''The Rapsody Overture: Hip Hop Meets Classic'' is a concept album of remixes consisting 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, which combined American rappers with European opera singers. It was released in 1997 by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

and distributed by

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

. "Prince Igor" was a #1 hit across Europe in 1998, a duet between American rapper

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. ...

and Norwegian singer

Sissel Sissel is a Norwegian female given name, a variant of Cecilia.Har du et helgen-navn ?

. Sissel sang an aria from

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 ...

during the chorus, while Warren G rapped. The Xzibit track "E Lucean Le Stelle" contains a sample from Giacomo Puccini's '' E Lucevan Le Stelle'', though it is misspelled.

1997 Track listing

1998 Track listing

New version with different track listing on April 21, 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rapsody Overture, The 1997 remix albums Hip-hop remix albums 1997 compilation albums Hip-hop compilation albums Mercury Records remix albums Def Jam Recordings remix albums Def Jam Recordings compilation albums Mercury Records compilation albums