Really, who doesn’t at this point?
Responding to a question that’d been sent in to Larry King Now, Joanna Newsom told Larry King — during her guest appearance (formerly teased on Instagram) on the talk web series — that her current favorite rapper is Kendrick Lamar. (Sharing the opinion of Obama and just about every other Best Of 2015 list to come out this year re: To Pimp a Butterfly). The next question was whether she’s ever considered “collaborating with another artist on an album.” Her first response addressed the odd wording of the question — “Well I’ve collaborated with a lot of people on my records,” she says. (Her most recent album, Divers, featured Nico Muhly and David Longstreth of The Dirty Projectors, and she’s previously collaborated with Van Dyke Parks and Bill Callahan — to name a few).
But then, considering who she’d be interested — very hypothetically — in collaborating with in the future, she said, “Dolly Parton.” This is no surprise, stylistically, as Parton seems to be a key influence. But then she added, “Or Kendrick Lamar.” Perhaps if he sees this news posted enough times, such a thing could actually come to pass?
Imagine, for a second, the meeting of two of the most skilled lyricists, distinctive voices, and masters of labyrinthine concept albums currently making music. It could either, with Kendrick’s fusion of rap, funk and jazz and Newsom’s melancholy circus of old synths, harp and strings, be a sonic experience unlike any other — or a potential sonic mess unlike any other.
Also on the show, Newsom taught King to play the harp, an instrument King calls very “serious,” using this to segue into her marriage to Andy Samberg, “who does not seem the most serious person in the world.” King flat-out asks her her “feelings” about her husband, to which she responds:
He’s my favorite person in the world. He’s the person I’d most want to hang out with at any given moment…he’s probably the biggest superfan of my music.
Watch clips from the interview below. On ideal collaborations:
On Andy Samberg:
Teaching the harp:
[Via Pitchfork]