Remember Vin Diesel’s Lost Hip-Hop Collaboration With This Avant-Garde Music Legend From 1986?

Arthur Russell is a bit of an underground favorite among avant-garde and mutant disco fans. He was an incredible talent, one that we lost way too soon in 1992 at the age of 40. But his music lives on, mainly through biographical works and posthumous archival releases.

Russell was also known for collaborating with other artists, such as Peter Gordon, Talking Heads, Allen Ginsberg… the list goes on. And that list includes, oddly, actor Vin Diesel.

How Vin Diesel and Arthur Russell Ended up in a Studio Together in 1986

In a 2021 guest article by Columbia Records A&R scout Gary Lucas via PKM, I read the odd tale of how Vin Diesel (then Mark Sinclair) and experimental icon Arthur Russell ended up recording a song together. I strongly recommend reading the write-up in its entirety, as it’s fascinating.

Apparently, Lucas met Sinclair in the early 1980s when the latter was just a teenager, as he worked at a local ice cream parlor in the West Village that Lucas frequented. Sinclair liked to rap a cappella and gather crowds outside. Lucas was charmed, but eventually lost touch for a few years.

Then, they eventually met again. This time, Sinclair embodied more of the Vin Diesel persona he would come to embody, a much more buff and deep-voiced rapper than he was several years prior. Lucas wanted to represent a rapper, so he gave Sinclair a chance in the studio based on (basically) his confidence alone.

After auditioning with Geoff Travis, the founder of Rough Trade Records, they decided to set Sinclair up in the studio… with Arthur Russell.

“‘Why don’t we hook him up with Arthur Russell to supply the beats and produce it?’” Lucas recalls Geoff Travis saying. “‘And let’s get a single out right away. I think Mark with Arthur would make an intriguing collaboration.’”

Things Didn’t Work Out in the Studio

Intriguing, indeed. Both musicians were recently signed to Rough Trade, but couldn’t have been more different on several fundamental levels.

“Little did we know at the time what such a wild combination of headstrong egomaniacal nut-jobs like Arthur Russell and Mark Sinclair would yield…” Lucas said. “But it was definitely worth a gamble.”

Apparently, the pair got along great beforehand. But while in the studio, they butted heads. Russell already had a beat tape for Sinclair to rap over. Sadly, Russell’s style was better suited for a freestyle rapper, which Sinclair was not.

“He could deliver his rote written-out raps the same way each time, having rehearsed them to death over many months trying them out on a variety of friends—but he was unable to free-style soar,” said Lucas.

Tons of unsuccessful takes later, they decided to call it quits. Russell said that he didn’t think he could make it work, so the collab ended prematurely. Russell would go on to maintain his legendary status as one of avant-garde music’s greats, and soon-to-be Vin Diesel would enjoy an enormous career as an actor. All that remains of their brief, fleeting collaboration is the above-embedded recording. Enjoy the weirdness!

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images

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