Mash-ups, Doing a Missy

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  From today's (Thursday, May 9) NEW YORK TIMES:
Spreading by the Web, Pop's Bootleg Remix

By NEIL STRAUSS

he song may sound familiar at first, thanks to the unmistakable guitar riff 
from Nirvana's classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

But, suddenly, the recording changes course when, instead of the gravelly 
voice of Kurt Cobain, the smooth R&B harmonies of a Destiny's Child hit 
appear on top of the grunge music. As the recording moves on, it is clear 
that the song is neither fish nor fowl; it is a crossbreed that neither band 
ever intended, or even dreamed of. 

It is something that is completely different, often illegal and, thanks to 
the Internet, becoming explosively popular.

Songs like this one, which combine different hits without adding any original 
music, may represent the first significant new musical genre to be lifted out 
of the underground, developed and then spread, mostly via the Web. The songs, 
called mash-ups or bootlegs, typically match the rhythm, melody and 
underlying spirit of the instrumentals of one song with the a cappella vocals 
of another. And the more odd the pairing the better.

The music industry has greeted them with mixed response. A radio station in 
London playing a popular mash-up with Christina Aguilera belting her hit 
"Genie in a Bottle" over the retro-rock of the Strokes was served with a 
cease-and-desist order by Ms. Aguilera's publisher, Warner-Chappell. 

On the other hand, in Britain last week, Island Records released a legal 
mash-up, which entered the pop charts at No. 1. It combines music from three 
different artists — the new-wave icon Gary Numan, the R&B singer Adina Howard 
and the girl-pop group the Sugababes. 

The music — there are hundreds of such recordings — is particularly popular 
in Europe, where D.J.'s play mash-ups at parties. But through the Internet it 
is spreading not only there but also in the United States. There are so many 
bootlegs using Eminem and Missy Elliott songs (Missy mixed with the 80's 
group the Cure, Eminem with the fey pop of the Smiths, and Missy with the 
heavy metal group Metallica, for starters) that some practitioners refer to 
making a bootleg as "doing a Missy" on a song.
(...)