Like Some Lame Remix Project
Justin replies to my correction: “none of it disputes the fact that the Grey Album heavily samples the Beatle's White Album without permission. I may have fumbled some of my points, but I am most interested in the real legal implications of music such as this because I like it. The more I listen to the record the more I think it is groundbreaking, but it is important not to trample upon other artists' works.”
The legal implications are being discussed at length, and rightly so: the greatest rock band in history and one of the greatest rappers in history were combined to make something that may appeal to generations that grew up on either. The legal implications have to do with copyright, but are also cultural implications. How many people are discovering The Beatles (The White Album) through the "rap version" of it, and how many people are going to think that The Grey Album was the original? I can only speak for myself, but the prospect of Jay-Z's The Black Album wasn't very compelling other than the Timbaland and Neptunes productions, but, before listening to The Grey Album, I hadn't heard any of the original beats. (Still haven't.) Most rap fans will probably have heard the original first, but not me: I'm going to hear the originals and, despite knowing intellectually that what I'm hearing is the beat Jay-Z wanted, that the "original", almost metal version of "99 Problems" that uses "Helter Skelter" as its basis, rocks so much more than its real original?? For a lot of Internet geeks, and especially Internet geeks into hiphop, The Grey Album will feel like the way Jay-Z intended the album to be, and The Black Album will seem like some lame remix project.
