NEW MUSIC MONDAYS - "OTIS"

KANYE WEST AND JAY-Z FEAT OTIS REDDING - "OTIS"

Jay-Z and Kanye West “Otis” has become an instant hit off their highly anticipated collaboration album “The Throne” set to release August 8th 2011... Just off the fact that they paid homage to Otis Redding by calling the song his 1st name alone shows that they are very are fond and respect his classical soul sound. You would find a few if any who would disagree that both Kanye and Jay-Z are two of the biggest icons and pioneers of hip hop music in its very state at this moment and even though this song is somewhat exposing this generation to the soul music of the early sixties, a lot of youngsters just don’t know a lot about that era..I’m a fan of hip hop myself but I wouldn’t consider myself a hip hop head per se but I’m a huge fan of the fifties and sixties American soul music and that is the Era that Otis Redding came from with his raw and pleading sound and inspired by my favorite artiste Sam Cooke who was smooth and sure and also his idol…A lot of people know who Jay-Z and Kanye is, so I’m going to introduce you to the man they call “Otis”.

In 1962, Otis Redding made his first real mark in the music business during a Johnny Jenkins session when, during studio time left over, he recorded "These Arms of Mine", a ballad that he had written…Up until today this classic stills get played and is very well known to many…Redding wrote many of his own songs, which was unusual for the time and in some sense can be compared to Jay and Ye in some sense because they are always thinking out the box…That’s how Redding was perceived at times, using extra time to do extra things which he thought could make him better and a bit different from the rest – cues “Kanye” lol…"Sittin on the Dock of the Bay" was also another hit recorded only three days prior to Redding's death in an airplane accident… The song was released in   January 1968 and became Redding's only number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, and the first posthumous number one single in U.S. chart history. 

On "Otis" Kanye and Jay use a sampling of Otis Redding's 1966 version of "Try a Little Tenderness." It's definitely not the first time that we've seen hip hop artistes use samples from classical songs and I doubt it will be the last but rarely do we see them or hear them for that manner leaves the artistes voice on the track...I love when that happens. In an MTV exclusive interview the daughter of the late great Karla Redding-Andrews stated that "It really means a lot to me, particularly to a whole new generation of young legends, because that's what Jay-Z and Kanye are, I just think it's wonderful to tie an old legendary artist whose music history will never die to something that they have come up with. I just think the collaboration was certainly a tribute to him, and it's really great. Ultimately, "Otis" is exposing a new generation to Redding's music in a very hip and cool way.”

Kanye West and Jay-Z feat Otis Redding - "OTIS"