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Dr. Maya Angelou at her 82nd birthday party with friends and family at Angelou s home on May 20, 2010, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Steve Exum/Getty Images)Related PostsPoetry and hip-hop fans are in for a pleasant surprise. Maya Angelou鈥檚 iconic words from her book聽I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings are given a hip-hop twist, which will be heard in a new album entitled Caged Bird Songs. The hip-hop songs are produced by Shawn Rivera and RoccStar. Rivera is the lead singer of group Az Yet, while Roccstar is known for co-writing 鈥淔ine China鈥?by Chris Brown. The new album has 13 songs and will be released through Smooch on November 4 of this year. Angelou had the chance to work <a href=http://www.radiorcs.com/page.php?sale=Kate-Spade-Sweater>Kate Spade Sweater</a> on this album, and it was one of the several projects she had worked on before passing away last May. An interview with her grandson Colin A. Johnson reveals that Angelou loved the concept from the beginning and that the producers were 鈥渋nspired by grandma鈥檚 work.鈥? Rivera and Roccstar felt that delivering her words in a different medium would help broaden its聽reach to a wider range of people. Johnson said that the pair of musicians <a href=http://www.radiorcs.com/page.php?sale=Kate-Spade-Rose-Bowl>Kate Spade Sale</a> had started working on the project without Angelou鈥檚 knowledge. She eventually backed the project once she found out about it, even going as far as lending previously recorded vocals and using her home in North Carolina as a place to record the tracks. 鈥淪he just laughed,鈥?Johnson said about Angelou鈥檚 initial reaction to the songs. This response was the same one she had when she first learned that she had her own Facebook page. He also said that his grandmother was a fan of hip-hop, seeing the music as a way for people of this generation to communicate and convey messages. He added that she had 鈥済reat stories about her interactions with Tupac (Shakur). Johnson hopes that the album will help youngsters connect with Angelou鈥檚 work just as they did with his own teen children. He also said聽his children <a href=http://www.avanttravel.com/page.php?sale=Michael-Kors-Metallic-Handbags>Cheap Michael Kors Online</a> no longer pick up books of poetry without them being assigned by school, or unless he assigns them. So hearing a poet鈥檚 message in music allows the words to reach younger generations. He manages his grandmother鈥檚 estate along with his father Guy B. Johnson and also runs the Caged Bird Legacy, which will launch future Maya Angelou projects. The Caged Bird Songs is just one of a few other things that they have lined up, most of which were projects Angelou had worked on before and are now at various levels of completion. 聽Follow theGrio on Twitter .
