in the 7 kingdoms ain't nobody righteous
March 7, 2014 11:53 AM Subscribe
Catch the Throne (soundcloud) is a Game of Thrones-inspired mixtape featuring Big Boi, Common, Wale, and others.
Featuring music and dialogue from and lyrics inspired by the series, the mixtape was commissioned by HBO to "encourage more rap fans to watch the show".
Featuring music and dialogue from and lyrics inspired by the series, the mixtape was commissioned by HBO to "encourage more rap fans to watch the show".
Hmm, is this the mainstreaming of nerdcore? Are people now going to start complaining about "fake geek rappers"?
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:03 PM on March 7, 2014
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:03 PM on March 7, 2014
The Nerdcore crowd got branded as fake/inauthentic rappers, so I'm OK with that, at least for a while.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:12 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:12 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
Honestly - these tracks are way better than I was expecting.
posted by NoRelationToLea at 12:16 PM on March 7, 2014
posted by NoRelationToLea at 12:16 PM on March 7, 2014
OverlappingElvis: "commissioned by HBO to "encourage more rap fans to watch the show"."
I wonder if this is based on actual demographic research showing that the show is soft with rap fans, or if it's just marketing speak. Considering that GoT is at least as thematically "gangster" as Scarface and The Godfather, I'd be surprised if there wasn't already a strong hip-hop culture contingent within the fandom.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:23 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
I wonder if this is based on actual demographic research showing that the show is soft with rap fans, or if it's just marketing speak. Considering that GoT is at least as thematically "gangster" as Scarface and The Godfather, I'd be surprised if there wasn't already a strong hip-hop culture contingent within the fandom.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:23 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
Considering that GoT is at least as thematically "gangster" as Scarface and The Godfather, I'd be surprised if there wasn't already a strong hip-hop culture contingent within the fandom.
I suspect what's going on here is an attempt to get people to realize that GoT is "The Sopranos in Middle Earth," to coin a phrase (that dozens of others had coined before me.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:43 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
I suspect what's going on here is an attempt to get people to realize that GoT is "The Sopranos in Middle Earth," to coin a phrase (that dozens of others had coined before me.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:43 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
Reminds me of this line from Omar Holmon's "10 Things I Want To Say To A Black Nerd" -- "your most hood moment was when they killed Ned Stark"
posted by eustacescrubb at 12:43 PM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by eustacescrubb at 12:43 PM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
to coin a phrase (that dozens of others had coined before me.)
Words are wind.
posted by nubs at 12:50 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
Words are wind.
posted by nubs at 12:50 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
I don't think the cocreator of ATLiens needs to justify his sci/fan credentials to anyone.
posted by wotsac at 1:01 PM on March 7, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by wotsac at 1:01 PM on March 7, 2014 [5 favorites]
Now I'm curious to know if they'll put any of these under the end credits on a S04 episode, kind of like they did with the shock-cut to The Hold Steady's rock version of "The Bear and The Maiden Fair" back in S03.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:12 PM on March 7, 2014
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:12 PM on March 7, 2014
I heard Big Boi quoted on NPR this morning saying something like "It's not a show for nerds, it's a show for smart people."
posted by box at 1:14 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 1:14 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
stoneweaver: "I think "rap fans" is a bit of a euphemism for HBO freaking out that their viewership is so heavily white. For which there is another solution - hire some actors that aren't white. Totally crazy, I know. The mixtape will definitely work better than that insane plan."
To be fair, they've done a decent job of open-casting roles like Salladhor Saan and Missandei and Grey Worm that weren't written as having specific real-world ethnicities. (The various peoples of Westeros don't quite map to actual Earth phenotypes, although the main characters can be pretty much assumed to be Northern European in appearance...) It would be nice if they brought in other memorable characters like Brown Ben Plumm or Strong Belwas, but it is admittedly a limited field. As groundbreaking as the books were, they are still basically grounded in a stock Eurocentric fantasy setting.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:29 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
To be fair, they've done a decent job of open-casting roles like Salladhor Saan and Missandei and Grey Worm that weren't written as having specific real-world ethnicities. (The various peoples of Westeros don't quite map to actual Earth phenotypes, although the main characters can be pretty much assumed to be Northern European in appearance...) It would be nice if they brought in other memorable characters like Brown Ben Plumm or Strong Belwas, but it is admittedly a limited field. As groundbreaking as the books were, they are still basically grounded in a stock Eurocentric fantasy setting.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:29 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
...hire some actors that aren't white.
If
only
they
had
considered
that
I'll grant you that a couple of these folks are dead (but so is mah nigga Ned), and many of the characters are problematically exoticized (and/or slaves who needed a pretty white lady to free them), but this isn't an exhaustive list and the problem here is not a lack of actors of colour.
But then again, I'm black, love the show, and have only heard of one of the artists on this mixtape, so I'm obviously not in anyone's demographic.
posted by sparklemotion at 1:30 PM on March 7, 2014 [4 favorites]
If
only
they
had
considered
that
I'll grant you that a couple of these folks are dead (but so is mah nigga Ned), and many of the characters are problematically exoticized (and/or slaves who needed a pretty white lady to free them), but this isn't an exhaustive list and the problem here is not a lack of actors of colour.
But then again, I'm black, love the show, and have only heard of one of the artists on this mixtape, so I'm obviously not in anyone's demographic.
posted by sparklemotion at 1:30 PM on March 7, 2014 [4 favorites]
Briefly off-topic: The Hold Steady's Bear and the Maiden Fair may have been the single best part of season 3.
posted by Itaxpica at 2:04 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Itaxpica at 2:04 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
I think "rap fans" is a bit of a euphemism for HBO freaking out that their viewership is so heavily white.
So are the vast majority of rap fans.
posted by billyfleetwood at 2:50 PM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
So are the vast majority of rap fans.
posted by billyfleetwood at 2:50 PM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
For which there is another solution - hire some actors that aren't white.
Because The Wire and Treme are both so incredibly white shows?
posted by Justinian at 3:38 PM on March 7, 2014
Because The Wire and Treme are both so incredibly white shows?
posted by Justinian at 3:38 PM on March 7, 2014
Mayhaps this was ill-conceived.
HODOR!
posted by mcstayinskool at 5:00 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
HODOR!
posted by mcstayinskool at 5:00 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
(The various peoples of Westeros don't quite map to actual Earth phenotypes, although the main characters can be pretty much assumed to be Northern European in appearance...)
Well, it's complicated.
The (unnamed) world is pre-age of exploration. We (the book readers) have seen about 1/4th of the globe. Westeros (the western continent) itself hosts three ethnic groups. Two of which--The First Men and the Andals--are basically Northern Europeans (roughly Celts and Angels.) The Dornish are only just showing up in the show this season. They're relatively recent (hundreds of years ago) arrivals and are noted for being subdivided themselves into Salty (olive skinned,) Sandy (dark,) and Stony (white, due to borderland interbreeding.) Interestingly, these obvious distinctions do not seem to come into play internally because they all perceive themselves at an uneasy peace at best with their northern (here including the Andals) countrymen.
And that's before we even get to Essos (the eastern continent) or Sothoryos (you can figure it out.)
That said, there are trading partners, marriages from disparate parts, people who are displaced (there's a Dothraki mercenary in Westeros) etc. I think GRRM did a good job at keeping the ethnic divisions realistic.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:11 PM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
Well, it's complicated.
The (unnamed) world is pre-age of exploration. We (the book readers) have seen about 1/4th of the globe. Westeros (the western continent) itself hosts three ethnic groups. Two of which--The First Men and the Andals--are basically Northern Europeans (roughly Celts and Angels.) The Dornish are only just showing up in the show this season. They're relatively recent (hundreds of years ago) arrivals and are noted for being subdivided themselves into Salty (olive skinned,) Sandy (dark,) and Stony (white, due to borderland interbreeding.) Interestingly, these obvious distinctions do not seem to come into play internally because they all perceive themselves at an uneasy peace at best with their northern (here including the Andals) countrymen.
And that's before we even get to Essos (the eastern continent) or Sothoryos (you can figure it out.)
That said, there are trading partners, marriages from disparate parts, people who are displaced (there's a Dothraki mercenary in Westeros) etc. I think GRRM did a good job at keeping the ethnic divisions realistic.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:11 PM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
Oh, and to head off any nitpickers: the CotF are a different species.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:12 PM on March 7, 2014
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:12 PM on March 7, 2014
Interesting how there doesn't seem to be any discussion here about the actual songs. I'm just gonna go ahead and say that track six by Dominik Omega is the best, and it isn't just because it's about Arya- he seems to have really engaged the source material and lore with the song.
posted by Apocryphon at 7:28 PM on March 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Apocryphon at 7:28 PM on March 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
I'd heard about this project, I'm glad to finally get to hear it.
It's pretty interesting -- they've built the tracks out of samples from the original series sountrack, so even though it's hip hop, it still maintains a Westeros-flavor sonically. That all the tracks were created and produced by the same team helps lend a bit of unity to what could otherwise have been a very scattershot project.
I don't listen to a lot of hip hop, but I've really appreciated this. Thanks for posting it!
posted by hippybear at 9:13 AM on March 8, 2014
It's pretty interesting -- they've built the tracks out of samples from the original series sountrack, so even though it's hip hop, it still maintains a Westeros-flavor sonically. That all the tracks were created and produced by the same team helps lend a bit of unity to what could otherwise have been a very scattershot project.
I don't listen to a lot of hip hop, but I've really appreciated this. Thanks for posting it!
posted by hippybear at 9:13 AM on March 8, 2014
I'm just gonna go ahead and say that track six by Dominik Omega is the best
Dominik Omega has indeed apparently engaged the source material. He addresses it directly on his other GoT track, Game Of Thrones (Dominik Omega The Arcitype Remix).
posted by hippybear at 9:55 AM on March 8, 2014 [1 favorite]
Dominik Omega has indeed apparently engaged the source material. He addresses it directly on his other GoT track, Game Of Thrones (Dominik Omega The Arcitype Remix).
posted by hippybear at 9:55 AM on March 8, 2014 [1 favorite]
The Game of Thrones TV-Show Creators Already Know What Happens at the End of the Book Series
posted by homunculus at 7:11 PM on March 11, 2014
posted by homunculus at 7:11 PM on March 11, 2014
Yep, that's totally Gandalf's sword in Game of Thrones' Iron Throne
posted by homunculus at 12:58 PM on March 15, 2014
posted by homunculus at 12:58 PM on March 15, 2014
George R.R. Martin Has a Detailed Plan For Keeping the Game of Thrones TV Show From Catching Up To Him
posted by homunculus at 12:03 PM on March 18, 2014
posted by homunculus at 12:03 PM on March 18, 2014
« Older WHO CARESSSSS! | The Tragedy of Chrononhotonthologos Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by grabbingsand at 11:58 AM on March 7, 2014