Gorillaz Reunite With D12 & Break Out Rarities In Detroit

Gorillaz enlisted Detroit collaborators for two bust-outs at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night. D12’s Kuniva and Swifty McVay joined the band for the first “911” since 2002, while Danny Brown helped revive “Submission” for the first time in nine years.

The reunion with D12 came during the encore of the Detroit stop on The Mountain Tour. Before “911,” Gorillaz performed a shortened, Proof-focused version of “The Manifesto,” a track from their latest album, The Mountain, that features the late D12 rapper Proof. “Rest in peace, Proof!” Swifty McVay said as he arrived for “911.”

Gorillaz recorded “911” with D12 and Terry Hall in 2001 after the September 11 attacks left the Detroit hip-hop group stranded in England. The collaboration debuted live with D12 at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom on February 28, 2002. According to setlist.fm, Gorillaz last performed the song at the Isle of MTV festival in Lisbon, Portugal on July 20, 2002, with Phi-Life Cypher handling the rap vocals.

Earlier in the evening, fellow Detroit rapper Danny Brown emerged for “Submission.” The song appeared on Gorillaz’s 2017 album Humanz, with Brown and Kelela featured on the studio recording. Wednesday marked its first documented performance since October 4, 2017 at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.

Damon Albarn and company opened with the title track from The Mountain. Other collaborations included Kara Jackson on “Orange County,” Little Simz on “Garage Palace,” De La Soul’s Posdnuos on “Superfast Jellyfish” and Bootie Brown on “Stylo.” The main set ended with “The Sad God.”

“Cloud Of Unknowing” launched the encore before Del the Funky Homosapien joined Gorillaz for “Rock The House.” After “The Manifesto” and the D12 reunion, Bootie Brown returned for “Dirty Harry,” Posdnuos contributed to “Feel Good Inc.” and Del helped finish the night with “Clint Eastwood.”

The Detroit collaborations followed a guest-filled Madison Square Garden show last week. Gorillaz continue The Mountain Tour tonight at Chicago’s United Center.

Watch footage of “911” and “Submission,” along with full-show video, below: