Andrei Mihai
The legendary prog rock Pink Floyd, arguably the best band ever, are best known for their distinguished use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, and elaborate live shows; they revolutionized a big part of music as we know it today, but if producer Bob Ezrin had his way, the band might have switched luscious soundscapes for processed beats during their late 1980s comeback. While working on A Momentary Lapse Of Reason”, Ezrin had suggested that the band introduce some rap elements into their music:
“I became fascinated with it in the Afrika Bambaataa days… I’m an early adopter. I actually brought some in when we were doing ‘A Momentary Lapse Of Reason’. I brought some in to David Gilmour’s thing going, ‘Boy, I think this stuff with a rock beat would be awesome.'”
However, David Gilmour was not impressed (to put it lightly):
“He said, ‘Oh my God, that would be terrible,'” Ezrin recalls with a laugh. “He couldn’t believe it. He hated the idea.”
You might not know it, but Ezrin, a white old guy is actually one of rap’s forefathers:
“First of all it’s not really a secret, it’s not what I’m noted for… I’m an old white guy. I’m not noted for that stuff, but then a lot of old white guys have been involved in urban music and been very important to it in that. Jimmy Iovine [Interscope, Beats by Dre co-founder] is an old white guy too, but without him the modern rap business would be entirely different.”
What do you guys think, would a rapping Pink Floyd do any good? Personally, I absolutely love them the way they are, I wouldn’t change it for the world but… who knows?!
