While it has yet to be officially confirmed, Jay-Z is reportedly working on the score for Baz Luhrmann’s highly anticipated film adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Jeymes Samuel of The Bullitts let the proverbial cat out of the bag with an enthusiastic tweet, raving about the work that he’s doing with the iconic rapper.
“Jay-Z and myself have been working tirelessly on the score for the upcoming #CLASSIC The Great Gatsby!” Samuel tweeted just before the New Year. “It is too DOPE for words!”
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, the film is expected to be one of the cinematic events of the year.
Obviously, many people wouldn’t expect a movie based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel about a mysterious millionaire playboy living in 1920s Long Island to have an (ahem) “urban” soundtrack. But Jay-Z, oddly enough, seems to fit with the story’s themes of New York elitism and affluence.
Maybe this could lead to other rapper-dominated soundtracks for films based on classic American literature? A new Gone With the Wind with an entire soundtrack of T.I. songs? What about an all-DMX Grapes of Wrath?
Either way, The Great Gatsby is just the latest in a long line of “white” movies that have “blacker” soundtracks than one might expect. Here are 10 of them …
–stereo williams
