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Elton John to Conquer Hip-Hop?

Goodbye yellow brick road...hello yellow gold chains? Five years after causing a media blitz by performing with Eminem at the Grammys, pop icon Elton John is considering an album-long plunge into hip-hop waters. He told Rolling Stone that he'd like to snag producer Dr. Dre -- along with maybe "Pharrell, Timbaland, Snoop, Kanye, [and] Eminem" (sure, why not?) -- and make a rap album.

"I want to bring my songs and melodies to hip-hop beats -- a bit like 'No Diggity' by Blackstreet," John told the magazine. "It may be a disaster, it could be fantastic, but you don't know until you try."

Sir Elton has yet to make his pitch to Dr. Dre and company, and he'd be counting on his collaborators to lend more than just their famous names. "I love those beats, but I have no idea how to get them," he admitted.

Despite the long wishlist, Lil Jon and his crunk brethren shouldn't sit by the phone; in discussing past rap favorites, John stuck to Dre's West Coast camp, singling out the producer's "California Love" collaboration with Tupac Shakur. Elton and 'Pac go way back; Shakur's "Ghetto Gospel," posthumously finished and released, included a sample of John's "Indian Sunset."

While his rap career is on standby, John's forthcoming album, The Captain and the Kid, is set for release on September 19th, offering a sequel to the 1975 concept album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, which featured John classics like "Someone Saved My Life Tonight."

--The ARTISTdirect Staff
08.28.06