yaeji also provided the synth part that we ended up using as an outro.”
Remarking on the collaboration, Yaeji said, “It was a joy to create music that’s positive and uplifting, especially alongside T-Pain and Girl Talk.”
Gillis’ 2006 album, Night Ripper, was listed in Rolling Stone’s “250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far.” The record was praised as a “42-minute continuous work” that “never lets up, making for a relentlessly joyful party record packed with intriguing juxtapositions.”