Jay-Z set to score new 'Great Gatsby' film

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It’s a surprising and unconventional combination — rap music and one of America’s most classic novels.

But director Baz Luhrmann has reportedly signed rapper Jay-Z to produce an original score for his ambitious upcoming adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

The news leaked out when Jeymes Samuels of the The Bullitts tweeted yesterday, “Jay-Z and myself have been working tirelessly on the score for the upcoming #CLASSIC The Great Gatsby! It is too DOPE for words!”

No official statement from Jay-Z has been released regarding his involvement.

Rumors were circulating prior to the tweet on which artist was set to score the film, but the first trailer (watch above) that was released earlier this year featured Jay Z’s Watch the Throne track, “No Church In The Wild” which may have hinted that Jay-Z was the favored choice. That’s in addition to Luhrmann supposedly playing Jay-Z’s music on the set of The Great Gatsby, according to cast members.

“On my first day he had Jay-Z pumped up full, and we did the entire scene with, you know, Jay-Z in our ear on full blast while acting, and it was just so liberating,” Isla Fisher, who plays Myrtle Wilson, told MTV.

And this isn’t the first time that the Aussie-native director has juxtaposed modern music with classic stories – Romeo + Juliet with Radiohead in 1996 and Moulin Rouge! with Madonna in 2001.

The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire hits theaters May 10th, 2013.

Follow Brittany Tom on Twitter @brittanyrtom