The soundtrack for the upcoming Baz Luhrmann biopic Elvis is packed, with the most notable participant perhaps being Eminem. Now, he has shared his contribution to the movie, a new CeeLo Green collaboration called “The King And I.”
The track, naturally, is filled with references to Presley. Most obviously, the instrumental is based on the iconic “Jailhouse Rock” riff. Eminem also plays off of the classic “Blue Suede Shoes” lyric with the line, “It goes: one for the trailer park, two for my baby-ma /
Three for the tater tots, four if you ate a lot / Five if you came to rock, straight up while I’m sh*ttin’ on my comp’.”
Elsewhere, Em makes comparisons between Presley and himself, rapping, “Now I’m about to explain to you all the parallels / Between Elvis and me, myself / It seem obvious: one, he’s pale as me / Second, we both been hailed as kings.”
In an interview from earlier this month, Green said of working with Eminem on the song, “Me and Eminem have been friends for years. I’ve longed for an opportunity to work with him. He said, ‘Hey man, can you do this for me? I need it really quickly, I need it tonight.’ So when Eminem says he needs something tonight, you deliver.”
Listen to “The King And I” above.
