Back in April, Swizz Beatz unveiled the second installment of the Mass Appeal-led Hip Hop 50 series, a six-song offering that follows DJ Premier’s 2022 drop, Hip Hop 50: Vol. 1. On Monday (May 22), Swizz liberated a visual from his EP for the self-produced standout “Take ‘Em Out,” which features Jadakiss, Benny The Butcher, and Scar Lip. Borrowing from ONYX and DMX, the hard-hitting cut sees all parties delivering their best bars to date — this is especially the case in regard to Scar Lip’s closing verse.
“Pretty face, slim waist, a** fatter than Selena, dark girl, real tall, break necks, have you seen her? And I make him eat the, huh, like he a cannabis eater, you know what to do with me, frontin’ like you cool with me, trickin’ n**gas, robbin’ n**gas, this ain’t nothin’ new to me, man, you’s a b**ch, comin’ ’round with the same s**t, on the same corner, with the same drip…”
Directed by Prime.2, the accompanying clip for “Take ‘Em Out” sticks with a black-and-white setting. Viewers can see Swizz and his collaborators in an all-white room, delivering their verses from a hanging microphone as shots of NYC are interspersed throughout.
In an interview with Billboard, Swizz spoke on how be became a part of the Hip Hop 50 series. “Blame Nas! One day, me and him were kicking it, and he told me Mass Appeal was going to have a lot to do with Hip Hop 50,” the Ruff Ryders alum explained. “‘We got this concept with all the producers, and you gotta be the producer that represents New York.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘Premier is going to represent a different place, [along with] you, Hit-Boy and a couple other people.’ I said, ‘Okay. Cool.'”
Press play on “Take ‘Em Out” below.