In early
2004, a man from
Philadelphia only known as Mike (not "DJ Mike", just Mike) created the musical concept (I guess that's the right word) of Jay-Zeezer. Jay-Zeezer is in the same vein as
DJ Danger Mouse's
The Grey Album, except while
DJ Danger Mouse mixed the full vocal content of
Jay-Z's
Black Album with the instrumentation of
The Beatles' "
White Album", Mike has mixed the "The Black Album" with the instrumentation from the now classic rock quartet
Weezer's first album "
The Blue Album."
The resulting album, titled "The Black and Blue Album" is a fourteen track album that also samples from tracks just released (or re-released) on Weezer's The Blue Album: Deluxe Edition. The tracklist, which follows the songs off Jay-Z’s album, is listed below, along with both songs sampled:
01. I Swear It's An Interlude
(Jay-Z's "Interlude" with Weezer's "I Swear It's True")
02. Say It Ain't December 4th
(Jay-Z's "December 4th" with Weezer's "Say It Ain't So")
03. What More Can I Say, Jamie
(Jay-Z's "What More Can I Say" with Weezer's "Jamie")
04. Encore For Wayne
(Jay-Z's "Encore" with Weezer's "Lullaby for Wayne")
05. The World Has Changed Clothes & Left
(Jay-Z's "Change Clothes" with Weezer's "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here")
06. Surf Wax Off Your Shoulder
(Jay-Z's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" with Weezer's "Surf Wax America")
07. Undone - The Threater Song
(Jay-Z's "Threat" with Weezer's "Undone - The Sweater Song")
08. Only In A Moment of Clarity
(Jay-Z's "Clarity" with Weezer's "Only in Dreams")
09. 99 Problems With Buddy Holly
(Jay-Z's "99 Problems" with Weezer's "Buddy Holly")
10. Public Service Holiday
(Jay-Z's "Public Service Announcement (Interlude)" with Weezer's "Holiday")
11. Justify Mykel And Carli
(Jay-Z's "Justify my Thug" with Weezer's "Mykel and Carli")
12. No One Else But Lucifer
(Jay-Z's "Lucifer" with Weezer's "No One Else")
13. Allure In The Garage
(Jay-Z's "Allure" with Weezer's "In The Garage")
14. My 1st Song's Name Is Jonas
(Jay-Z's "My 1st Song" with Weezer's "My Name is Jonas")
While the CD will never be released due to some extreme copyright issues, it is available for full download at http://www.jay-zeezer.com. The website also includes a poorly done mixed video for "99 Problems with Buddy Holly", some reviews of the album, some hilarious doctored photos of Jay-Z playing live and in the studio with Weezer, and a couple of bonus tracks including mixing Usher's "Yeah" with Weezer's "Island in the Sun" and mixing Weezer's "El Scorcho" with a Beyonce song. Plus, a full writeup on the entire project by the mysterious Mike himself titled "The Story of How an "Indie Rocker Learned to Like Rap Music."
Personally, as a rather big fan of Weezer, I don't take the idea of Jay-Zeezer too seriously. Sure, I enjoy hip-hop (as in I own a copy of Stankonia and I think that Suga Suga song is pretty cool) and I think they are some pretty good mixes on "The Black and Blue Album." Mainly the sample of Matt Sharp's vocals during the bridge from "Lullaby for Wayne" during "Encore for Wayne", the opening of "The World Has Changed Clothes and Left" almost makes me want Pat Wilson to do a hip-hop album, and the end of "99 Problems with Buddy Holly" cracks me up
I've heard what a lot of Weezer fans have to say about it, and the response is generally good considering most like me don't take it too seriously. I'm not sure what the Jay-Z camp thinks about it though...