T-Pain and producer Southside will jumpstart the first episode of Traffic Jams, a new series from Spotify and Russell Simmons’ All Def Digital. The eight-episode series -- part of Spotify’s inaugural slate of original programming -- premieres on April 4.
Each week, a rapper and producer who have never worked together will team up in the back of an SUV. As they’re driven through rush-hour traffic in Los Angeles, the pair is challenged to create a new song in the time it takes to reach their destination, the Spotify-All Def Digital Stage. Waiting inside: a crowd of fans ready to watch the pair perform the just-created song live. Steering the lively and revealing conversations during the creative ride-alongs is comedian DoBoy, a.k.a. Fat Drake, who doubles as the SUV’s driver.
Upcoming rapper/producer pairings on Traffic Jams include D.R.A.M. and Melo X (April 11), Joey Bada$$ and Cardo (April 18), Pell and Illmind (April 25), Jidenna and Sonny Digital (May 2), MadeinTYO and Aarabmuzik (May 9), Dae Dae and Marvel Alexander (May 16) and E-40 and Willie B (May 23). A new episode will be available each Tuesday (6 a.m. ET) on Spotify under Spotify Original Videos.
“Traffic Jams shows off true talent -- recording artist and producers -- and their ingenuity, creativity and personalities,” said All Def Digital co-founder Simmons in a statement announcing the series launch. “It has improvisation, it has performances and I’m pretty sure it will spawn a few new hits too.”
Tom Calderone, global head of Spotify Studios, noted, “We want to give our audience a deeper understanding of the artists and the creative process behind the music. Working with the All Def Digital team, we were able to produce a best-in-class hip-hop series that tells stories never told before and takes the musical performance format to another level.”
