By Tai Saint Louis
The recent release of Coldplay's "Lost" remix featuring Jay-Z has inspired a new project which crafts previously released material by both acts, into completely new material.
The project, titled Viva La Hova, is the brainchild of frequent collaborators Mick Boogie and Terry Urban.
The nineteen track mixtape will be available for download at midnight tonight at www.vivalahova.com.
"Jay and [Coldplay frontman] Chris [Martin] represent all that is right with modern music and art and have collaborated a few times in recent years to great results," Mick Boogie told AllHipHop.com. "So why not extend that concept over an entire album? I thought when Danger Mouse did the Grey Album, it was just remarkable. And while I didn’t like every song on there, when it was on, it was absolutely some of the most amazing stuff I had heard. Same with the Jay-Z/Linkin Park project. So we tried to take a collaboration that was already organic and make it real and also extend that quality level throughout the entire project."
In addition to landing their own talent as producers, Mick and Urban recruited the talents of progressive and up-and-coming producers who they felt best grasped the concept they were aiming for.
The beatsmiths, including 9th Wonder, The Amps, Cookin' Soul, Gooch, The Kickdrums, and nVMe were each assigned samples and snippets of Coldplay songs from which to create new tracks.
The results where then painstakingly matched up with Jay-Z lyrics to create the finished songs "No Love "Hola Blanco," a combination of Jay-Z's "Hola Hovito" and Coldplay's "White Shadows."
"As we began piecing together the correct verses to match the correct beats, it became clear how truly amazing this project really is," Mick Boogie boasted "This is what real music is supposed to sound like. The lyrical elegance of Shawn Carter, the vocal magic of Chris Martin, the finely tuned instruments of Coldplay, the creative visions by our team of producers, and lastly, our analysis of which Jay verse best fit each track. If you love Jay-Z and you're not into Coldplay, this is for you. If you love Coldplay, but don't mess with Hip-Hop, this is for you. If you love all good music, this is definitely for you. We hope this project bridges the gap between genres, fans, and generations."
Mick Boogie and Terry Urban previously collaborated on similar mashup projects, including The Graduate, a combination of Kanye West lyrics and 9th Wonder beats.
Check out a preview of Viva La Hova in the Media Zone.