Victoria metal band Spiritbox teams up with Megan Thee Stallion, gets Grammy nom all in a week
Victoria metal band Spiritbox has landed squarely in the spotlight this week after being nominated for a Grammy Award, and the release of their new collaboration with hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion.
The original version of the single Cobra dropped a week ago and had already been streamed close to seven million times on Youtube when the metal remix with Spiritbox was released Thursday.
The song features an uncommon partnership between two distinctly different music genres — heavy metal and hip hop — the outcome Billboard Magazine describes as a "face-melting rock re-do of the track."
Spiritbox was formed in 2017 by husband-and-wife team Courtney LaPlante on vocals and Michael Stringer on lead guitar. The band is named after "a device some believe is capable of communicating with the dead," according to their website.
"There's a gleeful sense of the paranormal running through all the band do, but despite their celestial stylings, this is a group of artists who are very much brimming with life and creating something remarkable with their music," the website reads.
The 2024 Grammy Award nominees were announced Friday morning, with Spiritbox nominated alongside Metallica and Slipknot for Best Metal Performance for their song Jaded.
Megan Thee Stallion performs at the Essence Festival on July 2, 2023, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Billboard Magazine has described the singer and Spiritbox's collaboration on Cobra as a 'face-melting rock re-do of the track.' (Amy Harris/Invision/The Associated Press)
"This is something I have always dreamed of saying, but now that I can say it I am in total shock: Thank you to the @recordingacademy and all voters for nominating "Jaded" for Best Metal Performance," Laplante wrote on her Instagram page.
Laplante went on to thank Megan Thee Stallion for "allowing us the opportunity to collaborate on your already iconic new song "Cobra". I am beyond grateful to you."
Fans on Youtube described the collaboration as one of the best musical surprises in recent memory.
"Definitely a sick collaboration. I wish the song was longer!" wrote @merpinallday.
"These two need to just do a whole album together because this actually works!" said @GeekFurious.
According to Billboard Magazine, the single Cobra "already hits pretty hard, "and the "2.0 version opens with the same big guitars, but then explodes into a booming, reverb-drenched cascade of arena rock attitude as Megan's voice is joined by yearning/screamo vocals from Spiritbox singer Courtney LaPlante."
The Grammy Awards will be held Feb. 4, 2024 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
