HBO, the American cable and satellite TV network behind the massively popular Game Of Thones series, have released a free mixtape called Catch The Throne, featuring tracks from the likes of Big Boi, Wale and Common, all using samples of music and dialogue from the show. Readers can stream and download the mixtape for free, below.
OutKast member Big Boi contributes a track by the name of Mother Of Dragons, in which he raps about Khaleesi, “the mother of dragons”, over a military march-style instrumental track with a repeating chorus hook: “Dungeons, dragons, kings and queens.”
Rapper Wale contributes the track King Slayer and Common provides the more downtempo cut The Ladder with the choice lyric: “My life is like a game of thrones.” Other artists featured on the mixtape include Daddy Yankee, Snow Tha Product, MC Bodega Bamz and Magazeen.
Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Wale posited that the way in which Catch The Throne blends fantasy-based lyrics with samples from the show mirrors the way Wu-Tang Clan re-appropriated kung fu samples in their music. “Twenty years ago, Wu-Tang was breaking ground,” he said. “There are no limitations in hip-hop culture.”
Big Boi, who revealed that he recently begun reading the Game Of Thrones books so that he can sit in front of the televised plot, told the newspaper: “I’m really happy, I get to be part of the process of one of my favorite shows.”
Lucy Martinez, a senior vice president at HBO, has said that the mixtape’s mix of hip-hop, Latin and reggae music is an attempt to appeal to “multicultural audiences”. “Our multicultural audiences are a very important part of our subscribers, and we don’t want to take them for granted,” she said.
Over the course of Game Of Thrones‘ third season, which aired in 2013, the viewership of prime-time telecasts was made up of 13.2% black, 9.2% Hispanic and 76.6% white viewers on average, according to Nielsen.
Music Feeds readers can check out the full mixtape below. Season 4 of Game Of Thrones begins 6th April, check out the latest trailer here.
