Jay-Z...The master of marketing...

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For those who were there, it was a once in a lifetime musical moment. On July 18, 2004, MTV brought Jay-Z and Linkin Park together for a tour-de-force performance at West Hollywood's famed Roxy Theatre in front of a select group of lucky fans. It was a meeting of musical minds inspired by mutual admiration and a passion for music, resulting in a combination of great songs "mashed" together as if they meant to be paired in that way all along. The evening proved to be stylistically grand, and artistically bold as the famed Sunset Blvd. literally shook underneath the weight of these musical heavyweights on the same stage, mixing it up. It was a musically masterful performance no one has, or will soon forget.

Now, for those who missed it (and for those who want to re-live it), comes on Warner Bros. Records and Roc-A-Fella Records one of the most exciting CD + DVD packages yet:

MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups Presents - Jay-Z / Linkin Park: Collision Course, a two disc set due November 30.

The CD features studio recordings of the same song combinations performed live on that unforgettable night. The tracks were cut in the studio with Linkin Park and Jay-Z while they rehearsed for the Roxy performance. Included are pairings such as "Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying From You," "Numb/Encore," "Izzo/In The End" and more.

Says Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park (who doubled as producer on the album) about selecting the songs that would be melded, "We picked the songs based on tempo, key and vibe. Most of it was pretty obvious to me--the songs just told me which ones should go together. Based on early response, the pairings are perfect; the real challenge came while re-recording the tracks in the studio, most notably the vocal tracks. Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington says of the experience, "The biggest challenge in recording some of the new vocals was singing our dark lyrics over Jay's music. Some of his songs felt happier than our songs-- which made for a different attitude in our vocals."

The DVD contains the Roxy performance in 5.1 Surround Sound, plus a revealing behind the scenes documentary detailing the creative process of the collaboration. This poignant and fun feature will show you how, in just four days, Jay-Z and Linkin Park created, rehearsed, recorded and ultimately performed the songs that make up the ultimate mash-up album. Rousing mash-ups of "Numb/Encore," "Points Of Authority/99 Problems/One Step Closer" and "Izzo/In The End" and more are included. Also included on the disc is the original broadcast version of MTV ULTIMATE MASH-UPS as well an exclusive photo gallery of Linkin Park and Jay-Z images taken over the course of the project.

[deepfriedtwinkie]

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