Listening to Ghanaian rapper YOofi’s new single instantly transported me back to May 2010, exactly where I was mentally when I first heard the Nas and Damien Marley collaborative album Distant Relatives. Sure Jay-Z’s collaborative album with Linkin Park which featured mash-ups of both of their songs from their last albums introduced Linkin Park to a whole generation of rock and rap fans and Run DMC and AeroSmith’s “Walk This Way” invented the rap-sung collaboration sub-genre, but it was the Marley/Nas collaboration that elevated the genre and had us off our feet. This is why YOofi excites us so much.

Produced by Jump Off (who also features on the song) YOofi enlists the help of Jump Off, Jordan Juma and Mac M to deliver a diverse litany of rap styles, all tied together with a sparse instrumental beat that features a simple but compelling base riff and aggressive percussions. There is some bilingual rap thrown in and a slick reggae hook and verse melds everything together, smoothing out the transitions between rappers and styles. Road is the kind of song that gets your blood pumping, upping the energy with every minute till you tip over the edge at the three minute, blissfully spent.

Add this to your workout playlist this very minute.

Listen to “Road” here.