Tuesday, November 09, 2004

CLASSICAL RAP

After rap star Jay-Z released a seperate album of acapella versions of songs from his latest release "The Black Album," a flurry of remix/mash-ups projects ensued, setting Z's vocals to a variety of musics. But none was more unlikely then the Baker Bros' free online release "The Classical Album." Yup, Jay-Z rhymin' over mostly 20th century classical...er...classics - from Ravel, Mahler, and Stravinsky, to more avant-garde cats like Conlon Nancarrow and Steve Reich. Although sometimes it's a train-wreck of hopelessly incompatible styles, New York's Baker Bros do pull it off on tracks like "Glass Off Your Shoulders," in which a Phillip Glass string quartet chugs along nicely under Mr. Z.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed this. I am a music teacher who was trying to find rap music that uses classical music underneath it. I found this album... Although I can't use it in class (lots of bad language) it was VERY well done!

Mr Fab said...

Good! Email me if you want a Philip Glass vs rap collection.

Anonymous said...

"Ill-Conceived P.D.Q. Bach Anthology" This is exactly what you are looking for....