James Franco Collaborates With Electronic Musicians Kalup Linzy And DJ /rupture For 'Rising'

The chorus of James Franco's new musical collaboration (!) must resonate for the 33-year-old actor, whose media domination comes immediately to mind with the repeated line, "I'll keep on rising."

The song, "Rising," created in collaboration with performance artist and R&B crooner Kalup Linzy and veteran DJ/producer DJ /rupture, is the first in a series for the new duo, Kalup & Franco. The extent of Franco's contributions to the track is still unclear, and the actor appears briefly as a ghostly, floating head in the video, which is dominated by Linzy's suggestive green-screen mugging.

And it all feels somehow appropriate. The actor has spent the last couple of years floating around through the news like a disembodied head, becoming a PhD candidate, General Hospital star, performance artist and Oscars host.

Hovering over each new career move is our collective memory of the old James Franco, the actor most of us would never have pegged as such a versatile performer five years ago, and the shock that each new eccentricity seems to bring him a new triumph. Will his burgeoning music career take off? Probably not. But does that mean it's not still a triumph? Of course not.