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Mixing rap and folk, however, seemed doable, even natural. After all, Beck's family was artistically eclectic: his father was a bluegrass musician; his mother, who raised him in Los Angeles, played the occasional gig as a singer; and his maternal grandfather, Al Hansen, was a pioneering multimedia artist and colleague of Andy Warhol's. As a teenager, Beck traveled to New York City and got caught up in the music scene; later he hooked up with hip-hop producer Karl Stephenson and cut Loser. The song became an unexpected hit, he was signed by Geffen records, and his hip-hop/folk career was launched.
And just in time. Straight-ahead rock is a bit exhausted right now. Instead, rockers who draw from R. and B., hip-hop and/or ska are hot--the funky rock band 311, the pop-ska band No Doubt, the ska-punk band Sublime. "Some of the stuff that's big for us lately seems less rock and has more of a beat influence," says Lisa Worden, music director for kroq, an alternative-rock station in Los Angeles. "Beck stays away from the typical rock sound." Odelay isn't a flawless album--Beck isn't as soulful as some of the hip-hop stars he emulates; No Diggity, the simmering single from Dr. Dre and Blackstreet, has more soul than anything on Odelay. But perhaps his hip-hop awkwardness is what draws some critics and rock fans to him. If a gawky folkie like Beck can feel the funk, even a little bit of it, there's hope for everybody.