J. Cole and Miguel are at it again. After collaborating on “Power Trip,” the duo returns with “Come Through and Chill” off Miguel’s forthcoming album War & Leisure.
Over the mellow Salaam Remi beat, which was originally released last year, Miguel asks a stranger to “Come Through and Chill.” “Hello, stranger,” he sings. “It’s been a minute since we last kicked it / By the way, I just got in town / And I won’t let cumulus clouds all in the sky ruin my vibe / Usually, I don’t do this often / But since we’re coolin’, is it an option?”
Jermaine offers his own lady friend a similar proposition, but takes time out to speak about important issues in the process. “Know you’ve been on my mind like Kaepernick kneelin’ / Or police killings, or Trump sayin’ slick shit,” he raps. “Manipulatin’ poor white folks because they ignant / Blind to the struggles of the ones that got the pigment / Lately I’ve been stressin’ ’cause it seems so malignant.”
Miguel beamed about the reunion with his “Power Trip” collaborator during an interview with Beats 1. “He’s good energy,” he said. “I think that’s one of things that as fans of music, we really care when someone can capture our energy and take what they’re feeling and translate it. He’s always been exceptional at that. And so when he comes on, as like you said, when I first heard his verse too, I was like see. And then what he’s saying is just spot on. I think that’s what it is. Beyond music, I fuck with Cole, he’s fucking with me. We’re friends on the outside of this. Yeah. It’s an honor to have him as a friend, not only in music, but in general.”
The Los Angeles crooner went on to reveal that there are a total of five collaborators on War & Leisure, two of which are women. He also opened up about the album’s concept. “War and leisure is the best way to describe it,” he said. “I think I feel this overwhelming tension between the inspiration of what’s inspiring me in our time now. It’s not hard to see what we’re going through or what we’re living through. But on a personal side, we just all have our own battles that we’re trying to win every day. Waking up in the morning, just trying to get up on our feet, stay positive. I think that’s one of the energies that I’m being pulled and inspired by, being pushed by rather.
“Leisure, that’s our need to just thrive,” he added. “Wanting to flourish in this world. I think enjoying the moment is so important and being able to fill that space. But is there is what we have in our conscious mind that we’re dealing with and things that we are moved by spiritually so I think it’s is the most relatable in our time. I feel like we’re all dealing with those completely opposite and contrasting energies. I think my fans feel it too. I try to stay in tune with what they’re doing. So I’m just trying to give them something that resonates with them.”
Featuring “Sky Walker” with Travis Scott, War & Leisure is due Dec. 1. See the tracklisting below.