MICHEL MARTIN, host:
This is Billie Holiday, singing the classic, "Pennies From Heaven."
(Soundbite of song, "Pennies From Heaven")
Ms. BILLIE HOLIDAY (Singer): (Singing) Oh, every time it rains, it rains pennies from heaven.
MARTIN: And this is Billie Holiday, remix.
(Soundbite of song, "Pennies From Heaven")
Ms. HOLIDAY: (Singing) Every time it rains, it rains pennies from heaven. Don't you know each cloud contains pennies from heaven?
MARTIN: That song appears on the new album, "Billie Holiday: Remixed & Reimagined." Two of the artists who helped reinterpret the songs in that album join us now - DJ and producer Nico Desimone better, known as Nickodemus, and Mary Ann Vieira, who you may know better as Ladybug Mecca. They're in our New York bureau.
Welcome everybody. Thanks for joining us.
NICKODEMUS (Record Producer): Hello.
LADYBUG MECCA (Rapper): Hey.
MARTIN: How did you both get involved in this project?
NICKODEMUS: Previously, we did a Nina Simone released project, and I guess that went well and they asked me to come on board for the second one - Billie Holiday.
MARTIN: Ladybug Mecca, what drew you to Billie Holiday's music?
LADYBUG MECCA: Well, I would say the emotion in her voice. And when the project was introduced to me, I felt like, you know, her energy and her timelessness and her depth could definitely translate in today's music and with the remixes, so, you know, I was down.
MARTIN: You know, remixing is controversial in some quarters. Some people think of it as less than creative, and other people think of it as an extension of jazz. Ladybug, you know, during your time in Digable Planets, you were rethinking jazz. How do you think about it in your head?
LADYBUG MECCA: I guess, for me, it depends on the reinterpretation. You know, how it comes out and what's being said, I guess, and the intent behind it.
MARTIN: Which brings me to question, because there are people who see themselves as kind of the guardians of the gate that worry that the love of jazz is dying. They're worried that the audience is aging, that the younger audience, the hip-hop crowd is just not as familiar with jazz. How do you see yourself in this? Do you see yourself as reinterpreting it for the new generation? Do you see yourself as part of the legacy passing it on, safeguarding it?
LADYBUG MECCA: Well, being in Digable Planets and, you know, being blessed to be able to sample from jazz music and having everybody like what we did and feel, you know, what we did with it, I guess in a sense some people see us as, you know, gatekeepers or however like to say it. It's an honor, you know, for people to think that way.
(Soundbite of song, "Rebirth of Slick")
LADYBUG MECCA: (Rapping) And I'm chill like that. I'm chill like that. I'm chill like that. I'm chill like that. I'm chill like that. I'm chill like that. I'm chill like that. I'm chill.
MARTIN: Any thoughts about what it's like for you today as a female artist, compared to what it was like for these jazz greats during the heyday?
LADYBUG MECCA: Well, a lot has definitely changed, but, you know, misogyny and - you know, it still exists, definitely. But because of them and because of their accomplishments and their strength, there is a platform for us to make music and be a little more respected.
MARTIN: Let's talk about the track you worked on called "Spreadin' Rhythm Around." Let's hear a little of those.
(Soundbite of song, "Spreadin' Rhythm Around")
LADYBUG MECCA: (Rapping) Lady Day, she make way for Ladybug, body and soul in my blue (unintelligible) coat. My body gets bluish complex on my extent spreading out, disperse the jazz (unintelligible) play house. Boyfriends (unintelligible) when the story is told. In the dark hour can you start to aqua skate? (unintelligible) nothing at all. All the day celebrate, celebrate, celebrate.
Ms. HOLIDAY: (Singing) (unintelligible)
Unidentified Man: Okay.
Ms. HOLIDAY: (Singing) (unintelligible) pulling old man (unintelligible). Everybody is out a high hat. Spread the rhythm 'round.
MARTIN: Okay. Ladybug, talk about it. What were you thinking about?
LADYBUG MECCA: The rhyme came really naturally for me and very fast. It was really sparked by knowing that, you know, she was raised in Baltimore. And, you know, I'm from Maryland myself, but closer to the Silver Springs so, you know, I was just really feeling the beat in a way the producer had remixed it. So, yeah, I was just, you know, just trying to give her respect.
(Soundbite of song, "Spreadin' Rhythm Around")
MARTIN: Do you see your song as jazz?
LADYBUG MECCA: That's a good question. Yeah. You know, it's definitely a 2007 infused jazz, but yeah. Definitely.
MARTIN: Nickodemus, what do you think jazz is?
NICKODEMUS: I think what Ladybug said how Digable Planets was just like an extension of the jazz and a reinterpretation. You know, by listening to Digable Planets, that brought me into, you know, listening to more rare jazz, like stuff I may not have heard before. You know, I was digging in the crates and I would find, like, a rare Lonnie Liston Smith track from a Digable Planets - I guess you could say - interpretation or an extension of that. And, you know, if it's done well, it's done well. And it's a nod to the old school and to, like, the forefathers who I think there's a base in there that I think we're all relating to. But then we're just taking it to the next step, you know, or like in another direction, if you will.
MARTIN: Okay. Let's talk about your remix of the song, "Travelin' All Alone."
(Soundbite of song, "Travelin' All Alone")
Ms. HOLIDAY: (Singing) Travelin', travelin', travelin', travelin'. (unintelligible).
MARTIN: Now, in this cut you're looping Billie's voice. You're using it more like an instrument, okay, rather than like a melody that carries a song through. How did you come with that?
NICKODEMUS: Well, in this original tune, we were just given the two-track mix. Unlike the Nina Simone where we had all the plots broken out, we had to kind of treat this almost as if we were making a hip-hop record, where you use samples of two-track mix on vinyl or on CD or something. So we kind of found our favorite parts that we want to groove on, and then we kept our favorite verses from the original tune and used a lot of dub effects to kind of give it a traveling feel.
(Soundbite of song, "Travelin' All Alone")
Ms. HOLIDAY: (Singing) Travelin', travelin', travelin', travelin', travelin', travelin', travelin', travelin'…I want to go.
NICKODEMUS: One of the reasons I chose this tune was I travel a lot as well, you know, just out on tour. And a lot of times, you're on own and it's straight up. And it's - what's she saying it's, like, you kind of get that feeling that deeper feeling of a retrospect and reflecting.
MARTIN: I wanted to ask you the same question I was asking Ladybug earlier, which is, you know, there are different ways that people appreciate jazz. On the one hand, jazz is all about reinvention. You know, rethinking, rehearing sounds, okay? And yet nowadays, sometimes people are very reverential about jazz. They see it as something to sort of preserve and defend. And what do you hope people will get out of your music when they hear it?
NICKODEMUS: Well, I hope that, you know, of course, there's that different branches of jazz and, you know, the original jazz keeps doing its thing and running its path. And you know, people are open to other paths where things are looped and beats are on top, and soloists come in and they rock to a metronome instead of, like, a live drummer. You know, I hope it just keeps branching out and more people learn about the originals and more people learn about up and coming artists at the same time.
MARTIN: Well, thank you both of joining us. What track should we hear as we say goodbye?
LADYBUG MECCA: How about "You're So Desirable?"
MARTIN: "You're So Desirable." Well, that will be it. Nico "Nickodemus" Desimone and Mary Ann "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira are two of the artists who participated on the new album, "Billie Holiday: Remixed & Reimagined." They both joined us in our New York bureau. Thank you both so much for speaking with us.
NICKODEMUS: Thank you very much.
LADYBUG MECCA: Thank you.
(Soundbite of song, "You're So Desirable")
Ms. HOLIDAY: (Singing) You're so desirable.
MARTIN: "Remixed & Reimagined" hits record stores today. But if you can't wait to buy your own copy, you can check out some songs are our Web site, npr.org/tellmemore.
And that's our program for today. I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Let's talk more tomorrow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
