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Rap - So Diverse
If any of you tell me that you don't like rap, then I'm going to just assume you've never listened to anything good. Now that sounds odd, but it took me too long to realise that, like other styles of music, there is a lot of good stuff outside the mainstream. Everyone has a root in each type of music and this is mine. Comedy rap songs from Weird Al when I was a kid made me shed the baseless hatred of rap I'd been carrying up until then. With my ears open I began to enjoy the songs released around 2000-2003 with Outkast and the like. Since then I have noticed that the quality of mainstream rap has plummeted. Perhaps the style of the music changed, perhaps the lyrical content became more "gangster", more fake or that I'm just actively finding fault in it. The constant mispronouncing of words with no poetic or rhythmic reason just tilted me as well. I hit the roof when Kanye West rhymed syrup with berserk in his break out song "Through the Wire" and it was then that I began to tune out mainstream rap. There was good rap before then and when I realise that I thought to look elsewhere. I became aware that Rap is merely a style of vocals for music and if it weren't for the fact that it can be used so well for comedy and parody songs, I don't know if I ever would've listened to much of it.
A few years ago my opinion of rap was based on what I heard on the mainstream radio which is such a small portion of it, I feel like a fool for not realising. Many of you know Nujabes and the wave of Mellow Rap and Jazz-Hop that he brought with him. He made me see the other side of the coin – a talented producer and the write music is equally important to the music. The above is a great example of how the mellow and chilled out music can be perfectly rapped over. When I first heard a rapper who really rode the flow like this is was an epiphany and changed my view forever. . I was finding rappers I would call talented, who had stories to tell that I could relate to, they could twist words in ways I never dream of and really showed the versatility of not only their language, but the rhythms they could follow.
I find with rap, due to the nature of the heading is that you have to pick and choose. You can’t hate all of it. You can try but it’s not good for you. I did for a while and it just wasn’t genuine. Below I will trawl through all my stuff and pick out my spotlights.
Album Review
In Heavy Weather is a unique album for me. I could try and name a style but I’d come out with some pretentious bullshit. If I have to describe it, I say “It’s a guy rapping over awesome electronica”. The album isn’t all mellow like this, but it’s not aggressive. Without the rap I’d call it smooth, jazzy and sometimes a bit trippy. It has a great atmosphere to it, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about. Eshamanjaro (MC Esha) was one of the first rappers I heard and called amazing. His lyrics throughout the album read like a stream of consciousness, as if he just let his mind wander and every thought manifest itself with a flow, with a rhyme and poetry in mind. He talks of struggles that don’t feel exaggerated, tales of his ancestors and the whole album is laced with his religious spirit that just make you feel how strong the support of belief can be for people. He’s got an almost prophetic nature about him, all the while being humble. He talks of fears, mistakes and regrets in “Keeper of the Flame” which perfectly ties in with the haunting soul samples in the music.
There is a poetry to his lyrics that I find hard to express. But where I complained about intended mispronunciations, it was only when I heard it done right that I realised that it was only when done wrong that annoyed me. In the above song I can feel it being done right. There’s a depth to his lyrics and message that makes other songs just seem shallow and empty. Just simple sections of verses can be interpreted openly and some are more significant depending on who listens to them.
I guess I’m not too great at hyping an album so I’ll just say this: If you like high production electronica and lyrics with a message poetry behind them, get this album. It’s one of the jewels in my collection.
Song Spotlight
This song is spotlighted for one main reason and that’s the third verse by hip-hop poet J. Ivy. I’m not religious in the slightest but that verse is so powerful and so entwined with the music that when it’s done, you feel as if the whole song was built around it. The production of the song is great with a variance and change in the music throughout the song depending on the rap. I can’t say much about this song and if you’re not feeling it by the end of the third verse then I guess we just won’t agree. This song made me realise that not only can rap be great, but it can be powerful, deep and, more importantly, as expressive as any other type of music.
My New Albums
I’ve got a bunch of stuff on the way and here’s what just got here and a little summary.
Aloe Blacc – Good Things A cool neo-soul album. Pretty cool.
Emancipator – Safe in the Steep Cliffs – An amazing atmospheric trip hop album. Great “headphones on, world off” music. Get this.
Albums Released This Week
Only know of “Moonsorrow - Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa” out this week.
Hardware
I’m not huge on audio quality, but I know what I like and I like the HEAD-DIRECT RE0 in-ear Headphones. They’re in the middle-upper range of cost ($79~) but they’re the best in their price range and, as far as I’m aware, in the ones above. The RE0s are no-thrills headphones that deliver comfort, a solid build and great sound as far as in ear headphones go. If you like your mp3s in a high bit-rate and want a good set of in-ears, these are pretty much the only choice for under $100.
I don't if I'll do more of these and when but you know, it's kinda fun
