In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City native Michael Vincent Waller was unable to tour his classical album, “Moments,” which led him to experiment and create music he never believed was possible. “I had listened to hip hop music for over 20 years, but never thought I could contribute anything to its history. I found my passion in music at 18, and that was composition, piano at first, and eventually specifically contemporary avant-garde minimalism,” expresses Waller.
Nonetheless, Waller discovered inspiration in hip hop, combining his classical compositions with hip hop tracks and creating a new fusion genre. He embarked on the project entitled Classic$ in collaboration with the powerful hip hop producer, Lex Luger, who has worked with many of the biggest names in hip hop including Jay Z and Kanye West.
“I could remix them with collaborators, reshape them, and even distill them into new sounds in popular genres, such as hip hop/rap/trap (which was my listening diet for a longtime)––it seemed there was something this music had to say with even amongst a large variety and huge volume of new music that dominate this large sector of global listeners. This became a new sound to frame,” said Waller in a press release.
The eight-track album remixes songs featuring singer, Jaydonclover, Valee and Lil’ Gotit. The songs are crafted with the serene and sensual sounds of cello, violin and piano drawn from Waller’s previous compositions and overlaid trap hip hop vocals and drumbeats.
The blending of two genres that seem to be polar opposites in the minds of many artists and music lovers are melded together masterfully on Classic$, an album that offers a new perspective of musical possibilities and artistic exploration.
“I want to take the same attention to detail associated with classical and chamber music and apply it to one of the most viable, listenable, and casual genres, i.e. trap,” says MVW “It’s got freshness and energy, but there are a whole bunch of nuances and details you don’t typically hear in modern rap. I’m trying to take the best of both worlds.”