DJ Danger Mouse (or as his mom calls
him, Brian Burton) took samples from
The Beatles’ White Album and
mixed them with a cappella tracks from Jay-
Z’s latest record, The Black Album; he
dubed the love child the Grey Album. EMI
(the company who controls the Beatles’ catalogue)
was less than pleased with the marriage of the two
albums and had issued a “cease and desist” on the
spread of the dubious album.
Danger Mouse holds that the original intention was
not for commercial use. He had pressed only 3,000
copies for non-retail distribution. However, much
to the chagrin of the RIAA, the copies made it onto
the internet and we all know what happens then.
Danger Mouse claims that he is being compliant
with the order in that he has not distributed any
additional copies on his own. However, he has
failed to remove the statement on his website that
claims the record “will be made available
worldwide” with in the next couple of months.
According to Rolling Stone, there is one
thing that would send Danger Mouse running home
to mom. “If somebody like Ringo or
Paul McCartney heard it, I think they
would dig it,” Danger Mouse told Rolling
Stone . “[But] if Jay-Z heard it and said, ‘This
sucks, dude,’ then I’d be like, ‘OK, everyone please
send me back their copies.’”
I, too, would care far more about what Jay-Z
thought of the record then what Ringo or Paul
McCartney thought (was my sarcasim lost in the
typing?).
