Immortal Technique & Ill Bill Send A Powerful Message About Breath Control

Brooklyn, New York veteran MC/producer Ill Bill recently released his latest album, BILLY®. The Uncle Howie/Fat Beats Records LP features Kool G Rap, Tragedy Khadafi, Vinnie Paz, NEMS, Lord Goat (fka Goretex), Skam2, Slaine, Q-Unique, and others. It also packs production from DJ Muggs, Statik Selektah, Stu Bangas, and more.

One of the highlights from BILLY® is “Prophets Of Doom,” the latest collaboration with two of Bill’s longtime associates: Immortal Technique and Sick Jacken. The song is an urgent reminder to cherish each day and every breath, as it just may be your last.

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Bill opens the song, referencing his experiences with loss and revisiting his Canarsie roots. “East 53rd Force, duke of Farragut / Grandpa’s from Uruguay on some Spanish s__t / Skinny mustache, villain cold chillin’ / Play Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood with a few women / Lived a block away ’til he got a heart attack / I was young but old enough to know he’s not coming back / My first experience with death, ambulance was late, he died waiting on his front steps / And that’s how I lost my first BFF / The Grim Reaper been creeping around here ever since / I learned at a very young age that everything could just change in one day / We could be one minute or a second away / From the very last breath that we take,” he raps. Bill also repurposes the later bars to be the song’s chorus and takeaway.

Sick Jacken rhymes next, speaking about his own grandfather. “F__k your plans for tomorrow, f__k your plans for today / What you think is gonna happen, right now can go away / Everybody gotta pay back for buying today / Used to hold us over the moment that they late / Y’all really think that odds are something you play / Gamble with your life, one day you won’t get away,” raps the Psycho Realm MC. “Promise you there’s no time to shoot, flowers when they homage you / Only if you honor your hermano, then the climate’s cool / S__t, clean your mess up, you got time, there’s no pressing on rewind.

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Immortal Technique then closes the song with an incredible feature. “I got stories but they want bars / They want to see behind the curtain like The Wizard of Oz,” he begins. Then, the Harlem MC speaks about living a full life. “Shout to the people that were shot from behind / It feels different when you finish the climb / At the top when you pick the knives out of your spine / You appreciate the lesson and the design / And you thank the ancestors and the divine / And you survive and continue to shine / I’m not gon’ tell you how much time you have left / I’ma just tell you the clock is ticking / So appreciate what the f__k you have / ‘Cause pretty soon you ain’t gon’ have. Get the f__k ready.

“Prophets Of Doom” is produced by longtime Rome Streetz affiliate Farma Beats.

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Earlier this year, Ill Bill released the Nas-themed Billmatic. This month, Sick Jacken dropped the single, “Alturas.” In 2019, Immortal Technique stated that he was at work on a new album.