Oasis and Blur have a storied history of name-calling and fallouts throughout the 1990s, a rivalry which peaked via a chart battle when the former's single "Roll With It" came out on the same day as the latter's "Country House" – dubbed the 1995 ‘Battle of Britpop'. The Albarn-led group eventually nabbed the No. 1 spot on the U.K. Singles Chart.

Albarn predicted the reunion two years ago when Blur was in the middle of promoting their reunion record, The Ballad of Darren. When speaking to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, he reiterated that he was right.