I want to discuss the greatness that is Rosa Parks and more specifically the ending of the song when there are multiple layers going on.

All at the same time you've got;
-the hook
-Dre saying "lackalackalackalacka backalackalackalacka"
-Big Boi saying "get back, get back, get back"
-Dre and vocalists singing "ahh haa, baaaby, baaaby, ahh haa" (might not be exact but you know)
-scratching

the track is beautifully layered and mixed. joints on the radio nowadays are as stripped down and simplistic as possible, and Rosa Parks was the exact opposite.

Big Boi kills it. Dre absolutely destroys it.

The breakdown section with the harmonica is dope as well…but the layered vocals at the end is what gets me every time.

Are there any other examples of this in Hip-Hop?

on a side note: I remember recording back in the day and explaining to my boy how we never did anything to that effect and we kept it too safe etc etc and his response was "if I got in the booth and was like "backalackalackalacka" you would tell me to stop the dumb shit and would erase it" and he was exactly right.

That was and is the beauty of Outkast. They pushed the envelope and executed every time. They knew that Andre saying that dumb shit was dope as hell and made it all work.

other than show my appreciation for YOU
for pointing this out..

were there any other artists in those days who took it there where 'Kast took it?

>other than show my appreciation for YOU
>for pointing this out..
>
>were there any other artists in those days who took it there
>where 'Kast took it?

Thanks…and I really don't think there were any artists who took it to where Kast took it.

At least not artists that executed as well.

And I know there are some real "hip-hop heads" who do not mess with Kast outside of ATLiens and I just don't get that because no matter what they did, they stayed true to the foundation of hip-hop.

B.O.B. is way out there, but that track is so hip-hop it's unreal. The scratching, the breakdowns, the drums…everything is just so raw about that joint and people just don't relate the actual foundation of hip-hop back to a song like that.

they don't hear that boom bap and then just write it off as "wack"

And I really have to question those people because I don't think they understand the concept that they claim they are so tied to.

and then people get mad when we complain about the state of hip-hop and think that people like myself want it to "stay in the 90s" or whatever but Kast is my favorite group because they pushed the envelope and kept is 100% true to form.

today, these artists just make music that is so far removed from the foundation of the art form.

>And I know there are some real "hip-hop heads" who do not mess
>with Kast outside of ATLiens

>they don't hear that boom bap and then just write it off as
>"wack"

I truly feel sorry for these people.

and Chuck and Flav were not doing that much vocally in their songs.

you can have the song all chuck, or all flav
dependin' on which way you panned

prophets of rage, you can pan left or right and hear chuck or an instrumental
don't sleep
bomb squad freaked the vocals too

one of my favorites.

Bomb Squad reach great heights.

but I think they are some of the first to actually really pushed it and when you're the first, you tend to open up doors for people to take what you did an run with it.

and not to say that Kast was an extension of Bomb Squad or PE, but they took those finer points and further perfected them.

and I believe what they did with Rosa Parks is a little more in depth than just two MCs rapping the same thing in a pan mix.

Also, The Roots on No Alibi did some slick shit when they fade from Malik to Thought in the first hook.

I wish that effect was used more in other songs and a little more apparent.

when Bilal & John Legend are going back & forth with the adlibs and the way it's pan mixed so the 'So SO' parts are coming from everywhere is pretty cool, along with the way they changed the vocal arrangement.



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http://www.flickr.com/photos/20787335@N08

Bilal on features can do no wrong to me.

and matched with John on that track was just perfect for the emotion.

and while I do agree that it is a great example, when I say hip-hop, I mean, MCing-wise as opposed to singing.

MC arranging their hooks and adlibs in the same nature that Kast did on Rosa Parks.

one of my favorite songs from Common and one of the best singer features ever imo

i actually forgot about this till now! aint listened to this since BE came out...good look!



>when Bilal & John Legend are going back & forth with the
>adlibs and the way it's pan mixed so the 'So SO' parts are
>coming from everywhere is pretty cool, along with the way they
>changed the vocal arrangement.
>
>
>
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>http://www.flickr.com/photos/20787335@N08

Never heard that before on a hip hop track.

a fucking hoe-down breakdown in the middle of a Hip-Hop track. i was floored.

They really could do no wrong at that point. It must have felt great to have that feeling of total artistic freedom, and still know that it was guaranteed to be dope. They were just on fire.

the mixing at the end is incredible. I tried something like that with a singer and a rapper I was recording cause that part of the song is what I had in mind. It came out cool, but was too crowded. The way they mixed it was flawless. Good post.

>-Dre and vocalists singing "ahh haa, baaaby, baaaby, ahh haa" (might not be exact but you know)

every time I play this track, I challenge myself to get these all right while singing along. it's tough.

nice post!

with the girls singing "power music electric revival" or whatever they are saying.