Bluegrass and hip-hop don’t exactly go together like red beans and rice. In terms of their instrumentation and their origins, the genres couldn’t be farther apart.
Yet those differences didn’t stop improvisational string band Greensky Bluegrass from incorporating the chorus of New Orleans rap icon Juvenile’s 1998 hit “Back That Azz Up” into one of their bluegrass jams. The five-piece band, who played a fantastic two-set show in the Crescent City last month, worked the song into their performance at Florida’s Suwannee Hulaween festival over the weekend. Singer and mandolinist Paul Hoffman played the emcee role for a few minutes, enthusiastically reciting the “Back That Azz Up” chorus before the band launched into an extended rendition of their original, “Don’t Lie.”
Live for Live Music captured a video of the segment, which can be viewed below (the good stuff begins around the 1:55 mark).