Turns out, “The Godfather of Soul” and “The King of New York” go pretty damn well together. That insight comes courtesy of producer/DJ Amerigo Gazaway, who combined the music of hip-hop legend The Notorious B.I.G. and iconic bandleader/performer James Brown on his 2019 mashup album, The Notorious JB’s – The B.I.G. Payback.
While many of these sorts of mashup projects come off as forced, the ease with which the music of these two inimitable showmen fits together is uncanny. The match becomes apparent quickly, as the album’s intro intercuts Biggie’s intro narration from “The Sky Is The Limit” with snippets of Brown’s onstage hollers to create the illusion of the rapper introducing a collaboration with the Godfather (i.e. B.I.G.: “I like this young man, because when he came out, he came out with the phrase…” Brown: “You know I feel all right…” B.I.G. “Ha ha, I like that”).
With a wealth of Brown and Biggie ad-libs, Godfather soul vamps, and nimble Notorious B.I.G. lyrics to pull from, Gazaway finds a perfect match for each song selected from each artist’s catalog. The album kicks off in earnest with the cleverly named “Big Poppa’s Got A Brand New Bag”, which throws Big’s famous “Big Poppa” verses over Brown’s hit, “Papas Got A Brand New Bag”. Somehow, it makes the familiar backing track and the oft-quoted lyrics feel new again, decades later.
The Notorious J.B.’s experiment continues from there with “Sex Machine Gun Funk” (“Sex Machine” and “Machine Gun Funk”), and the musical combination works just as well as the titular wordplay. Watch the official videos for the James Brown/Biggie mashup album’s first two tracks below:
The Notorious B.I.G. x James Brown (Amerigo Gazaway) – “B.I.G. Poppa’s Got A Brand New Bag” – Official Video
[Video: Amerigo Gazaway]
The Notorious B.I.G. x James Brown (Amerigo Gazaway) – “Sex Machine Gun Funk”
[Video: Amerigo Gazaway]
The Notorious J.B.’s: The B.I.G. Payback – Full Album
The post ‘The Notorious J.B.’s – The B.I.G. Payback’: The James Brown/Biggie Smalls Mashup Album We’ve Been Missing [Listen] appeared first on L4LM.
