"Prince Igor" is a song inspired by the

Polovtsian Dances The Polovtsian Dances, or Polovetsian Dances (), form an exotic scene at the end of act 2 of Alexander Borodin's opera '' Prince Igor''. The opera remained unfinished when the composer died in 1887, although he had worked on it for more than a d ...

Alexander Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (12 November 183327 February 1887) was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was one of the prominent 19th-century composers known as " The Five", a group dedicated to prod ...

's opera ''

Prince Igor ''Prince Igor'' (, ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue, written and composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the early Russian epic '' The Lay of Igor's Host'', which recounts the campaign of the 12th-centur ...

''. It was released as the lead single from the album, ''

The Rapsody Overture ''The Rapsody Overture: Hip Hop Meets Classic'' is a concept album of remixes consisting of hip hop and classical, which combined American rappers with European opera singers. It was released in 1997 by Mercury Records and distributed by Def Jam ...

'' in October 1997. The main vocals are performed by

Warren G Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and DJ who helped popularize West Coast hip hop during the 1990s.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. ...

, the Russian

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music">poetry.html" ;"title="Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeat ...

by acclaimed Norwegian soprano

Sissel Kyrkjebø Sissel Kyrkjebø (; born 24 June 1969), also known abroad as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano. She is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Her musical style ranges from pop recordings and folk songs to classical vocals and operati ...

and the instrumental background is provided by the Rapsody. Warren G uses the same rap lyrics as in his song "Reality", available on the album ''

Take a Look Over Your Shoulder ''Take a Look Over Your Shoulder'' is the second solo studio album by American hip-hop musician Warren G. It was released on March 25, 1997, via Rush Associated Labels. The recording sessions took place at G-Funk Studios in Lakewood, Golden Lad ...

''. "Prince Igor" was successful in Europe, peaking at number-one in both Iceland and Norway. In addition, the single reached the top 10 in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Sweden. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, the song peaked at number six in January 1998. Outside Europe, it peaked at number 41 in New Zealand.

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote, "Maybe it had to happen at some point... so blame the Voelker brothers (Achim and Klaus), a German production team who initially came up with the unlikely idea of an album combining

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

with

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

. This is the first single to be taken from the resulting long player, ''The Rapsody Overture: Hip Hop Meets Classics'' (due on November 3). The single uses

Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (12 November 183327 February 1887) was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was one of the prominent 19th-century composers known as " The Five", a group dedicated to prod ...

's ''Prince Igor'' as a foundation over which Warren G raps and Norwegian

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

singer Sissel provides "classical" vocals." Programme director Marc Stingl at German AC commercial station Radio Gong in

Nurnberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

considered the track to be "a perfect chartbreaker because of the combination of rap with classical music. The Rapsody is refreshingly different because this has not really been tried before and most other chart material is pretty old-fashioned." He concluded, "This could very well be a new trend-a band called

Sweetbox Sweetbox is a German-based pop music project formed in 1995 by executive producer Heiko Schmidt and music producer Roberto "Geo" Rosan. Throughout the years Sweetbox has had several lead singers including Kimberly Kearney, Dacia Bridges, Tina H ...

have been quite successful over here with a similar approach." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' gave the song three out of five, describing it as " bizarre and haunting blend of

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and classical." The magazine's Alan Jones wrote, "Whether it's a groudbreaker or a dead-end mutant remains to be seen but The Rapsody, US rapper Warren G's collaboration with Norwegian opera star Sissel is both intriguing and appealing. Set against a heavy hip-hop beat, Warren struts his usual stuff but the rapper/vocalist combination is given a new spin by Sissel, whose pure

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

voice intones the melody from Borodin's Prince Igor".

Track listing

* "Prince Igor" (radio edit) (3:52) * "Prince Igor" (Ries Class Jazz edit) (4:03) * "Prince Igor" (Ries 7-inch remix) (3:54) * "Prince Igor" (album version) (4:24) * "Prince Igor" (Ries Class Jazz extended) (6:08) * "Prince Igor" (Ries Class Jazz instrumental) (4:01)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1997 singles 1997 songs American hip-hop songs Def Jam Recordings singles Macaronic songs Number-one singles in Iceland Number-one singles in Norway Sissel Kyrkjebø songs Songs written by Warren G