Baz Luhrmann, director of the forthcoming big budget adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, tapped multiplatinum rapper Jay-Z to executive produce The Great Gatsby's soundtrack because they shared a vision for what the film's music should be.
Luhrmann, known for using contemporary music in his period films, approached the film's music the way he thought a modernist like Fitzgerald would.
"Very early on," he told the LA Times, "I made a decision to address this movie as though F. Scott Fitzgerald were making it.” He continued, “and when he was creating the novel, he wasn’t nostalgic...he was mad about cinema and other modern things and he embraced them. And they influenced his writing.”
Luhrmann aimed to infuse his adaptation with a similar modern influence, and Jay-Z understood his intentions.
"Jay was one of the first people to identify the aspirational aspect of the film...he saw what the movie is about and understood how we could go from hearing traditional jazz in one moment to hip-hop in the next."
In an interview with BlacktreeTV, Jay expressed a similar sentiment. "Timeless music is timeless music," he said. "No matter what the genre."
The album's release date is set for May 7 - three days ahead of the film - and features tracks by a range of artists including Lana Del Rey, will.i.am, Beyonce, and Florence + the Machine.