Rap Music

[Joda]

Also, Waka Flocka - Flockaveli has been in steady rotation (good for going to war..er..commuting). I can never judge these projects by the radio because the single "No Hands" is terrible, delete that and it's a solid album. A really strong case for Flockaveli as an album is that it's mostly just Flocka and his main producer, Lex Luger, so it's more than just the patchwork that most rap albums have become

I agree. The album is pure destruction. I don't even mind No Hands so much, although Roscoe Dash's voice is annoying. Nice to hear an album so consistent, in this style, in 2010. I was so happy to hear Pastor Troy chime in on 'Fuck the Club Up'.

[nicenick]

100% obsessed with roc marciano marcberg, hands down my favorite album of this year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxY9eBqmNaw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzAS8tnxx2o

need to go back through this thread and find out what other 2010 releases i've missed out on. winter = in the mood for hip-hop...

[J.F.]

One of the rare occasions I checked out some rap stuff just was for finding out what "Die Antwoord" is (and all the discourse about them aside... they have a few funny and somewhat bizarre moments on their album). There are a few single "hip hoppy" moments in other songs I recently enjoyed, and that got me curious:

Is there any - preferably female - hip hop artist, who does some more bizarre hip hop/rap? (there's something I don't like about the male rappers I so far heard). Not so much noisy stuff, but something colourful/playful/weird?

[bryan]

For female rappers that are colorful/playful/weird look no further than Nicki Minaj. However, I haven't heard her album and can only imagine it disappoints (as an album). Nicki's verse on "Monster" is easily the rap highlight of the year that would actually get radio airplay. She slayed Kanye and Jay-Z (though as far as Jay goes nowadays, that's not saying much).

Die Antwoord are insane and I'm not sure if I should like them or not, but I admire their balls, especially those of Yo-landi. The taxi video on youtube is hilarious... all their videos are hilarious, "Evil Boy" video is crazy.

[Joda]

This guy Cameron Reed posted a yousendit link to a .zip file containing all 50 tracks of Noz's Best Rap, 2010, which is a fair assessment of the year's output (in accordance with his criteria.)

[J.F.]

For female rappers that are colorful/playful/weird look no further than Nicki Minaj. However, I haven't heard her album and can only imagine it disappoints (as an album). Nicki's verse on "Monster" is easily the rap highlight of the year that would actually get radio airplay. She slayed Kanye and Jay-Z (though as far as Jay goes nowadays, that's not saying much).

I listened to "monster" and following the way she modulates her voice is a joy.

Die Antwoord really irritate me. I'm not particular interested in rap, not interested in internet-hyped pop, not interested in music-comedians, usually not interested in acts which grace the front of the german Spex journal. Still I start to dig a few Antwoord-tracks, they have a somewhat addictive effect on me in the last few days (but then again there's also certain stuff I like about Lady Gaga - wow, some things apparently really changed...)

[jon abbey]

This guy Cameron Reed posted a yousendit link to a .zip file containing all 50 tracks of Noz's Best Rap, 2010, which is a fair assessment of the year's output (in accordance with his criteria.)

this is a nice tip, thanks! I saw that list the other day, hadn't heard many of them, but was too lazy to dig up the ones that looked interesting.

what are your own top 5 from that list, Joda? is Swang Real Wide really the best Houston track of the year? I've had that one for a while, hasn't really grabbed me.

[Joda]

this is a nice tip, thanks! I saw that list the other day, hadn't heard many of them, but was too lazy to dig up the ones that looked interesting.

what are your own top 5 from that list, Joda? is Swang Real Wide really the best Houston track of the year? I've had that one for a while, hasn't really grabbed me.

From Noz's list, I can easily say that these are my top five tracks:

Z-Ro – “Blast Myself” (Rap-A-Lot)
Alley Boy f/ Young Dro – “Tall” (Mixtape)
Yelawolf – “Pop The Trunk” (Interscope)
French Montana f/ Curren$y – “So High” (Mixtape)
Jay Electronica – “The Announcement” (Roc Nation)

I agree about Swang Real Wide, it's okay but just kinda... okay. However, I am really digging Kyleon these days. His mixtape with DJ Drama is quite good and I've also been enjoying his double disc mixtape from 2003 with Slim Thug 'Havin' Thangs', the Purple Punch series as well as various flows floating around on the internet.

My favourite cut from Houston this year is probably These Days by Z-Ro (prod. by Beanz n Kornbread). It's a non-album track that came out shortly after 'Heroin'. In fact, I look forward to seeing if these guys collaborate with Z-Ro more often, because the track they produced, Doing Just Fine from 'Cocaine', is likely my favourite track from last year.

Other H-town favourites from this year:

Trae - Please Respect It
Killa Kyleon - Dope Boy (freestyle on Gucci Mane's 'Classical')
Slim Thug - Coming From (Co-Starring J-Dawg And Big K.R.I.T.)
J-Dawg- Back Trippin' (this song is super heavy (as in depressing), as is the video, song plays after the drama)
Pinc Gator - The H-town song (prod. by Beanz n Kornbread) (stream from datpiff)

[cheerios]

I liked the top 50 list a lot too, enjoyed all of the tracks I heard. I ended up downloading Kingpen Slim's album too from his website. It's pretty good, and so is "Make it Rain" by Travis Porter, so I might check out his album too.

[J.F.]

I have no idea why I start listening to hip hop stuff; I'm apparently tired of the rest in my collection. I recognised her longer ago, but now it's the first time I listen to M.I.A.; I'm done with her first album, and there are a few tracks I liked right away. "Pull Up The People" doesn't get out of my head. Second one playing now. Seems more agressive so far.

I recognised that in one aspect my listening here is similar to when listening to Melt-Banana (which I did a lot this year): Among all that basically not-so-melodic stuff the (90s) Melties often produce, some of Yako's smallest melodic gestures have an immense melodic weight in my perception... often a well-placed two-note phrase among the usual Yako-yelping already has that kind of "hook"-effect. And that's something I find in some of the hip hop I listened to repeatedly as well.

Seriously: What other female rappers are worth checking out?
I didn't like Lady Sovereign so far, love the somewhat odd Yolandi Visser, Nicki Minaj will be checked out next. I found a long list of female rappers on wikipedia, which in the end says nothing except for: There are many of them - ?

[tristan]

Seriously: What other female rappers are worth checking out?
I didn't like Lady Sovereign so far, love the somewhat odd Yolandi Visser, Nicki Minaj will be checked out next. I found a long list of female rappers on wikipedia, which in the end says nothing except for: There are many of them - ?

Check out Invincible, from Detroit. Anti-recording industry, so started a label, Emergence (http://www.emergencemusic.net/) to release her debut album ShapeShifters back in 2008. Great album. Also check out the docu-music videos Locusts (about marginalized communities in Detroit) and People Not Places (about continued colonization of Palestine) at the Emergence vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/emergencemedia/videos

She's definitely a force.

[J.F.]

I'm having one question in regards of the way hip hop tracks are produced... I'm sure this can't be generalised, I'll ask anyway.

In the stuff I heard so far (very little!) I hear many tiny little nuances in the vocals/rapping which often add immensely to the expressive qualities of a track... a little twist in the pitch, a little change in the tone of the voice, maybe some studio treatment... that stuff. Now I recognised that in parts which get repeated within one track, said little nuances appear to sound exactly the same. And by getting repeated, those vocal nuances become an integral, for me often defining part of the song. I automatically give that aspect more - or let's say a different kind of weight in rap-stuff than in most rock music, or vocal jazz.

Now I suppose... when the performer has one section nailed down in a convincing way - you know... with all those nuances (that I can hardly imagine can be repeated like that again) - that take just gets pasted in again and again into the track, when needed several times? (I mean... that would be an absolute no-no-no in many other genres)

[bryan]

Now I recognised that in parts which get repeated within one track, said little nuances appear to sound exactly the same. And by getting repeated, those vocal nuances become an integral, for me often defining part of the song.

Yes, for sure. The little vocal tic or glottal whatever, roughness of the voice there, those things that get repeated exactly the same in a chorus part or adlib are interesting because they couldn't be reproduced exactly if they were real time performances but because they get repeated exactly it's a bit strange and interesting. A recent example for me... the sung vocals on Kanye's opening track from MBDTF, "Dark Fantasy", harmonize in a "rougher" voice for just one moment and that bit gets repeated a few times later in the track. Just that small bit, and how it fits in with the smoother vocals, makes a big impression on how I think of that particular track.

It's pretty standard in pop (and rap) music to cut and paste one chorus for each repetition (thanks Pro Tools). Those repetitions of unreproducible instances in vocal performances are things that I enjoy about commercial vocal music. I like the contrast between metronomic repetition and electronic sounds vs. the chaotic bits in vocal rhythm and timbre. Luv dem gun sounds.

[bkudler]

Seriously: What other female rappers are worth checking out?
I didn't like Lady Sovereign so far, love the somewhat odd Yolandi Visser, Nicki Minaj will be checked out next. I found a long list of female rappers on wikipedia, which in the end says nothing except for: There are many of them - ?

Gangsta Boo member of the Darkside Click, Three 6 Mafia affiliate, and all star of the Three Six record "Mysitc Stylez" is the greatest female MC of all time. I would say in my list of greatest of all times.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E00IhxUsK3k --Third verse or so.

[hnismokehash]

Seriously: What other female rappers are worth checking out?

my two favorite female rappers are eve and trina. eve cause she could probably knock me out, and trina cause she is as dirty as she wants to be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw7ukmZVQHg

[seht]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw7ukmZVQHg

Heh.. dude dropped his icecream.

[hnismokehash]

Heh.. dude dropped his icecream.

id drop my icecream if trina walked by

[jon abbey]

I'll admit I'm a total sucker for anyone sampling/rapping over early Funkadelic (even a relatively lesser track like "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks"), but on first listen, I like this Killer Mike track ('Burn') better than any hiphop I heard in 2010.

http://www.cocaineblunts.com/blunts/?p=6626

[steve]

I'll admit I'm a total sucker for anyone sampling/rapping over early Funkadelic (even a relatively lesser track like "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks"), but on first listen, I like this Killer Mike track ('Burn') better than any hiphop I heard in 2010.

Killer Mike is a beast! There's a full length in the works produced entirely by El-P, I was skeptical about the pairing at first but if the rest of the album sounds like this snippet I'll be happy.
http://soundcloud.com/productomart/kill ... ed-by-el-p

[Joda]

Trae's got a new mixtape of 'freestyles', but unlike most of his mixtape freestyles over popular beats, this one is all original production (Drumfire?) and each and every single track features a chopped and screwed hook sampled from classic Screw tapes. Not his most amazing vocal delivery, but certainly very nice to listen to if you're in the mood.