The Grey Album

[Hampton]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - When rap great Jay-Z released his retirement opus 'The Black Album' last year, a hip-hop remixer called Danger Mouse had an idea -- why not meld the blackness of rap with the Beatles' classic 'White Album?'

The resulting 'Grey Album -- an unlikely mix of the often explicit lyrics of Jay-Z with samples of music from the Beatles' 1968 classic -- has become an underground hit among hip-hop aficionados.

But without permission from either the rapper or the Beatles, this is one album you can't buy in local stores.

Over the course of two weeks filled with 12-hour days, he remixed Beatles favorites like 'Helter Skelter,' 'Back in the U.S.S.R.' and quirkier ditties like 'Piggies,' stripping out the vocals and creating samples and loops that often bore little resemblance to the original songs.

Few copies were available in specialty record stores for disc jockeys, but the album quickly became a club favorite and garnered acclaim and popularity among users of Internet file-sharing programs.

Burton, as well as many of the music providers who were selling the album, have received "cease-and-desist" letters from EMI Group, the Beatles' record to stop production.

Download it here. (http://www.illegal-art.org/audio/grey.html)

[Rastafari]

that sounds really cool, actually. I'll drop a full report when I listen to it. Rocky Racoon should be a good one. :)

[Danton]

Danger mouse?

[canikickit]

I like the idea a lot. I'll download it and have a listen.
I'm not a Jay Z fan however.

[Hampton]

I'm not a big fan of Jay Z either, I usally turn the radio off when he comes on, but, his rapping over 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps"(Track 2) is really catchy and a break from the same rececyled beats that he usally has.

[andresG]

Anyone know if that rumor of a 9th Wonder remix of The Black Album is true?

[Hampton]

Tis true, it's called Black Is Back, he has this to say about it:

“I am trying to keep it (remix LP) away from the Net. I know that maybe impossible to do in the times we live in, but I am trying to see how much hip-hop lives. I gave the remix too one guy in D.C., one guy on tour, one guy in my hometown, in order to take it back to hip-hop's origin (where you had your man dub you a copy of the latest shit from tape) with very strict instructions, burn a copy for whoever and mail it, just don’t use the Net. It’s not being implemented across the board, people in my hometown are already bootlegging it and selling it, but I’m trying to see if the spirit of hip-hop is alive. I’m doing this for the love of hip-hop.”

Prolly be all over the next in a week or two.

[andresG]

Thanks Hampton, you're one hell of a helpful dude.


As for that remix LP,
my ears are watering in anticipation.


:blink:

[Alejandro C]

What's this? i actually liked listening to jay-z... fuck, anyone that can make that happen should be hailed as a savior. this album is tiiigghht.

[j.guevara]

the best black album remixes are done by a guy named Knoe, amazing stuff. If you can try to download his remix of december fourth and threats.

[Rastafari]

about 6 tracks were really tight. The others were just average I guess.

I don't know too much about this kind of music (The Beatles :)), but I'd say it's pretty good overall.