Gym Class Heroes, the emo rap no one asked for, is psyched to talk about their upcoming album The Quilt: Starring Gym Class Heroes, set for August. Wouldn’t you be, if your new album featured Ne-Yo, Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes, and John Oates? Only leader Travis McCoy doesn’t want you to think that this is some stuntcasting nonsense, so he’s planning to leave the names of the celebrity guests off the tracklisting. “I can’t speak for everyone but I hate seeing lots of features on an album. So, instead we’re having a movie aesthetic, where everyone is going to be part of the cast as opposed to being featured.” Does this mean Travis will yell “and Ne-Yo as…himself!” over an instrumental at the end of the CD?
“You won’t know who is on the album just by looking at the liner notes. You’ll know only if you listen and recognize the person’s voice. This way, people know we didn’t do stuff for name sake, but really because that person belonged on that song.”
Ne-Yo, Lil Wayne, John Oates, K-OS and Busta Rhymes are among the guest features, while Cool & Dre and Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump have assisted with production.
The set includes the Oates-featuring “Fly With Me,” a dedication to McCoy’s cousin who committed suicide last year. “It’s sort of a Romeo and Juliet-type of story,” he says.
Featuring Oates but not featuring Hall? I thought Darryl and Travis were tight!
I suspect there’s drama in the world of rock’n’soul’n'emo-rap.
Guests Blend Seamlessly On New Gym Class Heroes Disc
Queen And I [YouTube]
I can’t speak for everyone but I hate seeing artists compare their album to a movie.
The schlock that passes for “artistry” these days is nothing short of appalling….
@Al Shipley: The album-movie comparison is the new “the world is upside down when the best rapper is white, the best golfer is black and the best basketball player is Chinese” cliche.
Wow. Comparing an album to a movie? That’s so original. I mean did you come up with that yourself? You’re a genius. A regular innovator. I mean, fuck Tupac, really, I mean that. Cuz you have taken this music thing to a whole ‘nother level. How does Jay say it? “They don’t paint pictures, they just trace me.” I mean, that’s how you must feel being so smart and all. And then you managed to get fucking Ne-Yo on a track. I mean John Oates was already amazing but Ne-Yo?!? You are a God. And don’t let the little people who write on fucking blogs tell you anything less…
little people writing on blogs probably best sums up the comments on this so far.
I remember when P Diddy was describing his ‘Press Play’ album as “A movie on wax” and laughing to myself about how that was the stupidest comparison I’d ever heard.
Clearly I spoke too soon…