Pink Floyd Thought About Hip-Hop for 'A Momentary Lapse of Reason'

One would expect the most experimental bands in rock music to be among the first to incorporate new forms of music into their albums...but that doesn't mean we think Pink Floyd messing around with hip-hop is a good idea. Indeed, a Reddit post on the band's page pointed to a point in history where the band almost sorta tried it.

But not really.

The band had broken up following the often forgotten The Final Cut, a 1983 concept album largely crafted by Roger Waters, but had reconvened without its original bassist during 1987 for A Momentary Lapse of Reason. Guitarist David Gilmour opted for producer Bob Ezrin, who had a peculiar suggestion for the group: Work some hip-hop into the mix.

"I became fascinated with [rap] in the Afrika Bambaataa days," Ezrin recounted. "I'm an early adopter ... [I] brought some in when we were doing A Momentary Lapse of Reason, going, 'Boy, I think this stuff with a rock beat would be awesome.'"

Don't get us wrong...we're plenty cool with Bambaataa and the innovations he brought to hip-hop, such as popularizing the 808 drum machine. We just don't really feel comfortable working that into a Pink Floyd release.

Fortunately, Gilmour agreed, noting that it was a "terrible" idea. Nonetheless, the album did feature some drum machines and sampling.

How far Ezrin's idea would go into "hip-hop" isn't noted. Did he intend for the guitarist to actually attempt rapping?

It's probably for the best. Ezrin, for being an "early adopter," hasn't actually produced very much hip-hop during his life, and hadn't touched the genre at the time when Momentary Lapse was on the table. Odds are we'd remember the moment about as well as we recall Aerosmith's collaboration with Run-D.M.C. or when Rush's Geddy Lee attempted to rap on "Roll The Bones."

Tags

Pink Floyd, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Afrika Bambaataa, Aerosmith, Run-D.M.C., Rush