Jay-Z Confirmed For 'The Great Gatsby'
Jay-Z has been confirmed as the executive producer on Baz Luhrmann's forthcoming adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's book, The Great Gatsby.
The Empire State Of Mind rapper will[uuid=9a63d889-535c-4c4e-9d96-727189aa4dff] provide the music[/uuid] for the movie after he was introduced to Luhrmann by Gatsby actor Leonardo Dicaprio.
Jigga explained that he knew the flick was "the right project" for him after meeting both the director and Dicaprio, stating: "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."
Speaking of his collaboration with Jay, Luhrmann added: "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.
"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."
He added: "Leonardo and I were lucky enough to be present in a recording session over two years ago as Jay-Z was recording No Church in the Wild, and the collaboration grew from there."
The Great Gatsby is set to hit UK cinemas on May 17.
