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Elephant Man and Major Lazer Give Beyoncé’s “Halo” Jamaican Boost Via London and Philly

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Were you, like us, tuning in and out of the Grammys last night? Yes, we know, you had better things to do. Of the many special (and many more not-so-special) moments you missed was Houston’s own Beyoncé Knowles breaking out of “If I Were a Boy” for a verse and chorus of “You Oughta Know”, the 1995 hit by the pride of Ottawa, Canada, Alanis Morissette. But a better international Beyoncé mashup landed in our RSS feed this morning when we clicked on a link to Jamaican rapper Elephant Man’s (above, right) cover of Mrs. Jay-Z’s “Halo” with a backing track provided by Major Lazer (above, left)—the nom de guerre of Philadelphia-based DJ Diplo and his partner in crime, London-born producer Switch (check Beyonc&wacute;’s version here). To round out this international cast of contributors, consider the fact that the original demo was written by Tulsa, Oklahoma, singer/songwriter Ryan Tedder and beefed up by L.A. producer Evan Bogart. World beats, indeed.

“Real Halo” [Mad Decent]  
For more globe-hopping musical connections pick up our “Music + Travel Worldwide” guide book.

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