Pac-Man (Gorillaz song)

"Pac-Man" (stylised as "PAC-MAN") is a song by British virtual band Gorillaz featuring American rapper Schoolboy Q. The track was released on 20 July 2020 as the sixth single for Gorillaz' seventh studio album, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, and the fifth episode of the Song Machine project, a web series involving the ongoing release of various Gorillaz tracks featuring different guest musicians over the course of 2020.[6][7][8]

"Pac-Man"
Single by Gorillaz featuring Schoolboy Q
from the album Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez
Released20 July 2020 (2020-07-20)
RecordedJanuary 2020
StudioStudio 13
Genre
Length3:13
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Gorillaz singles chronology
"Friday 13th"
(2020)		 "Pac-Man"
(2020)		 "Strange Timez"
(2020)
Schoolboy Q singles chronology
"Chase the Money"
(2019)		 "Pac-Man"
(2020)
Music video
"PAC-MAN" on YouTube

Background

The song was recorded in London, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the arcade game, Pac-Man.[9]

Music video

The video, directed by Jamie Hewlett, Tim McCourt, and Max Taylor, features the band members inside Kong Studios, the band's fictional headquarters. 2-D is in the game room playing the Pac-Man arcade game, Russel does some boxing with a punching bag, Murdoc is in the basement, sitting inside an orgone accumulator, and Noodle is on the recording studio couch with her mobile phone while Schoolboy Q records his verse. As 2-D continues to play the arcade game for nine hours, all of his bandmates feel the effects of the arcade game, such as Murdoc looking outside his accumulator, Russel pausing from punching as though he heard something, and Noodle changing art styles, switching to an anime-esque style and then a Peanuts-like character. Eventually at the end of the video, Noodle goes down to the game room and unplugs the Pac-Man arcade game, leaving 2-D confused.

The video incorporates many references to the arcade game, including:

  • The arcade cabinet artwork is sightly redrawn with Murdoc as the ghost and 2-D as Pac-Man.
  • Murdoc is wearing Pac-Man underwear.
  • The arcade game portrays the band members as 8-bit characters, with 2-D as Pac-Man and Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde replaced with the faces of Murdoc, Russel, and Noodle.

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsProducersLength
1."Machine Bitez #9" (with 2-D, Murdoc and Russel)  0:45
2."PAC-MAN" (featuring Schoolboy Q)
3:13
3."Machine Bitez #10" (with 2-D, Murdoc and Russel)  0:44
4."Machine Bitez #11" (with 2-D and Schoolboy Q)  1:38
Total length:6:20

Personnel

Gorillaz

  • Damon Albarn – vocals, backing vocals, instrumentation, director, keyboards, bass, guitar, synthesizer, drums, percussion
  • Jamie Hewlett – artwork, character design, video direction
  • Remi Kabaka Jr. – percussion, drums

Additional musicians and personnel

  • Schoolboy Q – vocals
  • Prince Paul – backing vocals, engineering
  • John Smythe – guitar
  • Weathrman – bass, keyboards, synthesizer
  • Stephen Sedgwick – mixing engineer, engineering
  • Samuel Egglenton – engineering
  • John Davis – mastering engineer
  • Elvin "Wit" Shahbazian – engineering

Charts
Chart (2020) Peak
position
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[10] 30

References
  1. https://www.spin.com/2020/07/gorillaz-release-pac-man-with-an-assist-from-schoolboy-q/
  2. Broerman, Michael. "Gorillaz Get Retro With "PAC-MAN" Ft. ScHoolboy Q [Watch]". Liveforlivemusic. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  3. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/gorillaz-schoolboy-q-honor-arcade-classic-pac-man-on-new-song-1030712/amp/
  4. Broerman, Michael. "Gorillaz Get Retro With "PAC-MAN" Ft. ScHoolboy Q [Watch]". Liveforlivemusic. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  5. Mamo, Heran. "Gorillaz Tap ScHoolboy Q for Eye-Straining 'Pac-Man' Track: Watch". Billboard. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  6. Blistein, Jon (29 January 2020). "Gorillaz Detail New Music, Video Series 'Song Machine'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  7. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/gorillaz-schoolboy-q-honor-arcade-classic-pac-man-on-new-song-1030712/
  8. Mamo, Heran. "Gorillaz Tap ScHoolboy Q for Eye-Straining 'Pac-Man' Track: Watch". Billboard. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  9. "Gorillaz, Schoolboy Q Honor Arcade Classic Pac-Man on New Song". Rolling Stone. 20 July 2020.
  10. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
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