By all accounts, the Who's newly released album WHO is just fine. But the same can hardly be said of the band's press cycle around the record. Now taking things from bad to worse, we have word that Pete Townshend tried to get 75-year-old singer Roger Daltrey to rap on the album. And yes, by rap, we mean spit bars and drop some sick lyrical science.
The rap reveal comes via a new interview with Billboard, in which Daltrey explained that Townshend actually wrote a rap verse for him to perform on the opening WHO song "All This Music Must Fade."
Of the rejected rap, Daltrey said, "I ain't going there. I love people that do that. It's incredibly clever. It's incredibly technical and they're brilliant, but if I did it, it would be laughable. I could probably do it, but it would be pastiche. I had to convince [Townshend] to cut it out; I said, 'You're welcome to leave it in if you do the rap.' Obviously, he didn't feel comfortable doing it, either."
Of course, the reveal comes after Townshend was quoted as saying "thank God" late Who bandmates Keith Moon and John Entwistle are gone — a move that led to more than a bit of backlash and a public apology.
But would have a Who rap led to even more backlash? For better or worse, we'll never really know.
To see where the Who's rap-less albums rank, check out Exclaim!'s Essential Guide to the Who.
The rap reveal comes via a new interview with Billboard, in which Daltrey explained that Townshend actually wrote a rap verse for him to perform on the opening WHO song "All This Music Must Fade."
Of the rejected rap, Daltrey said, "I ain't going there. I love people that do that. It's incredibly clever. It's incredibly technical and they're brilliant, but if I did it, it would be laughable. I could probably do it, but it would be pastiche. I had to convince [Townshend] to cut it out; I said, 'You're welcome to leave it in if you do the rap.' Obviously, he didn't feel comfortable doing it, either."
Of course, the reveal comes after Townshend was quoted as saying "thank God" late Who bandmates Keith Moon and John Entwistle are gone — a move that led to more than a bit of backlash and a public apology.
But would have a Who rap led to even more backlash? For better or worse, we'll never really know.
To see where the Who's rap-less albums rank, check out Exclaim!'s Essential Guide to the Who.
