By George Loomis
When most people learn to play the drums, they hire a tutor, watch videos online or buy a how-to book. Rihanna took a decidedly different (but certainly more awesome) path: She hired Blink-182 star Travis Barker for private lessons. A source confirms to People that the "Hard" star needed to develop some chops for her upcoming European tour and didn't want to settle for anything less than the real deal, which gave rise to the best new collaboration we've heard of in a while.
As strange as it seems now, signs that Rihanna and Travis Barker are destined to collaborate date back to 2007. After all, Travis added snare drums and guitar to a well-received remix of "Umbrella." More recently, Rihanna showed off some killer air drumming skills in her recently-debuted "Rude Boy" video. Travis appears to be enjoying the gig, as he has posted multiple updates to his Twitter page.
But what would a fresh collaboration between Rihanna and Barker sound like? Genius MTV News digital producer Rich Sancho has the answer. He used his various knobs, dials and magic wands to meld Rihanna's "Hard" with Blink-182's "Feeling This." In many ways, the two make an ideal pair: Rihanna is based in R&B and often strays toward rock, while Travis is based in rock and often strays toward hip-hop and R&B.
Don't they go together like peas and carrots? Find out if Rihanna will show us what Travis has taught her on Saturday (March 27) when she performs at the 2010 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards!
What do you think of the mashup? Should Rihanna and Travis Barker collaborate on an album? Let us know in the comments!