Rise and shine. Remy Ma and Lil’ Kim’s anxiously-awaited collaboration “Wake Me Up” has arrived.
Over a thumping instrumental, Reminisce raps about her appreciation for the Queen Bee through references to her classic Hard Core track, “Queen Bitch.”
“If Peter Piper pecked ’em, I bet you Remy ducked ’em,” she raps the way Kim did in ’96. “I told you not to touch ’em / It’s not up for discussion.”
The beat samples Roberta Flack’s “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye,” with its haunting piano keys. It’s the same sample that was famously used on “Queen Bitch,” which featured The Notorious B.I.G.
Speaking with Beats 1, Remy explained why she had to salute one of her influences. “I wanted to pay homage to Kim,” she said. “I feel like she is the Madonna of the hip-hop world. Her style is iconic and I wanted to pay homage to that. I was like, ‘I want you on this record, but I want you to just be Kim. I want you to be the girl that was squatting down in a leopard thong.'”
The song also serves as throwback for both MCs, who went in the studio with a day one mindset. “I want Remy Ma to be the Remy Ma that Big Pun met and I want Lil’ Kim to be the Lil’ Kim that B.I.G. met,” said Remy.
Although originally billed as a Nicki Minaj diss, the rumor was later dispelled by Kim. “My mind ain’t on ol’ girl or anything else. I don’t care about that,” she told Hot 97. “It’s so boss for me to let Remy do her thing and she kind of homaged me on this whole song. It’s a dope ass song. I know my fans are gonna love it. This song is something they’ve always wanted me to kind of do.”
“Wake Me Up,” for which a video was recently shot, is the lead single from 7 Winters & 6 Summers, Remy’s first album in 12 years, due in early 2018 on Columbia Records.