Eminem has revealed that ‘The King & I’, his new collaboration with CeeLo Green, will be released tomorrow (June 16).
The track is set to feature on the soundtrack for Elvis, the upcoming Presley biopic directed by Baz Luhrmann which arrives in cinemas later this month.
Eminem shared the news on social media, posting the artwork for the single alongside information that the track will hit streaming services at noon EST on Thursday.
Speaking about the collaboration, Green said (via KTLA): “Me and Eminem have been friends for years, I’ve longed for an opportunity to work with him. He said, ‘Hey man, can you do this for me? I need it really quickly, I need it tonight.’ So when Eminem says he needs something tonight, you deliver.”
#thekingandi 👑 ft. @ceelogreen drops Thursday Noon ET @ElvisMovie⚡️#TCB pic.twitter.com/vuweBZ3bU9
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) June 14, 2022
In a clip of the track captured at the red carpet premiere of Elvis, which has been doing the rounds online, Eminem spits: “I rolled up like the bottom of a tooth paste tube/ Blue suede shoes, one missin’ a shoe lace too/ Two chains, you can call me 2 Chainz/ Ropes hang like Hussein’s noose/ Yeah, they let the fruitcake loose/ It goes one for the trailer park, two for my baby-ma’s/ Three for the tater tots, four if you ate a lot.”
Elsewhere on ‘The King & I’, Em breaks down the parallels between he and Presley: “Between Elvis and me, myself/ It seems obvious: one, he’s pale as me/ Second, we both been hailed as kings/ He used to rock the Jailhouse, and I used to rock The Shelter.”
Green’s input hears him sing: “See, I don’t give a shit about a thing you say/ I just wanna feel like a king again/ And if you don’t like it you can sit and spin/ Middle fingers up, we ’bout to do this shit again.”
Other artists due to appear on the soundtrack for Elvis include Kacey Musgraves, who will contribute a cover of Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’; and Doja Cat, who will feature on the soundtrack with an original song entitled ‘Vegas’ that samples Presley’s 1956 single ‘Hound Dog’.
The Elvis soundtrack will also include “original songs and recordings” by Presley himself along with the film’s star, Austin Butler. Swae Lee, Diplo, Chris Isaak, Denzel Curry, Jazmine Sullivan, Måneskin, and Pnau will also appear.
Elvis will officially hit cinemas on June 24.