September 17, 2009
Jay-Z + Nico-M = Hip-Hop
In the past, we at Brassland headquarters figured that Baby Dayliner was about as hip-hop as any artist on the roster would get. But consider this: At the encore for last week's 802 Tour show in Harlem, Nico Muhly played Mariah Carey's "My All" and joined Doveman and Sam Amidon in a rendition of R. Kelly's "Relief." This followed hot on the heels of Jay-Z's recent claim that indie rock could "push hip-hop to go even further."
With that in mind, this week's Pitchfork review of Hova's new album The Blueprint 3 brought up a musical partnership that we found particularly intriguing:
"...Jay-Z's probably right about about his claim this year that hip-hop could learn a thing or two from indie rock, even if he's purposefully vague about what that actually means. Should rappers start booking studio time with, like, Nico Muhly?"
How about that? It's safe to say that no one would consider Brassland the next Def Jam, but now that the possibility of this superfresh collaboration has hypothetically/rhetorically been mentioned on the web, never say "never." If the picture at left is any indication, we could use a little street cred.