Tom Misch’s “It Runs Through Me”: South London Soul Meets De La Soul

“It Runs Through Me” is the De La Soul collaboration from Tom Misch, the singer, guitarist and producer from South London, England, and it appears on his 2018 debut album Geography. Its music video, released in October 2018, drops Misch and his band into a retro 1970s recording session, with De La Soul’s Posdnuos showing up to deliver his verse.

A South London Kid With a Hip-Hop Wishlist

Misch was born in London in 1995 and grew up in Dulwich, a neighborhood in the city’s south. Before his album, he built a following with self-released instrumental projects, including Beat Tape 1 in 2014 and Beat Tape 2 in 2015, all through his own label, Beyond the Groove. He plays guitar, violin, bass, drums and saxophone on top of singing, which explains why his records sound like a full band even when he is the one stacking the parts.

The rap feature almost went a different way. Misch told NME he first hoped Q-Tip would jump on the track. When that never happened, De La Soul got in touch, and the veteran hip-hop group ended up on one of the album’s standout cuts.

What Does “It Runs Through Me” Sound Like?

NME called it a “bouncy, samba-flavoured track,” and that is the best shorthand: a loose Latin groove, smooth jazz-leaning guitar from Misch and laid-back rap from De La Soul. Reuben James played keys on the original recording. The song was released as a single on March 1, 2018, the fourth preview of Geography after “South of the River,” “Movie” and “Water Baby.”

Inside the ’70s-Style Video

The clip was shot at The Pool, a tracking studio run by Miloco in London, and styled like a session from decades earlier, with period clothes, warm studio wood and vintage gear. Misch explained to Northern Transmissions that he had been deep in funk and soul from the ’70s and ’80s and wanted the video to carry that era’s look. Posdnuos, also known as Plug 1, appears on a wood-panel TV screen to rap his part, a nice nod to how De La Soul has always mixed humor with craft.

How Did Geography Do?

Very well for a debut. Geography came out April 6, 2018, reached No. 8 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Jazz Albums chart in the U.S., and was later certified Gold in the UK. Critics were broadly positive, giving it a Metacritic score of 73. NME described the album’s songs as circling romance and longing, written before a breakup that later changed what they meant to him.

Quick answers

What album is “It Runs Through Me” on? Tom Misch’s debut album Geography, released April 6, 2018.

Who raps on “It Runs Through Me”? De La Soul is the featured act, with Posdnuos delivering the verse seen in the video.

Where is Tom Misch from? London, England. He was born there in 1995 and grew up in Dulwich in South London.

Sources

Wikipedia — “Geography (Tom Misch album)”

NME — “Tom Misch: “Me and Loyle Carner definitely wanna do a little joint tape together””

Northern Transmissions — ““It Runs Through Me” Tom Misch ft De La Soul”