Rock, hip-hop and electronic dance music will come together when Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker unites with Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, DJ Z-Trip, Chuck D of legendary rap group Public Enemy and rapper/show host LL Cool J for a super-group performance at the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards.
“He represents so much history with his work in hip-hop … to this day he’s in it, he’s respected for it and we thought, ‘gee, it’s right under our noses, let’s do something with LL and have a lot of fun with that,’” Said Neil Portnow, President and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) regarding LL Cool J to MTV News. “He’s not a hired gun and last year after we did the nominations show we said, ‘let’s do [something] this year’ and he was up for it.”
There are scant details regarding the superstar collaboration, although Barker did post a photo featuring himself in the studio with LL Cool J and Z-Trip and mentioning Morello, causing some to speculate that a GRAMMY surprise was in the works.
It was also announced that multiple nominees the Black Keys will team up for a performance with Dr. John and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band during this year’s GRAMMY ceremony, which will be broadcast on CBS this Sunday, February 10, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
-Scott T. Sterling, CBS Local
