Remember the Grammys this year? It’s okay if you don’t, we’ve moved on too. After all, “music’s most irrelevant awards show” happened only a couple weeks ago and already we’re drawing a blank. But there’s one thing we’re apt to remember… the all-star rap performance featuring Blink-182’s Travis Barker, Lil Wayne, Eminem, and Drake. We didn’t realize it at the time, but that performance — in all its censored glory — offered a preview of the drumming virtuoso’s upcoming endeavors.
While Tom DeLonge flirts with Love and Angels & Airwaves, Barker plans to keep busy by releasing his first solo album in the very near future. And wouldn’t you know it, the forthcoming effort features the likes of Lil Wayne, RZA, Rick Ross, The Game, and Beanie Sigel. And from the way Barker describes the process (via Spinner), this should be an innovative collaboration: “I just love music. The more I can be around it the better, so with my album it’s no one genre.”
Adding to the impressive line up of contributors is Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor. Now, unlike say One Day As A Lion, which features Zack De La Rocha and Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore and sounds exactly like what you’d expect from Rage Volta, this sounds like an attempt to reinvent the music rather than showcasing the sum of its parts.
“Over the last five years, when Blink wasn’t around, I played a lot by myself or did a whole bunch of stuff with just me. Whether I was playing with T.I. or doing whatever, it just opened another world for me.” If Barker can turn the Grammys into a redeeming experience then he’s already off to a good start.
We’ll find out eventually.
