Pontiff's playlist: Is Pope Benedict XVI a secret rap lover?



If his playlist is any indication, the Pope has the most catholic of musical tastes.

A selection posted on the Myspace website in the name of the Vatican features tracks from artists ranging from Shirley Bassey to rapper Tupac Shakur.

The list is one of several offered in a new music service from Myspace in which celebrities are asked to name their favourite songs.

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI is said to be a fan of a huge variety of music including 2Pac and Shirley Bassey Stars from Beyonce to Katie Price list the music that provides the sound track to their lives. The Vatican list is far from an ecclesiastical top ten, although it does include songs from the album Music From The Vatican and Mozart's Don Giovanni. The most surprising inclusion is Changes by Tupac Shakur, also known as 2Pac. The song charts the grim life of drugs, crime and violence on the streets of a poor neighbourhood. It talks about suicide, stealing and crack cocaine. Lyrics include 'Is life worth living, should I blast myself?' and 'My stomach hurts so I am looking for a purse to snatch'. At another point he sings: 'Cause both black and white is smokin' crack tonight'.

2Pac, Dame Shirley Bassey and Muse are all favourites of Pope Benedict



From left, members Muse, Matthew Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard. Some of their tracks feature on the Vatican selection

The 12-strong Vatican list was put together by Father Giulio Neroni, artistic director of St Paul's Multimedia, a church publisher.

He was the man behind the recent Alma Mater album, which combined Gregorian chants and prayers with classical music and the voice of Pope Benedict speaking in five languages.

Another song on the list is a Shirley Bassey track, After The Rain, taken from her recent album.

British band Muse and U.S. folk group Fleet Foxes also feature in the Vatican selection.

It is not known if the Pope has ever heard any of the songs.

A far more likely explanation is that the list has been put together with an eye to making the Catholic Church more accessible to younger worshippers.

Beyonce's choices includes Mariah Carey's Vision of Love, I Can't Help It by Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye's Distant Lover.

Katie Price's list features X Factor judge Cheryl Cole's song Fight For This Love.

VATICAN PLAYLIST



1. Advocata Nostra - Music From The Vatican. From the album Alma Mater featuring the voice of Pope Benedict XVI.

2. Uprising - Muse. This is the first single from the fifth studio album, called The Resistance, by the English rock band.



3. Causa Nostrae Laetitiae - Music From The Vatican. Another track from the Vatican's own Alma Mater album.

4. Il Mare Mi Salva - Rossomalpelo. Song from the band led by contemporary Italian singer songwriter Serge Gaggiotti



5. After The Rain - Dame Shirley Bassey. Track from her recently released album The Performance.



6. Coexist - Nour Eddine. Song from Moroccan Musician, based in Italy,



7. Don Giovanni - Mozart. Famous opera about an amorous young nobleman.



8. Rafaele Merry Del Val - Lorenzo Perosi Inni Mottetti e Canzoni, Pablo Colino & Coro Academica Filarmonica Romana. Piece of classical music.



9. He Doesn't Know Why - Fleet Foxes. Song from up and coming folk indie five piece from Seattle in the US who came to prominence in 2008.



10. Changes - Tupac Shakur. American rapper who was killed in 1996.



11. Regina Coeli - Music From The Vatican. Another song from the Vatican's own album.



12. Mi sarete Testimoni - Santo Subito! (DVD). Music DVD embodying the voice and image of The Pope.

