GZA Adds A Verse To Hanni El Khatib’s “Moonlight”

The rap legend felt inspired by the LA-based rock songwriter’s new single.

November 17, 2014

LA-based garage rock songwriter and Dan Auerbach collaborator Hanni El Khatib has a new record coming early next year, and "Moonlight" is its title track. For this remix, Khatib secured a pensive, reverb-y guest verse from GZA. Apparently, the pair were in the studio working on a different project when the Wu-Tang MC heard the song, and immediately felt inspired.

"I played him 'Moonlight' and it connected instantly," Khatib writes over email. "I asked him if he'd lace me with a verse for it and he was down. After listening to the track a few times he called me over to the sofa that he was chilling on and asked me to sing the lyrics to him a cappella. He then responded with something like, 'So if you are speaking on the struggle with the moonlight, imma speak on the moonlight's beauty. I'll be the yin to your yang.' It was definitely a surreal moment."

The full-length, Moonlight, drops January 20th via Innovative Leisure.

GZA Adds A Verse To Hanni El Khatib’s “Moonlight”