SEATTLE, June 9 (UPI)–Hip-hop is known for sampling and remixing a variety of musical genres, though it’s rarer to see classical musicians take a stab at rap hits from the 1990s.
On Friday night in Seattle, however, Sir Mix-A-Lot stepped onstage with the Seattle Symphony to perform a classical rendition of his 1992 ode to the female shape, “Baby Got Back.”
Mix-A-Lot invited women to join him onstage, where he was backed by an orchestra.
“Since tonight is orchestral movements from the hood night, I’m going to leave some of this open if a couple of ladies would like to get up on the stage,” he told the audience.
London-based composer Gabriel Prokofiev, who was asked to orchestrate the song for the symphony, said on his website that he was excited about taking a risk.
“Many musical innovations have been made in hip-hop music that can bring new energy, sounds and rhythm to the classical world. But … I was continuously critical of what I composed and make sure that the piece was had musical integrity.”
My aim with this new Sir-Mix-A-Lot inspired Orchestral work was to really get inside the musical mind of Sir Mix-A-Lot; to understand how his rhythms, textures, sounds and harmonies worked, and to create a contemporary orchestral composition that was true to the music of Sir-Mix-A-Lot. My aim was to make an orchestral fantasy that evolved out of the wildest musical elements of Sir Mix-A-Lot, and took all the central elements of his music into a contemporary classical orchestral setting.
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