Shawn Carter Raps w/ Gwyneth Paltrow, “I accidentally learned Straight Outta Compton.”
Everybody and their momma (except mine) has a blog. And i LOVE it. There’s room for us all ;-) And that’s no exception with Shawn Carter (Jay-Z) and his bff Gwyneth Paltrow. As you know, Carter has a dope site that was launched a week or so ago–http://lifeandtimes.com. And now Paltrow has her own too–http://goop.com. The two recently swapped interviews with each other. Peep a few excerpts of Jigga’s interview with Paltrow.
Shawn Carter: The public at large is discovering your ability to sing. When did you first discover you had that talent?
Gwyneth Paltrow: I kind of always sang. My mother has a great voice and was always singing jazz around the house and I think she passed on her musicality to my brother and myself. I sang in an a capella singing group and I always thought that somewhere down the line I would dust off my pipes and use them but I didn’t know I would be so old when it happened.
SC: Personally I was very surprised at your extensive knowledge of hip-hop songs. Particularly how you can sing ’90s hip-hip songs word for word. I can’t even do that! How does a girl from Spence discover hip-hop?
GP: I first was exposed to hip-hop when I was about 16 (1988) by some boys who went to collegiate. The Beastie Boys were sort of the way in for us preppie kids. We were into Public Enemy, Run-DMC and LL Cool J. But then I went to LA the summer between my junior and senior year of high school and I discovered N.W.A which became my obsession. I was fascinated by lyrics as rhythm and how Dre had a such different cadence and perspective from say, Eazy-E, who I thought was one of the most ironic and brilliant voices hip-hop has ever had. It was an accident that I learned every word of Straight Outta Compton and to love something that a.) I had no real understanding of in terms of the culture that it was emanating from and b.) to love something that my parents literally could not grasp. But I was hooked. I can’t remember what I ate for dinner last night but I could sing to you every single word of N.W.A’s “Fuck Tha Police” or [Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock’s] “It Takes Two.” Go figure.
Peep the full interview here.