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

 
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.