Jay-Z Signs to Executive Produce “The Great Gatsby” Soundtrack

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby comes to life this summer in film, and Jay-Z has signed to executive produce and greatly contribute to its soundtrack.

He apparently teamed up with the movie’s director, Baz Luhrmann, through Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays one of the main characters in the film. Composer Craig Armstrong, a long-time partner of Luhrmann’s, wrote the original score of the film. However, Luhrmann wanted to capture the same essence of jazz music’s heavy influence in the novel with a more modern impact: hip-hop and Jay-Z.

“Fitzgerald was a pioneer, famed and controversial for using the then-new and explosive sound called jazz in his novels and short stories-not just as decoration, but to actively tell story using the immediacy of pop culture,” Luhrmann said. “He coined the phrase ‘the Jazz Age.’ So, the question for me in approaching Gatsby was how to elicit from our audience the same level of excitement and pop-cultural immediacy toward the world that Fitzgerald did for his audience? And in our age, the energy of jazz is caught in the energy of hip-hop. Not only is Jay Z a great artist, full stop, but I had heard that he was a great collaborator.”

Jay-Z is fond of Luhrmann’s work and proud to be included in such a monumental and comprehensive production. 

“I knew this was the right project,” he said. “The Great Gatsby is that classic American story of one’s introduction to extravagance, decadence and illusion. It’s ripe for experimentation and ready to be interpreted with a modern twist. The imagination Baz brought to ‘Moulin Rouge’ made it a masterpiece, and ‘Romeo & Juliet’s’ score wasn’t just in the background; the music became a character. This film’s vision and direction has all the makings of an epic experience.”

Don’t miss out on this dope collaborative; the film releases May 10, 2013 

via (Reuters)