There was probably a point in your life when you jumped up from your unkempt twin sized bed and wondered why no one had ever thought of rapping over Radiohead instrumentals – or maybe not.
In fact, this may seem like a bad idea at first, but so did raw fish until you tried sushi, right?
DJ Minty Fresh Beats, also known as Max Tannone, was the person who finally took initiative and created Jaydiohead – a mashup featuring various Jay Z and Radiohead songs.
I can’t think of anyone better to rap over Radiohead. Radiohead, unarguably one of the greatest rock bands of our time, and their rap counterpart Jay Z make for a delicious mix. The 10 track album mixes songs like Jay Z’s “No Hook” and Radiohead’s “Karma Police”. Tannone has created some magical music.
Jay Z might as well have a mashup department somewhere in his business model. Besides Radiohead, his vocals have been put over the likes of Weezer, Metallica, Coldplay, Prince, Pavement and even Oasis. Most of these passed over the public nearly unnoticed, thus inducing a collective sigh when Jaydiohead came out – “Another Jay Z mashup?”
But, shockingly enough, Jaydiohead is actually likeable! Jay Z himself revealed through his Twitter that he thinks there are a few “real gems” on the album, and while some of the tracks sound a little forced, eargasm inducing tracks like “99 Anthems” and “Wrong Prayer” make up for any musical mistakes on Tannone’s part.
As brilliant as the album is, Tannone is by no means doing something new. DJ Danger Mouse attempted something very similar a few years ago with The Grey Album – a mashup of Jay Z’s The Black Album and the Beatles’ White Album, leading to instant Internet fame and a cease and desist order from EMI Group. Like Jaydiohead, the Grey Album stands out as a mashup by being made up of samples entirely from two artists. In both cases, a perfect marriage of rock and rap was created, giving Rage Against the Machine a run for their money.
And while Tannone and DJ Danger Mouse may have truly taken some serious adventures in awesome, no one – and I repeat no one – knows sampling like Girl Talk knows sampling. Also known as Gregg Gillis, Girl Talk uses a dozen or more unauthorized samples to create each of his tracks. There probably is no other place Nas, Weezer, Usher, Britney Spears, Radiohead and of course Jay Z have all met other than a Girl Talk album. The product is a spectacular kick-in-your-shins culture jamming that has the same rebellious nature as wearing two different colored socks – with sandals, bitches.
Sampling does have a history beyond Radiohead and Jay Z of course. Though it started as early as the 1960s, sampling became easier and more necessary as technology and music progressed. As live studio bands were phased out in the 80s, DJs started making records simply from samples.
David Bryne, former frontman of the Talking Heads, often called a pioneer in sampling and always called an artist at heart. With Brian Eno, the 1981 album “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” took old music, music from around the world and just downright strange music to create something new. And as we discuss Jaydiohead and Girl Talk, this may not seem very novel, but in 1981 this was sheer innovation, and maybe a little confusing.
Though sampling was sometimes a little simpler, just lifting a bassline or guitar riff here and there, by the 90s sampling was a musical cornerstone to record making – Vanilla Ice did it to Queen and David Bowie while The Verve did it to The Rolling Stones. More recently (and more laughable) is Rihanna’s “SOS” which samples Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love”.
At this point, the idea of having a studio band even seems a bit nonconformist, doesn’t it?
In the 2000s, we have seen sampling blossom into the mashup, which has practically become a musical genre in its own rite. In the end, music not only builds upon itself but somehow comes full circle. Now all we need is a Jay Z and Elvis Presley mashup to prove it.
The album and The Encore are available for download for free at jaydiohead.com.
Tags: Danger Mouse, David Byrne, Girl Talk, Jay Z, Jaydiohead, Mashup, Radiohead, Sampling