The words of celebrated poet Maya Angelou have been mixed with hip hop music for an album that is scheduled for release on November 4.
The words are taken from Angelou's 1969 biography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," while the music is produced by AZ Yet lead singer Shawn River and record producer Leon Youngblood Jr., also known as Roccstar.
The album, titled "Caged Bird Sings" after her book, is one of the last projects the poet completed before she died in May this year.
"Grandma loved it from the beginning," said her grandson Colin A. Johnson, who, along with his father Guy B. Johnson, takes charge of Angelou's estate.
River and Youngblood had started work on the project before informing the poet. According to Johnson, as soon as Angelou became aware of the album, she gave her complete support to it and even had the songs recorded at her North Carolina home.
"She loved it and was excited to hear more about what they wanted to do," he said. "She had a lot of energy around it."
Angelou was known to be a follower of hip hop music, seeing it as the current generation's way of speaking and conveying a message, Johnson said. She "had great stories about interactions with (rapper) Tupac Shakur," he continued.
Speaking of Rivera and Youngblood, he said, "These guys were inspired by grandma's work, which many people are, and felt like giving it a different medium of delivery to make it more obtainable to a larger group of people."
Angelou was a winner of three Grammy awards for her spoken-word albums. She also collaborated with husband-and-wife act Ashford and Simpson for the 1996 album "Been Found."
The poet's involvement in hip hop includes a participation in the "The Dreamer/The Believer" album of the rapper Common.