Young Thug and Travis Barker are together again at last in the latest edition of NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) series.
The unveiling of the special performance comes at pivotal moments for both artists, who inspired collabs-focused speculation way back in 2017 after showing up in the studio together and seemingly teasing something imminent. And in October of last year, Thug contributed choruses and a verse to UnoTheActivist’s Barker-produced track “Big Dripper.”
Now, with Thug’s Punk album again being teased and with Barker leading a new wave of pop-punk at a relentless release pace, the two have linked up again in the name of NPR.
While Barker isn’t behind the kit for the entire performance, his latest link-up with Thug could be interpreted as a sign that the blink-182 drummer may be involved with the studio follow-up to 2019’s So Much Fun.
Earlier this month, Rolling Loud Miami attendees were treated to a preview of a new Thug song, tentatively titled “Tick Tock.” He also told the crowd that he was “about to put this album out,” specifying that the album in question is indeed Punk. During Tuesday’s NPR performance, Thug teased an Oct. 15 release date by way of the back of his t-shirt.
Watch Young Thug’s full Tiny Desk (Home) concert below via NPR. The set sees Thug running through four new tracks—“Die Slow,” “Droppin’ Jewels,” “Hate the Game,” and the aforementioned “Tick Tock”—as well as a reworked version of “Ski,” assisted by Barker. Also backing up Thug during the set is the band Damnage Gooods.
