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Rakim and Latto Refresh 'Don’t Sweat the Technique’ With Sprite

Rakim and Latto Refresh 'Don’t Sweat the Technique’ With Sprite

Published Fri, August 18, 2023 at 4:30 PM EDT

Sprite, who has a decades-long relationship with Hip-Hop, is knee-deep in its celebration of Hip-Hop's 50th. For Sprite Limelight, Rakim and Latto have paired up for a fresh take on Rakim's 1992 classic, "Don't Sweat The Technique."

The "Technique" video features the Atlanta rhymer shouting out Clayton County and Decatur as she reimagines The God MC's track, which is interspersed with clips of her conversation with him.

"You can't outdo a song like that," Latto told Complex about working on the track. "So the pressure was definitely on, but I felt like the best approach was to tell my story. You can't go wrong with telling your own story."

She said working with Rakim during the interview was a learning experience for her, since Rakim is so polished.

"OK, boom," she said. "We had to do this segment where we asked each other questions, and I just complimented his articulation, like he was just flowing like a real professional. I had made a joke, like, “the rookie versus the professional.” But he’s so smooth, it's second nature to him. "

She went on to say that it's definitely possible for different eras to work together without a lot of fuss.

"Naturally, it's gonna be some type of divide because the world and music is so different," she said. "We have social media and streaming and all these different things that they didn't have. Our experiences are gonna naturally be different with hip-hop. But I think for the most part, like with this campaign, we bridge the gap and all come together when we can."

As for Rakim, he recently spoke to Rock The Bells about who he'd like to collaborate with. "Man that's hard one," he admitted. "I'd say Dr. Dre and Preemo [DJ Premier] on production with me, Nas and Jay [Z]."

Check out Latto and Rakim's link up above.

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