On May 10, the long-delayed and heavily hyped movie “The Great Gatsby” will hit theaters. I’m not necessarily holding my breath for the movie, having barely been able to get through the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald. However, director Baz Luhrmann has made an interesting choice regarding the soundtrack for the movie, and I think it’s a good one: the soundtrack is full of modern rap and pop, as opposed to exclusively orchestral or “Roaring Twenties” music.
The producer of the soundtrack? None other than Major League Baseball’s newest high-power agent, Jay-Z. And he’s pulled out all the stops, putting together an album that features artists such as Nero, Beyoncé, Lana Del Rey and Jack White, as well as original songs by Gotye, Florence and the Machine, the XX and himself. It’s an ambitious project, no doubt aimed at encouraging more young moviegoers to see “The Great Gatsby” – some who no doubt were already excited by the prospect of the film, and others who probably experience flashbacks of high school English class after seeing the title.
Personally, I’m betting that Jay-Z’s project will be successful, mainly because the road for this kind of project has been brilliantly paved by T-Bone Burnett, the 12-time Grammy Award-winning musician. Burnett revolutionized the art of the soundtrack of 2000’s “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” which featured a wide-range of folk music and artists. The album itself served as something of an education in folk music, and though it was best appreciated in conjunction with the film, it could also stand alone perfectly well.
Another T-Bone Burnett movie soundtrack that more students are perhaps familiar with is the blockbuster “The Hunger Games,” which featured a wide variety of original tracks written and recorded for the movie soundtrack itself. I would argue that this album, which included the excellent “Abraham’s Daughter” by Arcade Fire, “Safe & Sound” by Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars, and also the very different but just as fitting “The Ruler and The Killer” by Kid Cudi, stood alone as a collection of songs that captured the atmosphere of the film and the book series.
Whether or not Jay-Z’s production will be as in-sync with the atmosphere and themes of the movie and film as Burnett’s have been is hard to say. It’s a tall order, following one of the masters of the craft, and I would be very interested to hear what Burnett thinks of the “The Great Gatsby” soundtrack.
Ultimately, the album’s biggest impact on the film may be as a marketing technique. It will be released on May 6, a few days before the movie, and will no doubt be a popular download in the days leading up to the film’s release. Knowing Jay-Z’s track record of being absurdly successful at almost everything he tries, the album will be met with critical acclaim. And hey, even if it’s not, Jay-Z can always fall back on his newest career as a sports agent.
