Converse Music Presents: Frank Ocean, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon & Diplo - "HERO" (The Clash)

"Their musical anarchy and constant attitude to disregard rules and forge their own path was inspirational to me. [The Clash] meant death to genres, music, and message above everything," Diplo lamented about collaborators Mick Jones & Paul Simonon in a pre-release statement. Following the track's initial announcement this past Friday, "HERO" was unleashed early Monday morning as part of Converse's annual Three Artists, One Song collaborative campaign. It was presumably produced by Mad Decent founder Diplo and was one of five tracks recorded recently between London, Hawaii, and Los Angeles; Basic tracks for "HERO" were recorded at Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn's Studio 13, whom Jones and Simonon had previously worked with on Plastic Beach (2010). Fans of the newly-forged super-group's past works with recognize familiar elements of Hip-Hop-infused R&B, 1980's Punk Rock, and Reggae-Fusion, but I wouldn't really liken "HERO" to any of their previous works. It seamlessly melds together a meandering Punk-Reggae guitar rhythm that's vaguely reminiscent of Combat Rock, which suddenly shifts direction a little after the one-minute mark, right after a quick "Rap-Rock" coda from pseudo-frontman Frank Ocean. Converse vice president Geoff Cottrill tells Rolling Stone that Frank Ocean, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon & Diplo are collectively working on a music video to accompany "HERO"'s FREE-release, but it's unclear where the other four recorded out-takes will eventually end up; "Maybe we'll give them to Madonna," Diplo cleverly quipped.