Yes, Jay-Z has released a redux version of Coldplay’s “Lost!” from their latest album Viva la Vida. Yes, the track is nothing more than Jay-Z talking over the vocal-less parts of the song that gained fame and drew ire for being featured on an iTunes commercial. Yes, there is much to argue about this track, good or bad, groundbreaking or overdone, etc…

But, what I find so interesting is the styles being combined here. Coldplay’s sound is far from edgy. Its emotional pop rock vocals and instrumentation create much more atmosphere than in your face, look-at-me sounds. Jay-Z is known for being provocative and for attacking an audience with lyrics that standout and force the listener to what he is saying.

The song works, from a point of view completely detached from the popularity of the rock-hip hop movement, because of that difference in style. The song sounds a little layered, admittedly, but the atmospheric presence of Coldplay remains comfortably in either the background or the foreground of the song, allowing Jay-Z to say whatever he wants and without clashing (at least obviously, I have not listened too intently to the competing lyrics).

The part of the song that I find so amusing is that each music entity is popular for different reasons. Coldplay publicly admits that they are not cool guys. Chris Martin, the front man and thus the true representative of the group, looks like an average guy who tries to get through throngs of photographers with his head sheepishly tilted down, peering up to get to wherever he is going. Jay-Z lives life big.

Even though he and Beyonce kept their relationship a private matter, his personal presence in any room looms large. He attracts attention and wants it. That is not to say that Martin hates attention. He is a star and thus almost by definition likes being in the public eye, but his reputation is that of a shy guy struggling with his celebrity. This mash of two public appearances is perhaps more amusing and entertaining than the song itself.