Jay-Z is known for many things, but arranging the soundtracks for movies is not one of them. That is until now.
Jay-Z, has teamed up with filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, who directed “Romeo + Juliet” and “Moulin Rouge!,” to score his upcoming adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.”
With his well-known love for the city and lavish lifestyle, Jay-Z seems to be the right man to create the sound for the movie that is set in 1920s New York City. He is one of the people that have come to define American music and plans on bringing a modern twist to the soundtrack by merging older jazz-age music with contemporary hip-hop.
“As soon as I spoke with Baz and Leonardo, I knew this was the right project,” Jay-Z said in a press release from Reuters. “’The Great Gatsby’ is that classic American story of one’s introduction to extravagance, decadence and illusion. It’s ripe for experimentation and ready to be interpreted with a modern twist. The imagination Baz brought to ‘Moulin Rouge!’ made it a masterpiece, and ‘Romeo + Juliet’s’ score wasn’t just in the background; the music became a character.”
This project has been in the making for two years and Jay-Z has been collaborating with composer Craig Armstrong, who worked with Luhrmann on “Moulin Rouge!” and “Romeo + Juliet,” and music supervisor Anon Monsted.
This isn’t Jay-Z’s first stint with Hollywood. He has an extensive IMDB page, working on everything from soundtracks to acting and producing. A 2012 trailer for the new movie features his and Kanye West’s song “No Church In The Wild” suggesting that there will be more big names on the soundtrack.
“The Great Gatsby,” in theatres on May 10, stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan and Tobey Maguire as the narrator Nick Carraway.
This is the link to the trailer:
