a cover to an album that's not even allowed to be sold.. one might say illiogical?

It’s no question that hip-hop is essentially still in its youth, and some people worry about its staying power throughout the years. Will there be a hip-hop Elvis? Will there be a rap counterpart to Led Zeppelin’s incomparable “Stairway to Heaven?”

One way to give hip-hop staying power is to combine it with the forty-years-strong Beatles. The faces that changed rock n’ roll have managed to keep their distance from the budding genre thanks to a stipulation in their copyright contracts that prevent their sampling for rap songs. Then again—that’s only if you ask for permission.

DJ Danger Mouse (born Brian Burton), already a critical success in England from his previous outing, DM & Jemeni’s Ghetto Pop Life, managed to fuse the quintessential influence of most rock music with the top dog in today’s hip-hop game, Jay-Z. After releasing his 2003, Black Album, Jay-Z released the a cappella version of the record for DJs to remix and restyle his beats and spread his voice to as many people as would have it. Along the way, DJ Danger Mouse got his paws on the record.

Maybe it was the temptation of the conflicting titles, or maybe it just sounded right to him, but nothing would stop Danger Mouse from combining the Black and White albums to make, what he calls, an “art project/experiment.” DM couldn’t be any closer to right. You’d need some serious allegiance to either Jay-Z or the Beatles to hate this record.

In its raw form, the aptly titled Grey Album is a combination of Jay-Z’s vocals and music from the Beatles’ White Album. But anybody could play lyrics over music. Danger Mouse takes an element—a snare, a chord, a drum—and stretches it to new heights with loops and cuts that morph the original songs into pieces that don’t resemble their originals at all. The most attentive ears will hear the exact samples, but most listeners will only recognize the obvious influence from the Fab Four.

Danger Mouse has attempted an inevitably failed venture in trying to convert some Beatles fans to hip-hop ones, but it’s damn tempting for those willing to let the universal rules of music bend (this one being “Thou shall not touch John, Paul, or George… maybe Ringo”).

Jay-Z’s record isn’t very different than most of his previous efforts. Full of self-praise and clichés, the Black Album is an adequate collection of tunes that signify Hov’s bowing out of the hip-hop business. Marked as his retirement album, Jay-Z makes it perfectly clear why this record’s being released on “What More Can I Say?” when he shouts out, “This time it’s for the money.”

If he knew what Danger Mouse could have done, Jay-Z might’ve gotten even more cash out of the multi-platinum record.

When I got a hold of the Grey Album, my head started bobbing with the first guitar chords in “Public Service Announcement,” then the bass drum pounded out a steady rhythm tight enough for me to forget about whatever Jay-Z was spouting this time. Turns out he’s still “the music biz’s number one supplier”—would we expect anything else from America’s favorite conceited rapper? The remix breathes life into a corresponding track that laid dead towards the end of the original record.

 “99 Problems” may be the Grey Album’s crowning achievement just because it surpasses the original on the Black Album. Produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, the original rocks out with vigor, but the Grey version produces more of a softcore Queens of the Stone Age rock by slicing in bits and pieces of the infamous “Helter Skelter.” Though the original achieved the goal of rocking Jay-Z à la Puff Daddy and Jimmy Page’s “Kashmir” redux a couple years back, Danger Mouse treats that rocking with the care of a surgeon’s hand. The descending guitars and cymbal clashes aren’t as overbearing or flashy as Rubin’s crunchy guitars and misplaced cow bells.

I’m sure John Lennon never imagined the ode to his mother, “Julia,” would become melodically warped into a song with the words, “Ladies is pimps too, (Go on brush your shoulders off,) Ni—az is crazy…” Still, the soothing guitar provides an earthly contrast to the distorted ghetto beats in the Black version. “December 4th” (Jay-Z’s birthday) chronicles the history of the rapper from his childhood with samples of an interview with his mother. The Beatles’ guitar loops and drum beats fit seamlessly underneath, like most of the tracks on the Grey Album.

DJ Danger Mouse did what he was supposed to. If your virgin ears were never graced with the original Black Album or White Album, then you wouldn’t think that they ever existed separately. Their flawless combination makes for an all new experience in itself.

Our 26-year old hero, DJ Danger Mouse, didn’t triumph in this tale though. He recently received the standard cease and desist order from EMI, the company that releases all Beatles records. Danger Mouse isn’t fighting it at all; in fact, he’s letting the press fight for him. From Rolling Stone to CNN to BBC, everyone has reported about the innovative appeal of the Grey Album.

As long as the internet is out there, the Grey Album will survive though. And, if you can get a hold of him, Rolling Stone reports that DM’s glad to copy the mix for fans. It would definitely be worth the trouble to contact him, but there’s no doubt that his career will blow up after this project. Before all this attention, DM was working with several underground rappers and hooking up with emcee Jemini for their next installment on Lex Records.