The Double Black Album
By Cheap Cologne
Essay by Rebecca Laurie
When, in December of 2003, Jay-Z released an acapella version of his final record, The Black Album, many DJs took it as an opportunity to test their mixing skills. In January, LA-Based DJ Danger Mouse released
The Grey Album, a mix of Jay-Z's vocals from The Black Album with music built from samples of the Beatles' White Album. With no commercial promotion, The Grey Album became extremely popular and received critical acclaim. When Minnesota DJ Cheap Cologne heard Danger Mouse's creation, he had an idea. He, too, would remix Jay-Z's Black Album, but with a different color than White. Cheap Cologne would use Metallica's eponymous "Black Album" as a backdrop for Jay-Z's Black Album's vocals.
Described by Cheap Cologne as a "joke that went too far," The Double Black album is a very compelling second look at both Metallica and Jay-Z's creations. Cheap Cologne transforms Jay-Z’s Black Album into what rap-metal always should have been; metal with a "heart", rap with an "edge" and impressive as both a rap and a metal record on its own terms. The result maintains the integrity of both Black Albums and this is its most significant achievement.
Like every other Jay-Z remix that has appeared (see
jayzconstructionset.com for more), Cheap Cologne did not ask either Metallica or Jay-Z for permission to sample their music. For most DJs, attempting to gain the legal clearance to sample is impossibly difficult and expensive. It’s unlikely that Metallica would have authorized this album under any circumstances, but if they did, the expense would have been well beyond what Cheap Cologne could afford. But DJs like Cheap Cologne are not creating these remixes for the money; instead, The Double Black Album is an exercise in creativity. Cheap Cologne knew he couldn’t sell this disc commercially, he just wanted people to hear what he had created. He pressed only 300 copies of Double Black and distributed most of them for free.
Still, on March 5, 2004, DJ Cheap Cologne received a cease-and-desist order, not from neither Metallica or Jay-Z, but from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), an industry group that represents the five major record labels. The letter threatened both jail time and a $250,000 fine if he didn't comply with the RIAA's demand: that Cheap Cologne curtail all distribution of the Double Black Album, effectively censoring the album. A few days after he received the letter, Cheap Cologne went on MTV to explain that Double Black was a "joke". Bizarrely, he received a phone call the following day from an RIAA official who retracted the letter they had sent, telling him that it was a "mistake", and refusing to give a more detailed explanation.
-Rebecca Laurie, Downhill Battle
Links:
DJ Cheap Cologne's Website -
broke-ass.com
The Battle Over Double Black
Quotes:
"The Metallica riffs turn Jay-Z into a rocker with a perpetual chip on his
shoulder." - NY Times
