The Doors’ drummer John Densmore says Jay Z sent him letter letter explaining hip-hop

Hova helped out-of-touch rocker understand rap music...

The Doors‘ drummer John Densmore has revealed that Jay Z once sent him a letter explaining hip-hop.

Speaking to HuffPo Live, Densmore said that he had been left perplexed by the genre and had not understood its appeal after Jay Z sampled The Doors’ track ‘Five To One’ for his 2001 album ‘The Blueprint’.

“Hip-hop was just coming on, and I was like, ‘What is this stuff? There’s no melody,'” recalled Densmore. “I was a curmudgeon.”

Advertisement

He was then sent a letter explaining rap music by Jay Z himself – as well as a Def Jam t-shirt. Densmore added: “Jay Z wrote me a letter saying, ‘Hey, we’re fighting the authority just like you guys did back then.'” The drummer also said that he subsequently turned to Jay Z for help when writing his tome The Doors: Unhinged, as he had inspired by the way the rapper spoke about fame in his own book Decoded and wanted to quote some of his lyrics. “I took a photo of me in this T-shirt, which I saved,,” he said. “And sent it to him and said, ‘Hey, would you give me some of these words?'”

In May of this year, The Doors’ Ray Manzarek passed away following a battle with cancer. It has since been reported that his fellow founding members, Densmore and Robbie Krieger, are keen to reunite to play a show together in tribute to the keyboardist.

Jay Z, meanwhile, released his most recent album ‘Magna Carter Holy Grail’ in July of this year, with the LP going on to become his first ever chart-topping record in the UK. The rapper has since announced a nine-date UK arena tour for later this year.

Jay Z will play:

Manchester Arena (October 3, 4)
Dublin O2 Arena (6)
Birmingham NIA Arena (8)
London O2 Arena (10, 11, 12, 14)

To check the availability of Jay-Z tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0844 858 6765

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories