''Jaydiohead'' is the
mashup project of the music of
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...
and
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...
that was mixed and produced by New York producer
Minty Fresh Beats (Max Tannone). Tannone premiered the album ''Jaydiohead'' on his Myspace page on December 30, 2008,
[Goodman, William (2009-01-05)]
"Free Download: Radiohead and Jay-Z Mash-Up, 'Jaydiohead'."
''Spin magazine online.'' Retrieved 2010-08-04 which was officially released to download January 1, 2009. The first album was followed by the July 12, 2009 release of ''Jaydiohead: The Encore'', which featured five new mixes. The album ''Jaydiohead'' has been called an internet sensation.
[
]
Production
Tannone began work on ''Jaydiohead'' about a year prior to the album's completion, beginning with the tracks "Wrong Prayer" and "Ignorant Swan".[Miyamoto, Justin (2010)]
Jaydiohead: Our interview with the head behind the head, Max Tannone."
''Proxart Magazine.'' Retrieved 2010-08-04 The remainder of the tracks, which incorporate Jay-Z's a capella
Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
releases and samples from Radiohead songs,[ were mixed and produced beginning in August 2008.][Montgomery, James (2009-01-06)]
"Jaydiohead DJ Says He'd Love Feedback from Jay-Z or Radiohead."
''Mtv.com'' Retrieved 2010-08-04 Over the course of six weeks, Tannone had completed the album from his laptop.[Touré (2009-01-15)]
"Introducing Jaydiohead."
''The Daily Beast.'' Retrieved 2010-08-04
In an interview with ''The Daily Beast'' writer Touré, he explained that producing a song is a lengthy process that could take several weeks to complete.[ Using Jay-Z's a cappella songs as the master tempo, he searched through Radiohead songs that he believed would complement Jay's lyrics. He also stated that cohesion between the songs was one of the most difficult tasks in mixing.][ But by splitting up Radiohead songs into smaller pieces, he was able to layer Jay-Z's vocal tracks on top of them, sometimes placing additional melodies, adding drums or percussive instrumentation, or other effects into the track.][ Due to copyright infringement issues, similar to the release of most mashups, the songs were offered free of charge from the official website,][ and no legal action has been taken against Tannone.][''Jaydiohead'' was also bootlegged on vinyl.
In addition, a video called "Ignorant Swan Medley" was made, and featured several clips from songs on the album.]["Staff Pick."]
''Vimeo via Twitter.'' Retrieved 2010-08-04
Style
The distinct sound of Jay-Z's vocal tracks with Radiohead's samples by Tannone have been described as fluid,[(2009-05-0]
''JUSTPRESSPLAY.'' Retrieved 2010-08-04 uniting the sounds of two legendary artists[ and complementing one with the other.][ This fusion of the two artists has been described as not sounding forced,][Robinson, Iann (2009-04-28)]
"JAY-Z/RADIOHEAD: JAYDIOHEAD."
''Crave Online.'' Retrieved 2010-08-03 coming from artists with music that is considered to be polar opposites of each other.[ The songs' cohesion gives the impression that the two distinctly different genres have not been merged, but could pass as an original release by either one of the original artists.][(2009-02-07)]
"Jaydiohead mashup : Amazing bloody mashup…no other way to say it."
''Key of Grey.'' Retrieved 2010-08-04 Aside from Radiohead and Jay-Z samples being alternative rock and hip hop respectively, the music has been described as funky.[
]
Reception
Overall, most critics viewed the album generally as positive,[ and David James Young of ''Sputnik'' praised that "''Jaydiohead'' throughout the album bring(s) out sides of both artists in a subtle yet highly effective way."][ Also, fans of both respective artists typically received the album well,][Montgomery, James (2009-01-05)]
"Jay-Z And Radiohead Collide On Jaydiohead Mash-Up Album."
''MTV.com.'' Retrieved 2010-08-04 as did fellow mashup DJs.
Several critics have compared ''Jaydiohead'' to Danger Mouse's '' Grey Album'', also a mashup album, which features samples taken from the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
' '' The White Album'' and Jay-Z's ''The Black Album''.[French, Colin (2009-01-27)]
"Minty Fresh Beats; Jaydiohead."
''The Music Fix.'' Retrieved 2010-08-03 Others have mentioned the similarity between ''Jaydiohead'' with that of Girl Talk's track "Set It Off", which mixes Jay's "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)..." with Radiohead's "Paranoid Android", albeit for a very short amount of time in comparison with the full album Tannone has made.[ It even garnered attention by Jay-Z himself, hailing several of the tracks as "gems" in one of his own ]Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
posts. Notable celebrities that have mentioned the album, or a particular song, include Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow ( ; born September 27, 1972) is an American actress and businesswoman. The daughter of filmmaker Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner, she established herself as a leading lady appearing in mainly mid-budget and perio ...
on her blog and Carson Daly
Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, producer, and television personality. From 1998 to 2003, Daly was a VJ (media personality), VJ on MTV's ''Total Request Live'' (TRL), and a DJ for the Sou ...
on his TV show ''Last Call with Carson Daly'', as well as a few others that it caught the attention of. It has made several "Top of 2009" lists, and the video for "Ignorant Swan Melody" was a Vimeo
Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...
feature staff pick.[ In 2010, ''Jaydiohead'' was included in a piece by ]NPR
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
entitled ''The Mechanics of Mashups''.
However, not all reviews were positive.[Dombal, Ryan (2009-01-05)]
"The Jay-Z/Radiohead Mashup to End All Mashups (Please?)."
''Pitchfork Media.'' Retrieved 2010-08-04 ''Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
'' magazine called the album "supremely lame and tame",[(2010-05)]
"In the magazine - Music Reviews - The Catholic Guilt Issue."
''Vice Magazine.'' Retrieved 2010-08-04 and some have joked that the track names leave little room for surprise.[(2009-01-06)]
"Radiohead and Jay-Z collaboration?."
''Mtv.com: UK'' Retrieved 2010-08-03[
Although both have performed, but not appeared in the same year at the ]Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
, critics have also played with the idea that this shared attribute would spark a "''Collision Course''" and subsequent tour.[
]
Tracks
References
External links
*Official website o
Jaydiohead
{{Authority control
2009 remix albums
Jay-Z remix albums
Mashup albums
Radiohead remix albums
Unofficial remix albums