In an interview on the Allison Hagendorf Show podcast, Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello tells Guitar World that he and megastar Post Malone wrote a song together and he thinks it could be the commercial musician’s equivalent of “Beat It,” the huge Michael Jackson hit featuring Eddie Van Halen.
Before anyone else can fairly make that assessment though, Posty needs to finish working on the track, something Morello consistently urges him to do.
Just as much as Post Malone has an affinity for rock and metal music, Morello is keen on offering his services on songs by other artists. Earlier this year, he played on “GOSSIP,” a single off RUSH!, the new record by Italian breakouts Maneskin, having also contributed to songs by Bring Me the Horizon, grandson, The Pretty Reckless, The Struts and more in recent years.
“We worked out a pretty sick jam,” Morello reveals (transcription via Guitar World), “To me [it] felt like it could be, for him, like his ‘Beat It’ [by] Michael Jackson — a big pop star paired with Eddie Van Halen and made something that no-one had expected. ‘This could be your ‘Beat It,’ dude!’”
“He just won’t finish the song,” the Rage icon laments.
As to how the collaboration came about, Morello recollects, “We went into the studio together one night. I had heard that he was a fan of rock and so I went by, and he is a lovely dude. First of all, he’s just a lovely, lovely person. He is trippy. You know how some people have guitar techs, or drum techs… he had a Coors Light tech! [Laughs] There was a guy whose sole job apparently was just make sure there is a stack of cold Coors Light… It took about four hours of sitting around with Coors Light before we did any recording.”
Unfortunately, not much progress appears to have been made after that night and Morello still encourages the musician to finish it up whenever he sees him. “I’m like, ‘You’re still dropping the ball on that one.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, man, I’m gonna do that.’ I’m like, ‘Okay,” he adds with a laugh, enthusing, “It’s sick!”
Acknowledging Post Malone’s rock and metal cred, Morello goes on, “I learned that his first show that he ever went to was his dad took him to Korn and that explains, on the one hand, why he could rock a song with me that was potent, but it does not explain why he has not finished the damn song so the world can enjoy it.”
It sounds like Morello is just an anxious for the collab to get out there just as much as countless fans will be after learning the news of this unreleased (and unfortunately unfinished) track.
And could it possibly live up to “Beat It,” the hit track off Michael Jackson’s big time seller, 1982’s Thriller? the song itself has been certified platinum eight times by the RIAA and topped several charts the world over.
Watch the full interview directly below.
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