Mary J. Blige is working on her follow-up to last year's critically acclaimed London Sessions and fans of the R&B singer are getting a sneak peak into the recording studio as she and frequent collaborator RØMANS rework his song "Overthinking" into a duet.
Vulture debuted the collaboration earlier today in a video clip that has RØMANS (né Sam Roman) discussing how the song came together. The British songwriter worked with Blige before on her London Sessions single "Doubt." He's also worked with other acclaimed artists like Disclosure, Gorgon City and John Legend.
This summer he made his own solo debut with the EP Overthinking Part 1, a teaser for the full-length soul release to come soon. Blige was instantly attracted to the tune and the two decided to rework the song into a duet with a new verse for Blige, creating a brand-new version of the song.
In the clip you can see Blige and RØMANS writing the verse as the queen of hip-hop, soul music tells him "I'm not overthinking, I know what I want, so I'm asking you why are you overthinking?" The new verse creates that back-and-forth tension that elevates the song to the next level.
You can hear the track underneath the interview and studio work of the clip, which was all recorded and filmed on the spot in the studio.
RØMANS' debut LP is set for release sometime next year, while Blige hopes to release her album at a later date. No word yet on an official release for this particular track, but hopefully fans will get to hear it in full without the background distractions soon.
We do know that Blige is continuing her work over in the U.K., where the soul singer has said in the past she feels freer to express herself and her music.
