London production duo iLL BLU have unveiled their new single ‘Routine Check 2.0’ featuring The Mitchell Brothers and new guest vocalist Sneakbo
The track is a remake of the 2004 underground classic ‘Routine Check’ by The Mitchell Brothers, Mike Skinner and Kano, with iLL BLU updating the production with sonic influences from UK drill bringing it forward into 2021. The record continues to tackle themes of police stop and search, racial profiling and Black Lives Matter, which are all as relevant today as they were back when the original version was released.
In line with the track, the pair have also released their pioneering new documentary ‘Routine Check’ which stars the artists alongside the likes of rapper/podcaster Margs, DJ/presenter Joey Clipstar, Mentivity founder Sayce Holmes and other British cultural figures who speak about their own experiences with police, systemic racism and racial profiling.
Speaking about the documentary and new single, iLL BLU say: ‘The sparks created by George Floyd’s death which led to the global BLM protests last year made us feel compelled to speak out through our music to continue the conversation and raise awareness about racial profiling and systemic racism that black and ethnic minorities face everyday at the hands of the police in the UK. Linking up with The Mitchell Brothers, we have revamped and brought forward the classic track ‘Routine Check’ featuring Sneakbo. We thought it was fitting for the times we are living in right now. Although we have seen racism covered a great deal in the news, this is a subject that is deep rooted and we are not naive that this will be solved immediately without people continuing the conversation on the matter. We hope the track and accompanying documentary will help to continue the dialogue challenge and education to get us to start putting solutions in place where we can change the way police improve the way they treat the black community’.
The release follows iLL BLU’s recent productions “Magic” ft. OFB and ‘Dumpa’ which both saw playlist adds at BBC 1Xtra and chart positions in the Official UK singles chart. Since 2008, iLL BLU have continued to push the envelope and were the masterminds behind “Chop My Money” featuring Krept & Konan, ZieZie and Loski and have been working with the likes of Geko, James Morrison, JP Cooper, Not3s, Kyla, IAMDDB and Young T & Bugsey. Along with this the pair have been working closely with MoStack on his singles ‘Liar Liar’ and ‘What I Wanna’ as well as producing 9 tracks on his ‘Stacko’ album which reached #3 in the UK charts including ‘Shine Girl’ ft. Stormzy. The producers have gone far beyond their UK Funky origins, branching out across the scene, becoming a staple name in UK rap.
‘Routine Check 2.0’ kicks off a statement of intent for 2021 as iLL BLU prepare to release more music, the release of their debut project “The BluPrint” and continue to push their creative boundaries. Stay tuned for further iLL BLU announcements coming soon.
