Animals

Album: Compton (2015)
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Songfacts®:

  • This features production from DJ Premier, who was half of the hip-hop duo Gang Starr alongside the emcee Guru. In 2010 Premier made the finals in Vibe magazine's search for the greatest hip-hop producer of all time - he finished second behind Dr. Dre. This is the first time that the two iconic producers have worked together. Premier told Billboard magazine: "We went in the booth together and talked a little s--t at the end of the song, me and him. I scratched on it, with my traditional scratches. Just saying that we're collaborating together - buggin' out and having fun. A real dope experience."
  • The song was inspired by the unrest in Baltimore following the death of 25-year-old African-American Freddie Gray whilst in police custody. "When the Freddie Gray thing happened in Baltimore, [singer/songwriter] Anderson [Paak] hit me up and said, 'You see this s--t going on in Baltimore with these riots? It's crazy. I just wrote to that beat," Premier recalled to MTV News. "Maybe we could leak it out to the streets so we can show our support against the bullsh-t brutality going on."

    "He sent it to me and it was called 'F.S.U. (F--k S--t Up).' It already had all of his hook and vocals down, which you hear on the Compton album. He was like, 'Yo, I got a meeting with Dre next week'" the DJ added. "He met with Dre and [showed him the song]. When he played it, [Dre] was like, 'Let me call Premier and let him know I want to be on this.'"
  • California singer-songwriter Anderson Paak is the vocalist on the hook, bridge and first verse. The track was originally recorded for Paak's second album Malibu before Dre decided to feature it on Compton.

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