The Free Nationals are back with their first new music in almost four years, and they’ve rallied an all-star collaboration for the occasion: The members of Anderson .Paak’s live band have recruited the singer and drummer himself for “Gangsta,” which also boasts a feature from A$AP Rocky. Stream it below.
The retro-soul track is a celebration of the funk sound that helped the four members of The Free Nationals establish a name for themselves. The accompanying visual marks the band as the latest to embrace AI in music videos — they’ve also shared an AI-based photo generator that turns interested users into similarly styled avatars to match the video’s aesthetic. The video was directed by Francois Rousselet, who has worked with The Rolling Stones, Jack White, and Pharrell in the past.
This April, The Free Nationals are set to return to the stage with .Paak during the New Orleans Jazz Festival. Following a 2023 appearance alongside .Paak, the band will also be returning to the television show Grown-ish later this year.
The band is promising new music on the way as 2024 continues, details for which are still yet to come.