Imagine your dream mashup... Is it a Future x Migos album? Maybe Chance the Rapper x Vic Mensa? Perhaps you're even praying that someday a Lil B x any NBA superstar mixtape will surface? For me, it's Elton John x Young Thug.
Yeah... You read that right.
It all stems from one of my favorite moments in hip hop pop culture of the last decade. In December of 2015, Elton John was interviewed by Noisey and said that when he heard a Thug song on the radio he loved it and all of the unexpected qualities of the artist and his body of work.
It's not a secret that Elton John is a fan of modern pop music. He's spoken about being a fan of Miley Cyrus and Kanye and Adele. However, this love for Thugger gets taken a little further.
Elton John went so far as to talk to the CEO of Universal Music about the Young Thug album because he was so interested in the character of Young Thug. He then went on to compare Thugger's envelope pushing behavior to that of John Lennon..... THE FUCKING BEATLE. A BRITISH MUSIC ICON COMPARED YOUNG THUG, THE GENDER BENDING MUMBLE RAPPER, TO A BEATLE.
After this Noisey interview was published, the rumor mill went crazy. Reports of collaborations, including a "Rocketman" remix, begin to surface. None of these rumors ever became truths, but in May of 2016 the pair did finally meet.
In an Instagram photo where Thugger calls Elton John a "rep'r", Elton John sports a Thugger hat while posing with the Atlanta rapper. There's a second photo with Elton holding up a Young Thug hoodie with a beaming smile on his face. It's truly a photo set that deserves to be hung in the MoMA.
If there's a "Rocketman" remix out there... I hope that we see it in 2018. Until then, this collab will remain the collab of my dreams and these photos will be my permanent lockscreen.
