How can any lover of good story begin to thank the genius that started HBO (on November 8, 1972) and the adventurous group that helped take an “idea” and mold it into “The HBO.” "The HBO" that is a brilliant business model. "The HBO" that is a safe and nurturing home for many creative story tellers. "The HBO” that respects their audience and embraced diversity without being brow-beat into doing so. "The HBO" that made watching and admitting to watching documentaries cool.
"The HBO" that set new standards of excellence in original programming has now added music to the GAME OF THRONES mix and HBO made something marvellous out of something well marvellous.
Catch the Throne: The Mixtape, available on March 17, is produced by Launch Point Records, the 15-track mix-tape features diverse artists representing "Game of Thrones" families, leveraging themes and highlights from season 4.
“Lord of the Light” by Talib Kweli is on Complex. The mixtape will be released in anticipation of the season 5 debut of "Game of Thrones" on HBO, April 12 at 9pm.
Showcasing the importance of music in "Game of Thrones," each song on the mix-tape samples music from the show’s season 4 soundtrack. This year’s mix-tape also weaves in the overarching theme of fire and ice, providing listeners with an exciting line-up of heavy metal and hip-hop artists. Building on the success of Volume 1, with over 2.5MM streams to date, Volume 2 will feature artists from the R&B, electronic, Latin, heavy metal and rap worlds.
Each artist was aligned with one of the "Game of Thrones" families, helping to determine the themes that are illustrated in their track. The full list of artists includes: Anthrax, Estelle, Kap G, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, Melanie Fiona, Method Man, MNDR, Mushroomhead , Raquel Sofia, Snoop Dogg, Stalley, Talib Kweli, Ty Dolla $ign, and Yandel.
All artists involved in the mixtape are fans of the show and were eager to reinterpret key moments. "I am a big fan of the books and the series,” said Talib Kweli. “As an MC, I’m not adverse to the concept of battles and ability to tell compelling stories and the Game of Thrones series does just that. It is the reason I wanted to be a part of this mixtape.”
Catch the Throne: The Mixtape Vol. 2 will be released March 17th via SoundCloud, free of charge. Catch The Throne: The Mixtape Vol. 1 is still available on Soundcloud. Listeners are encouraged to share using the hashtag #CatchTheThrone.
Viewers can access previous seasons of "Game of Thrones" on HBO GO, HBO On Demand or by checking their local listings. For more on the series, visit: facebook.com/GameOfThrones and twitter.com@GameOfThrones.