From Flappers to Rappers

  Why did the producers of "The Great Gatsby" choose to infuse current hip-hop into their movie about the Roaring 20's? They wanted to modernize the story, in a way; they wanted it to appeal to today's audience. The Roaring 20's were a time of scandal, a period of edginess and distinction. So why not infuse music that's about the same things in the movie? I personally thought it was a very good idea, and really enjoyed the soundtrack. The music in the movie seemingly takes us back to those days of craziness, but also provides us with a sense of familiarity by providing us with current artists that most of today's population have either heard of or listen to. This created a freshness that, for me, seemed to make a different story than the original, but one that was enjoyable nevertheless. It somewhat updated the story of "The Great Gatsby," but still kept true to the original. A song that I think really does a good job at modernizing the movie is Lana Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful." The song itself sounds like it belongs in a movie about the Roaring 20's, but her distinct familiar voice and the music accompanying her gives the song a sense of reinvention, which is just what the producers were trying to do with this soundtrack.
  Another thing the new music does is it adds a sense of excitement to the movie that original jazz music just couldn't do today. Yes, that was the music of that time period, but it has been almost 100 years since then. Twenties jazz music just could not get the sort of reaction and involvement that the music of today can get. For example, "The Great Gatsby" soundtrack features a song will.i.am, "Bang, Bang." When it starts out, it doesn't really seem exciting, it doesn't really seem like a song that belongs at a party today (however, that's exactly the type of music they had in the 20's). But after the first 30 seconds of the song, the tempo takes a dramatic turn, and your brought right back into the present, which is what the goal of this soundtrack was in the first place.