Sir Mix-A-Lot meets Seattle Symphony in classical Baby Got Back video

10 June 2014, 12:18 | Updated: 10 June 2014, 14:45

Watch the moment the Seattle rapper transformed his famous hit, with a little help from a full orchestra and classical composer Gabriel Prokofiev.

Sir Mix-A-Lot and a crowd of dancing women quite literally shook up a classical concert in Seattle on Friday night, thanks to a new orchestration by London-based composer Gabriel Prokofiev. After a full concert from the Seattle Symphony, the rapper joined the orchestra - and a crowd of energetic dancers - on stage to perform a version of his 1992 hit, Baby Got Back.

After inviting members of the audience onto the stage, Sir Mix-A-Lot warmed up the crowd and thanked conductor Ludovic Morlot before launching into the orchestral rendition of his famous track. While the rap remained the same as on the original single, the backing music was transformed by Seattle Symphony, who used several customised percussion instruments, electronic cowbells and heavy drum beats to create a hip-hop feel to the music.

Watch: Upside-down Vivaldi quartet create jazz remix video

As well as Prokofiev's orchestral arrangements, the concert also included his new commission, Dial 1-900 Mix-A-Lot, which explores different themes in Sir Mix-A-Lot's life and music. 

"My aim with this new Sir Mix-A-Lot-inspired orchestral work was to really get inside the musical mind of Sir Mix-A-Lot; to understand how his rhythms, textures, sounds and harmonies worked, and to create a contemporary orchestral composition that was true to the music of Sir Mix-A-Lot," Prokofiev wrote on his blog.

While Wagner might not have appreciated the 'I Love Big Butts' motif (taken from the well-known Baby Got Back), this new composition builds on rhythmic and melodic fragments lifted directly from original tracks including Posse On Broadway and A Rapper's Reputation.