A behind the scenes interview with music composer Jim Beanz for the upcoming 1 hour special episode of season 28, split in two parts, titled “The Great Phatsby: Part One” and “The Great Phatsby: Part Two“, have been released. The episodes airs on January 15, 2017.
Jim Beanz is the composer of the music for the series Empire, and will be the composer for this episode too. In an interview with Billboard he said: “I was humbly grateful and completely shocked that they called me for this episode. But at the same time, I was ready for it.” He added, “Everything I went through prior to this, it was all for The Simpsons.”
He has composed a remix of the opening theme too: “I wanted to remain true to the feeling I got as a kid. I wanted it to have nostalgia, but more than anything, I wanted to give it a different spin that would work in hip-hop today. Therefore, it has trap elements, 808s, cool cadences, and switch-ups to give it a little bit of a newer sound.”
About his collaboration with the special guests Snoop, Common and RZA, Beanz said: “They’re all legends. On the show, they stayed true to their sound. These days, a lot of music sounds the same, but when they came out, each one had their own lane, musically. So when I structured songs for them, each one had a different feel.”
He also said his ispiration for the music comes from the writers of the show: “They all have screws loose and that’s the reason they work for The Simpsons. To have those people writing raps, it was crazy hilarious.”
And THAT'S how you make an entrance. ???? @Therealtaraji is joining us tonight at 8/7c! ???? #TheSimpsons pic.twitter.com/SnGqk2vo5W
— The Simpsons (@TheSimpsons) January 15, 2017
He and MCs added their touches to the musics too: “It was very collaborative. They let me color and allowed me to throw a few punchlines in there, jokes that a more urban crowd would get.”
He also assured the normal music of the show will still be there: “Hardcore viewers won’t get anything different. We still have those elements; we just added hip-hop, sprinkled it in to tie everything in … It was an amazing team effort and it came together pretty dope.”
.@MattSelman is tweeting along with us tonight during the special one-hour episode of #TheSimpsons at 8/7c! pic.twitter.com/dbl1wD8QZP
— The Simpsons (@TheSimpsons) January 15, 2017
Source: Billboard.com