Chase Matthew dropped his highly-anticipated, genre-blending collaboration with Waka Flocka Flame to kick off the weekend on Friday (June 26).

The country star started teasing his crossover single in late May, teasing that fans would “never guess who I got on this song.” Matthew, 28, hinted that his mystery partner on “the craziest collab” was “a rap artist,” and “NOBODY in country has a song with this guy,” until now. The “Darlin’” artist revealed Waka Flocka joined him on “Hard Liquor” earlier this month, and has been stirring anticipation with sneak peeks ever since.

“Chase is my friend, man. That's a real friend,” Waka Flocka Flame, 40, said in an interview with iHeartRadio during the Country Music Association’s CMA Fest in Nashville, Tennessee. “That's a guy I met through music and I appreciate the connection. Just the way he approached the genre, his take on it and how he felt on it and his delivery, and the persona he used on the records. He's so responsive to how it's supposed to feel and how it's supposed to sound and the mood, how you control the mood of the song. I'm like, ‘…who taught you this?!’ Yeah, he's a good kid. Great kid. Great, great person.”

Matthew also spoke highly of Waka Flocka and the duo’s collaboration when he caught up with iHeart’s Brooke Taylor at the iHeartCountry House Party at Miranda Lambert's Casa Rosa during CMA Fest. Matthew said at that time, “I met Waka Flocka Flame at Stagecoach this year. …Who wouldn’t want to do a song with Waka Flocka Flame?” He said Waka Flocka thought the song was “great” as soon as he heard it. The two of them teamed up on “Hard Liquor,” “and we’ve been buddies ever since,” Matthew said during CMA Fest earlier this month.

During the Country Music Association’s massive festival Waka Flocka debuted another collaboration, “45,” with EDM-country DJ duo Country Night and genre-blending singer-songwriter Jake Banfield. He took the stage for a free, at-capacity performance, and joined Matthew as a surprise guest to debut “Hard Liquor” for the crowd before the song’s official release. Find Matthew’s music on iHeartRadio here.

Dave Roberts