GREY MATTER

This week I did my part for Sticking It To The Man by downloading The Grey Album, a much hyped fusion of Jay-Z’s Black Album and the Beatles' White Album which has been causing quite a stir on the internet. Even the New York Times (in a bid to be the Vibe of the Mensa set) has written of it and Rolling Stone calls it “ingenious”. Under the banner of Cultural Fascination, my interest was piqued. Was this unlikely merger an eye-opener?

I’ll be honest - Rap and/or Jay-Z hold zero interest for me, partially for political reasons but also for “musical” tastes. I’m open, however, to be proven wrong. Who knows, maybe there’s some secret I’ve missed and who better than a forty year old English band to reveal my oversight.

Problem is, I’m not that familiar with the White Album either. In fact after reviewing the Track List, I recognized only 4 songs (Back in the USSR, Birthday, Revolution and Helter Skelter). Considering the whole point of The Grey Album lay somewhere in it’s irony, my ignorance of both sources could prove detrimental. Let’s watch a musical combining Ukraine Wedding Songs and Civil War History! Uh, ok.

The Grey Album, while not an epiphany personally, is interesting. The Beatles' contribution was negligent to my untrained ear with little sounding like any Beatles' song I’m familiar with. If I was an avid Fab Four Fan, I may have oohed and ahhed over the clever sampling but alas, I am not. All of it did, to it's credit, sound like something people on drugs could have produced which was authentic enough for me.

As for Jay-Z, I never thought I would hear the words “Martha Stewart”, “Vera Wang” and “James Dean” used in Rap but shows what I know. Without a doubt, he does seem to have a lot to say. Like any good listener, I took from his lectures what I could and all was not lost as Jay-Z does offer some good Life Advice. One, “Stop shaving coke”. Done. Two, ”Stay away from Hos”. Check. Three, “Put down the toast”. I will, I promise, as soon as I’m finished with the butter.

3:02:59 PM    sro home /