Elvis Presley may have never meant shit to Chuck D and Flava Flav, but that isn’t keeping some from remixing the original King of Rock. Now, producer Erich von Tourneau is preparing a remix album of some of Elvis’s greatest hits called Viva Elvis – The Album, out November 9 on Legacy Recordings.
Tourneau, who also acted as the music director for popular theater troupe Cirque du Soleil’s production Viva Elvis, has been integrating the sounds of Hip Hop, ragga and punk with the King’s recording to give his music a new modern feel. Although some critics fear this may degrade Elvis’s musical legacy, the vice president of media relations for Legacy Recordings Tom Cording says that final product does exactly the opposite.
“I can understand why the purist may be cautious and hesitant, but the new album is a unique way to bring Elvis’ music to a whole new younger audience,” said Cording. (DenverPost.com)
This isn’t the first time Presley’s music has been mixed with Hip Hop and other genres. Artists as wide ranging as Spoonie Gee and Three 6 Mafia have sampled the King’s tunes. Even Public Enemy chopped up Elvis’s “Blue Suede Shoes” for 1998’s “Go Cat Go.”
