That first guy doesn't sing that high. His highest note is the D an octave and a note above middle C, easily reachable through trained falsetto. I take voice lessons as part of my music degree at the U of C and can hit all those notes with relative ease. I am a tenor, but actually what is surprising is that given the nature of the falsetto, most contra-tenors (ie those with trained falsetto) are actually baritones or basses and have low speaking voices.
He does a good job but in no way is it really out of the ordinary.
Care to post a recording of yourself giving it the old "college" try?
Gonna chime in here a little late but hey, what the heck.
I grew up as a grunge-loving white boy. Long hair, plaid shirts, cardigans and as much noisy guitar as i could handle. I hated rap and said many things that sounded familiar to what Ford is saying in this thread. Just didn't understand it's appeal.
What changed my mind was when someone played a Sage Francis song for me. Inherited Scars it was called. Totally opened me up to the different layers and complexities that can exist in hiphop music. Someone said rap is mostly about appreciating a beat, and while I agree to a point, I, myself, am more of a fan of its lyrical content. I loved Kurt Cobain for his songwriting and I just find that these days, if you want to find people who are putting their hearts/minds/souls into the lyrics they write you have to look to underground hiphop.
EDIT: Don't mean to imply hiphop is the only place to find this just the best place, IMO.
Sage is still my favourite but there are so many more out there as well. Hey Ford... try giving Eyedea a listen. Him and DJ Abilities have an album called "First Born" that is simply amazing, both lyrically and musically. Very weird stuff, most of my friends hate it. I doubt it'll change your mind or anything but it may give you another perspective into the genre.
I am not huge into rap, I used to be. I always enjoyed the message of it. Everyone has been through some sort of crap in their life, some people find different genres to relate too. And sometimes you just like the way it sounds!
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
Last edited by GreenLantern; 03-04-2008 at 04:52 PM.
I haven't met a single person who wouldn't eventually go on to break down and reveal that yes, in the deepest, darkest, creepiest part of their heart, they did in fact, enjoy Michael Jackson.
I liked Jackson 5 and Off The Wall, but nothing after that.
Sorry ... no can do. However, I will clarify my mockery of Michael and Britney. It's not actually their music that I mock, it's the freak show they've made of their lives. They have many fans who are inspired by and appreciate their music, so who am I too mock that? But the other things they've done with their lives is what makes them such bizarre caricatures to me. I guess I should feel sorry for them in that regard rather than mocking them, but I am only a mere mortal. When I see an older picture of Jackson for example, and compare it to what his face looks like today, I can't help myself. The words "What a freak" just naturally pop out of my mouth.
Yeah, he's a freak now, but he was quite a talent. If he didn't turn into such a weirdo he'd be up there with Elvis and the Beatles.
And I have no shame in admitting that I have Thriller on vinyl and recently listened to it. That's the newest music of his that I have though.
Gonna chime in here a little late but hey, what the heck.
I grew up as a grunge-loving white boy. Long hair, plaid shirts, cardigans and as much noisy guitar as i could handle. I hated rap and said many things that sounded familiar to what Ford is saying in this thread. Just didn't understand it's appeal.
What changed my mind was when someone played a Sage Francis song for me. Inherited Scars it was called. Totally opened me up to the different layers and complexities that can exist in hiphop music. Someone said rap is mostly about appreciating a beat, and while I agree to a point, I, myself, am more of a fan of its lyrical content. I loved Kurt Cobain for his songwriting and I just find that these days, if you want to find people who are putting their hearts/minds/souls into the lyrics they write you have to look to underground hiphop.
EDIT: Don't mean to imply hiphop is the only place to find this just the best place, IMO.
Sage is still my favourite but there are so many more out there as well. Hey Ford... try giving Eyedea a listen. Him and DJ Abilities have an album called "First Born" that is simply amazing, both lyrically and musically. Very weird stuff, most of my friends hate it. I doubt it'll change your mind or anything but it may give you another perspective into the genre.
Ya, who knows ... maybe sometime the right circumstances will line up and I'll find an appreciation for rap like you did. I have found a little bit of appreciation for country ... way off the the main path country albeit ... and if I can find something in country after how much I once hated it, then anything is possible.
Ya, who knows ... maybe sometime the right circumstances will line up and I'll find an appreciation for rap like you did. I have found a little bit of appreciation for country ... way off the the main path country albeit ... and if I can find something in country after how much I once hated it, then anything is possible.
I hate country.
But I fell in love with Celtic music years ago, and aside from Guiness and having songs that are happy (or at least tongue in cheek) as well as the inability to play them backwards in any sensical way (gets his dog back, truck back, girl back, etc etc) then they're basically the same.
Someone said rap is mostly about appreciating a beat, and while I agree to a point, I, myself, am more of a fan of its lyrical content.
What I meant was that, if you aren't into beats, the raw rhythms of hip-hop, then it will probably be a lot harder to get into the genre. this is because hip hop strips out the melody of a song and replaces it with hooks, basslines, and vocals. I come for the beats, I stay for the hooks, and I listen a third time for the lyrical content.
I fully agree, Sage Francis rocks - pretty much anyone who's come out of those Scribble Jam rap battles is awesome - Sage, Brother Ali, Murs, Slug, Mac Lethal, Illmaculate etc. etc.
Lupe Fiasco is another hip hop artist that is a good look in the broken rap game right now. With him, it's not really about the beats (he has good ones) but the meaning of the lyrics and wordplay. Many of his songs can have a story or meaning.
I'm not trying to be rude or insulting to rap ... I just don't get rap. In the interest of trying to understand it better, could you enlighten me as to what's so awesome about that guy's performance? I watched it and didn't see anything amazing or artistic ... what am I missing?
Ya it's because he sounds EXACTLY like the people he's saying he is, and also rapping in their exact styles. He's even got DMX's wussy bark down. I notice you said you liked country, so it'd be like a guy seamlessly going from Johnny Cash to Garth Brooks to Dwight Yoakem(or however you spell it. haha no offence but I hate country), and sounding exactly like them, in a way 100% spot on to how they'd sing the lyrics. This guy is actually extremely impressive!
As for rap itself, ya no worries, its not for everybody. I dont like it like I used to, pretty much the only time I listen to it now is when I'm at the gym or the clubs. Or maybe if the boys come up for a visit, Ill dust off something we may have listened to from back in the day. There's just something about the beat...I dunno...I like it. The funniest is I have a buddy who absolutely HATES rap, and vents about it constantly. Yet he's into death metal, like the crazy underground stuff where all they do is scream incoherently into the mic while the rest of them headbang and hit the power chords constantly. Yes, because that takes so much more talent...
EDIT: I just realized that's Ares Spears (formerly?)from MadTV. Didn't realize he was that talented!
I'm not trying to be rude or insulting to rap ... I just don't get rap. In the interest of trying to understand it better, could you enlighten me as to what's so awesome about that guy's performance? I watched it and didn't see anything amazing or artistic ... what am I missing?
Others have already noted this, but to clarify I was indeed referring to his impersonating skills and not him as a rapper that I find awesome.
That first guy doesn't sing that high. His highest note is the D an octave and a note above middle C, easily reachable through trained falsetto.
To be nitpicky, when the key goes up by a tone, he does hit the e above that (at 1:45 and 1:47). Otherwise your post is basically bang on. That said, it's not something you see every day. As far as the rapper guy...he probably does a great job, I just wouldn't recognize the rappers he's impersonating.
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"Correction, it's not your leg son. It's Liverpool's leg" - Shankly
If you want to see some seriously killer rapping, listen to the rhymes the short guy (illmaculate) spits in this battle vs a guy who really has no business being on the same stage (Johnny Blaze).
While battle-rapping isn't nearly as tight as the stuff that gets released it's stunning what the really good rappers can do under a kind of pressure that no other musical artist has to face. Imagine a huge black dude screaming rhymes in your face about how much you suck and how much better than you he is and a crowd going nuts every time he burns you and then you have to come back with rhymes that are better and funnier than his.
While battle-rapping isn't nearly as tight as the stuff that gets released it's stunning what the really good rappers can do under a kind of pressure that no other musical artist has to face.
*coughbe-bopcoughcoughcough*
Quote:
Imagine a huge black dude screaming rhymes in your face about how much you suck and how much better than you he is and a crowd going nuts every time he burns you and then you have to come back with rhymes that are better and funnier than his.
No offense, but I hate this kind of hip-hop. I like battles where people come up with something more intelligent than acting like trailer trash, burning each other, talking about their pimp rides, bitches and hos, and bling bling etc etc. IMO that stuff is garbage.
I really dig on some of the old skool drum n bass MC's, like MC Conrad for example, who plays with LTJ Bukem. Also, Toronto has a good underground movement happening with a departure from "gangsta" which I personally could not be happier about.
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So far, this is the oldest I've been.
Last edited by Traditional_Ale; 03-05-2008 at 08:08 AM.
No kidding. Parker and Coltrane insured that any jazz musician has to think at a thousand miles a second and do more than just tell someone how gay they are or how much they suck.
No kidding. Parker and Coltrane insured that any jazz musician has to think at a thousand miles a second and do more than just tell someone how gay they are or how much they suck.
