Doja Cat is honoring Big Mama Thornton with a reimagining of the original “Hound Dog” for the upcoming Elvis biopic (out June 24). The singer released “Vegas” on Thursday, which samples Thornton’s growling vocals and adds Doja’s own interpretation of the iconic track.
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On the reimagined track, Doja raps to a man who never deserved her attention. The “hound dog” gets a taste of his own medicine as Doja “reads him for filth.”
I ain’t playin’, that’s hide and seek, player/High school, when you finally peak, she raps, aided by Thornton. “Hound dog, come find a treat/I’m a bad bitch but/You ain’t nothing but a/Dog? Player, I get it.”
“Vegas” is the first track to be released for the upcoming biopic. Country star Kacey Musgraves will also be joining the soundtrack with her rendition of Elvis’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
Directed by Baz Luhrmann, the film takes viewers through The King’s entire life, “from childhood through sequin jumpsuit.” The next in a string of iconic musician biopics (Rocketman, Bohemian Rhapsody), the Elvis biopic stars Austin Butler (Elvis Presley), Olivia DeJonge (Prescilla Presley), Tom Hanks (Colonel Tom Parker), and more.
“In this modern era, the life of Elvis Presley could not be a better canvas on which to explore America in the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies,” Luhrmann said. “It was 42 years, but that’s three great lives put into one. What’s extraordinary about it is that life is culturally at the center of the Fifties, socially the Sixties, and actually the Seventies.”
The film’s production began in Australia in January 2020 and has been on hold for various reasons since the initial stage, including issues selecting the actor to play “Elvis” and COVID-19 safety issues.
The film is, however, and the trailer was released back in February.
Luhrmann shared the news of the new trailer on social media on February 17: “I thought of a title for the film… ELVIS What do you think? Makes a lot of sense…#ElvisMovie.”
The film is coming to theatres on June 24. Watch the trailer for the highly anticipated biopic below.
