Mark Ronson and Katy B Unveil Olympics Street Art

Mark Ronson And Katy B have unveiled a piece of street art for the Olympics

Grammy award-winning producer Mark Ronson has unveiled a 25 metre-long piece of street art in the shadow of London’s 2012 Olympic Stadium. The so-called ‘Beat Wall’ in Hackney, east London, is part of a campaign to inspire young people to get involved with the Olympics and simultaneously express their passion for music.

The wall is 10 metres tall and took photorealist street artists six days to complete. It tells the story in pictures of how Mark Ronson and pop star Katy B wrote and recorded a song for Coca-Cola’s Move to the Beat campaign using sounds produced through sport.

Ronson made recordings of young athletes engaging in a variety of sports around the world. Once he was happy with the backing, he teamed up with Katy B to provide the vocals.

The song in entitled Anywhere In The World, and will be released in May, providing the soundtrack for Coca-cola TV commercials and sponsored events during the Olympic Games.

Ronson said: ‘This was a chance to make a song and represent London and the 2012 Olympic Games and I got to work with Katy B who I am a big fan of’. ‘All the different athletes you see on the wall are actually the athletes I worked with to get the sounds for the song’: ‘I liked the idea of the challenge of making a single by travelling around the world and getting to meet so many different athletes.’

‘Going into a field in the middle of Singapore to record the sounds of archery is very different to your regular recording experience and as a producer and someone who is always looking for different sounds and inspiration it was a really exciting way to try something new and then have it, I think, sound good’.

‘The Olympics is one of those global events that brings everyone together. While you’re watching those classic events you can imagine the whole world sitting round glued to their television sets and everyone sharing this communal experience.’

Katy B said: ‘Move to the Beat is all about capturing the essence of people coming together for an event such as sport and the Olympics and finding the links between sport and music and just getting everyone to get up and get involved.’ ‘[Mark Ronson is] into a lot of electronic music so it’s got that vibe to it but it’s also sampling all the athletes that Mark went to go and visit throughout the world and using the sounds as beats.’

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