12/12/07 - Jay-Z's American Gangster Goes 'Godfather' With DJ Skee's Help

J-Banks · 12-12-2007, 08:54 PM

Jay-Z's American Gangster Goes 'Godfather' With DJ Skee's Help

Skee combined Hov's a cappella tracks with 'Godfather' soundtrack.

By Shaheem Reid and Jayson Rodriguez

Remember the frenzy in the mixtape circuit and on the Internet when Jay-Z released an a cappella version of his 2003 "retirement" LP, The Black Album? A plethora of DJs, including Gnarls Barkley's Danger Mouse, had a field day taking Hov's beatless rhymes and pairing them with new original tracks or famous instrumentals by other artists.

Well, Jigga has done it again, this time with his latest release, American Gangster. The first big-name DJ to jump on it is Los Angeles' DJ Skee, who's made a name for himself in the underground by making mixtapes with the Game. Skee's new street album marries Jay's American Gangster with the biggest gangster movie of all time, "The Godfather." Yes, Skee and his producers have taken music from the film and reworked it as new soundscapes for Jay-Z's narrative lyrics. The American Godfather will be available online beginning Friday.

"It almost instantly clicked," Skee told MTV News about the idea for the mash-up. "I almost didn't want to do it because I didn't want to do something so cliché. I was like, 'Wait, I already had "The Godfather" musical score.' I listen to it because it has so many ill melodies and breakdowns and emotions. It's crazy the way it's put together. And I thought we could sample it like crazy. And I thought, still, should we do it? But everyone thought the idea was dope and I had nothing to lose, and it came out dope."

Skee had some help along the way. The DJ birthed the idea three weeks ago when Def Jam announced it would be releasing the a cappella tracks as an alternate LP, American Gangster Acappella, which dropped earlier this month. But he really only buckled down 10 days ago to get it done. Producers Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell (Dru Hill, Mos Def), THX, Ervin "EP" Pope, Rome and Tommy Gunnz manned the boards on several of the tracks, including one of the standouts, Hov's "Say Hello," which Campbell mixed with a popular waltz from "The Godfather." Skee's partner DJ Reflex also assisted in putting some of the tracks together.

"We're taking one good gangster movie and switching it with the greatest one of all time," Skee explained. "But the production is like an album. We went in real studios and did a bunch of joints, and it turned out crazy.

"I wanted to make it like a real movie," he added, referring to the project's YouTube trailer. "When you hear the intro, [there are] different skits in between, scenes from 'The Godfather' playing between the songs. I wanted to make it like a mixtape because I like mixing and DJing and doing some stuff. But this is so good, I did a couple transitions, but you can pop it in and you can play it all the way straight through. This isn't even like a mixtape. This is gonna be one of the best albums of the year."

Source-MTV

Tony Feudo · 12-12-2007, 09:07 PM

Props on the info Duke

straightgorrilla · 12-12-2007, 10:30 PM

Damn imma forshore try to cop that

Raskae · 12-12-2007, 10:52 PM

LOL...

Tommy Guns, 17 year Old BWS PRoducer WHo produced "Body Bags", and other tracks 4 Game..

EP "POPE" Who produced "Looking at you"-Game, and "U krazy" From YKWII vol 4,

Damn, Jay Z is wroking close with BWS, and others, thats good...Skee is one of the highest Paid Dj's out there.

Zhiwai · 12-12-2007, 11:33 PM

Props on this

tanknyc · 12-12-2007, 11:42 PM

props on the info

P Gizzle · 12-12-2007, 11:53 PM

props.............

2buck · 12-13-2007, 01:20 AM

DJ Skee is one of the worst DJ's nation wide, if not world wide..

Halfer · 12-13-2007, 04:05 AM

props mang

A.T.I. · 12-13-2007, 05:05 AM

interesting mash-up, will be on the look-out

risky1996 · 12-13-2007, 05:22 AM

good shit propz on the info........

twista2000 · 12-13-2007, 07:31 AM

gd lookin.. gt 2 c wat dis is sayin

ProlistikRecords · 12-13-2007, 08:35 AM

D-d-d-j Skee!

cloverg95 · 12-13-2007, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raskae

LOL...

Tommy Guns, 17 year Old BWS PRoducer WHo produced "Body Bags", and other tracks 4 Game..

EP "POPE" Who produced "Looking at you"-Game, and "U krazy" From YKWII vol 4,

Damn, Jay Z is wroking close with BWS, and others, thats good...Skee is one of the highest Paid Dj's out there.

How do you figure jay z is working close with bws? He didn't go in the studio with these guys. These producers took a cd that is jay's acapella from american gangster and put his vocals to their own mixed beats.

MaxiG · 12-13-2007, 01:39 PM

funny as hell

neomerge · 12-13-2007, 02:12 PM

sounds dope!

dimaggi7 · 12-13-2007, 08:32 PM

Skee is a crazy mofo. PROPZ

Kycrunkest · 12-15-2007, 06:45 PM

props on the info

12-12-2007, 08:54 PM	#1
J-Banks Super Moderator Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Providence, RI Posts: 21,015 Repped: 5,294 Repped 53,425 Times in 7,839 Posts Blog Entries: 1 Neg Reps: 53 Neg Repped at 93 Times in 86 Posts	12/12/07 - Jay-Z's American Gangster Goes 'Godfather' With DJ Skee's Help 12/12/07 - Jay-Z's American Gangster Goes 'Godfather' With DJ Skee's Help Jay-Z's American Gangster Goes 'Godfather' With DJ Skee's Help Skee combined Hov's a cappella tracks with 'Godfather' soundtrack. By Shaheem Reid and Jayson Rodriguez Remember the frenzy in the mixtape circuit and on the Internet when Jay-Z released an a cappella version of his 2003 "retirement" LP, The Black Album? A plethora of DJs, including Gnarls Barkley's Danger Mouse, had a field day taking Hov's beatless rhymes and pairing them with new original tracks or famous instrumentals by other artists. Well, Jigga has done it again, this time with his latest release, American Gangster. The first big-name DJ to jump on it is Los Angeles' DJ Skee, who's made a name for himself in the underground by making mixtapes with the Game. Skee's new street album marries Jay's American Gangster with the biggest gangster movie of all time, "The Godfather." Yes, Skee and his producers have taken music from the film and reworked it as new soundscapes for Jay-Z's narrative lyrics. The American Godfather will be available online beginning Friday. "It almost instantly clicked," Skee told MTV News about the idea for the mash-up. "I almost didn't want to do it because I didn't want to do something so cliché. I was like, 'Wait, I already had "The Godfather" musical score.' I listen to it because it has so many ill melodies and breakdowns and emotions. It's crazy the way it's put together. And I thought we could sample it like crazy. And I thought, still, should we do it? But everyone thought the idea was dope and I had nothing to lose, and it came out dope." Skee had some help along the way. The DJ birthed the idea three weeks ago when Def Jam announced it would be releasing the a cappella tracks as an alternate LP, American Gangster Acappella, which dropped earlier this month. But he really only buckled down 10 days ago to get it done. Producers Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell (Dru Hill, Mos Def), THX, Ervin "EP" Pope, Rome and Tommy Gunnz manned the boards on several of the tracks, including one of the standouts, Hov's "Say Hello," which Campbell mixed with a popular waltz from "The Godfather." Skee's partner DJ Reflex also assisted in putting some of the tracks together. "We're taking one good gangster movie and switching it with the greatest one of all time," Skee explained. "But the production is like an album. We went in real studios and did a bunch of joints, and it turned out crazy. "I wanted to make it like a real movie," he added, referring to the project's YouTube trailer. "When you hear the intro, [there are] different skits in between, scenes from 'The Godfather' playing between the songs. I wanted to make it like a mixtape because I like mixing and DJing and doing some stuff. But this is so good, I did a couple transitions, but you can pop it in and you can play it all the way straight through. This isn't even like a mixtape. This is gonna be one of the best albums of the year." Source-MTV __________________ JBanksblog.com - check it out __________________

12-12-2007, 10:52 PM	#4
Raskae Veteran Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: BWS Posts: 2,287 Repped: 4 Repped 1,044 Times in 333 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 598 Times in 306 Posts	LOL... Tommy Guns, 17 year Old BWS PRoducer WHo produced "Body Bags", and other tracks 4 Game.. EP "POPE" Who produced "Looking at you"-Game, and "U krazy" From YKWII vol 4, Damn, Jay Z is wroking close with BWS, and others, thats good...Skee is one of the highest Paid Dj's out there. __________________ 50 Tried to Bait Ye and Lost, Wayne ignored him,Jay Ignoring him,Game ignored his disses on BISD,Dude is over, with his "The actual enviroment of the aggressive content putting sales down in a bad space" shit,dude is a delusional retard..Ross Sold More than him

12-13-2007, 05:05 AM	#10
A.T.I. Agitating the Ignorant Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 7,598 Repped: 1,375 Repped 2,039 Times in 717 Posts Neg Reps: 155 Neg Repped at 162 Times in 129 Posts	interesting mash-up, will be on the look-out __________________ “At a snail's pace, I won this race that y'all trail"

12-13-2007, 05:22 AM	#11
risky1996 *GANGSTAR* Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: *EAST LOS ANGELES* Posts: 2,220 Repped: 493 Repped 3,513 Times in 260 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 1 Time in 1 Post	good shit propz on the info........ __________________

12-13-2007, 02:12 PM	#16
neomerge Veteran Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,664 Repped: 30 Repped 2,103 Times in 346 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 21 Times in 18 Posts	sounds dope! __________________ WORDAP.NET

12-12-2007, 09:07 PM	#2
Tony Feudo Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 7,104 Repped: 6,067 Repped 18 Times in 12 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	Props on the info Duke

12-12-2007, 10:30 PM	#3
straightgorrilla Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: killa cali Posts: 645 Repped: 52 Repped 178 Times in 106 Posts Neg Reps: 10 Neg Repped at 18 Times in 14 Posts	Damn imma forshore try to cop that

12-12-2007, 11:33 PM	#5
Zhiwai G_unit_soldier_Chang Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Puerto Rico Posts: 9,469 Repped: 15 Repped 49 Times in 8 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	Props on this

12-12-2007, 11:42 PM	#6
tanknyc Join Date: May 2007 Location: NYC all day Posts: 92 Repped: 29 Repped 2 Times in 1 Post Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	props on the info

12-12-2007, 11:53 PM	#7
P Gizzle Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: USA Posts: 213 Repped: 11 Repped 0 Times in 0 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	props.............

12-13-2007, 01:20 AM	#8
2buck Veteran Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,666 Repped: 316 Repped 104 Times in 14 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	DJ Skee is one of the worst DJ's nation wide, if not world wide..

12-13-2007, 04:05 AM	#9
Halfer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Etown Posts: 912 Repped: 852 Repped 0 Times in 0 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	props mang

12-13-2007, 07:31 AM	#12
twista2000 Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 409 Repped: 198 Repped 2 Times in 2 Posts Neg Reps: 1 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	gd lookin.. gt 2 c wat dis is sayin

12-13-2007, 08:35 AM	#13
ProlistikRecords Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: S-Y-D Posts: 55 Repped: 15 Repped 0 Times in 0 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	D-d-d-j Skee!

12-13-2007, 01:39 PM	#15
MaxiG Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 128 Repped: 4 Repped 1 Time in 1 Post Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	funny as hell

12-13-2007, 08:32 PM	#17
dimaggi7 I RUN DUCE ONE! Join Date: May 2006 Location: Chicago Posts: 169 Repped: 13 Repped 3 Times in 2 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	Skee is a crazy mofo. PROPZ __________________ Free Prepaid Cell Phones & Refill Cards "http://phonelagoon.com/?ref=6657"

12-15-2007, 06:45 PM	#18
Kycrunkest Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Lexington Posts: 991 Repped: 475 Repped 74 Times in 15 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	props on the info

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode