Printer-friendly copy Email this topic to a friend
Lobby The Lesson The Lesson Archives topic #93317

Subject: "breaking down rap method" This topic is locked.
Previous topic | Next topic
The Damaja
Member since Aug 02nd 2003
18637 posts
Thu Jun-14-07 11:17 AM

Click to send email to this author Click to send private message to this authorClick to view this author's profileClick to add this author to your buddy list
"breaking down rap method"


  

          

(long... but skimmable)

many people break down hiphop into 'beats and lyrics.' this is careless though, it should be 'beats and rapping'

right now i'm concerned with the SOUND of rapping, as opposed to what the actual message of the words is

a few loose terms are usually thrown about
- flow
- delivery
- cadence

most (not all) people take flow to mean the rhythm, cadence to mean pitch, and delivery to mean the quality of the voice or else an umbrella term for all the other sound aspects

these are aight for some purposes. the main problem is they are not singular elements, but folk fall into the trap of thinking they are. really they're comprised of many sub-facets, or subsets of something else.

if you think about video games that simulate car driving/racing, you might think 'it's all just 1. steering 2. sense of speed 3. prettyness' but that doesn't even begin to capture the complexity. apparantly the most recent racer calculates everything from suspension ratios down to individual tyre temperature, and it all affects handling etc, yet earlier games achieved similar gameplay making completely different calculations.

at this point some will no doubt say i'm thinking about this rap shit too deeply, or i'm putting emceeing in a box (shout-out to Lil Roof), but in my experience if people knew better how other musicians or other writers engaged with detailed analysis/criticism they wouldn't dream of saying that. complexity is just a challenge, not a dead end.

i mean think about piano playing. ever taken lessons? the techniques are numerous
- posture, arm/wrist/hand position, dynamics, fingering, pedalling, counting, phrasing, rubato, accent, syncopation
- more advanced stuff like right-hand rubato, colouring
and it doesn't all happen at the same time necesserily. some famous pianists disregard certain aspects of technique, like Gould playing all stacatto or Horowitz playing with flat fingers

piano method is largely 'exterior' or visible whereas rapping is all interior
enough rambling though
i see it like this

- RHYTHM:
---> pattern. this is why we listen to rap, this is rap's melody. putting the words down in a definite way that the listener will recognize, esp. if you repeat it. it's like drum patterns.
---> timing. you could have the illest patten planned out for your lines but timing is the millisecond's difference that separates a great rapper from an amateur
---> flow control. (ŠImcvspl) stringing patterns together for a whole verse basically. on a basic level to avoid having to stop abruptly or cram in words, but ultimately to craft brilliant verses. this one is a common reason why seemingly dexterous rappers often don't strike you as being particularly dope.
---> pacing. rapping ahead of the beat or behind it. what does that mean? the results are complex but the principle is simple - someone like Canibus tends to rhyme exactly on the beat, so his lines start exactly on the first beat of the bar each time and the rhythm fairly steady; Slim Shady era Eminem would start all his lines midway into the bar, creating a feeling of aloofness from the beat which he would then compensate for accelerating to catch back up or/then decelerating to do the same next line. good if you want to sound pensive or laid back (like you just don't give a fuck) rather than assertive/straight-talking

- TONE
---> cadence. the trend of the notes your voice actually hits. 'stick the needle to the groove and i'm forced to fuck it up, my style carries like a pick up truck' - Deck's voice clearly started high and got progressively lower. not actually much change in pitch, more just to create the impression than anything. Rakim would keep all his cadences low and controlled to create a monotone impression (wasn't true monotone though, still lots of expression in his voice). El-P, Illogic, Ras Kass use a sort of arced cadence constantly which i'm not a fan of. I think it's best used to compliment the patterns, or provide an occassional unique-sounding line
---> volume. fairly self explanatory. fluctuates all the time of course but can also be built into a cadence
---> regularity. all the stuff i described in the 'rhythm' section could be replicated just by hitting a wooden block or something. if you think of an actual drumkit though, there's usually at least half-a-dozen different drums which produce different sounds, which is much more appealing. rappers can achieve this effect by being disciplined with the pitch/tone of their words, like they've got a vocal drumkit. B.I.G. was particularly good at this I think.... 'pass that before you get your grave dug / From the main thug, .357 slug' starts with a symbol crash then has main rhymes hit with a vocal kick-drum, if you know what i mean...
---> melody. sometimes rappers start singing melodies in the middle of a rap. Myka Nine, Pharcyde... or maybe they'll 'quote' a melody from a popular song. not required practice by any means... but i thought i should list it

VOICING
---> energy. Enter the Wu Tang featured pretty high energy rapping; although Rakim is called monotone there's plenty of energy in his expression; MF Doom has a fairly low level of energy; Killah Priest is justabout true monotone. high/low energy is neither good nor bad though... and the preference of the listener comes into play too... but you've got to be master of your own energy, know what sounds good with your voice. when this fails you sound uncool, basically.
---> enunciation. can your words be clearly heard?
---> intonation. putting that little human touch into the voice to sound 'incredulous' or 'sad' or 'flippant' or 'serious' or whatever
---> accent. those southern drawls and stuff

RHYMING
---> rhyme scheme. which word positions in the lines rhyme with eachother. leaving out the 'content' side of rhyming cause we're concerned with sound here, rhyming will draw out the patterns in the line a lot
---> accuracy. how well the two words rhyme. in hiphop the rhymes are allowed to be pretty loose (compared to Broadway musicals). hard to make any rules about... but seeming lazy is not good.
---> assonance, alliteration etc. creates a feeling of intricacy or craftmanship which is easy on the ears. can also create mental impressions through sound... like 'season of mist and mellow fruitfulness'... doesn't that just SOUND like autumn? there's probably other uses but they're hard to detail.

so..... anything i missed out or messed up?

*attaches life-jacket to post*

--------------------
Why do you choose to mimic these wack MCs?
Why do you choose to listen to R&B?

"There are obviously many things which we do not understand, and may never be able to." Leela

*puts emceeing in a box*

  

Printer-friendly copy


breaking down rap method [View all] , The Damaja, Thu Jun-14-07 11:17 AM
 
Subject Author Message Date ID
LOL @ lifejacket...
Jun 14th 2007
1
A+
Jun 14th 2007
2
RE: A+
Jun 14th 2007
4
it's more people getting mad when someone exposes the fact
Jun 14th 2007
5
      RE: it's more people getting mad when someone exposes the fact
Jun 14th 2007
13
Word.
Jun 18th 2007
45
can i have your autograph?
Jun 14th 2007
3
i've been trying to develop a system of notation for rap
Jun 14th 2007
6
does it need a new system?
Jun 14th 2007
7
standard notation fails for a few reasons
Jun 14th 2007
9
      while i agree with a lot of your points i'd say fit it in western first
Jun 14th 2007
12
how about writing words inside some sort of grid
Jun 14th 2007
14
i actually came back to bring this up...
Jun 14th 2007
17
      this post just keeps getting better
Jun 14th 2007
18
      RE: i actually came back to bring this up...
Jun 14th 2007
19
      but do MC's want to be poets or musicians
Jun 14th 2007
20
      it's just the poetry notation is potentially very useful
Jun 14th 2007
21
           poetry notation... or just the language for talking about poetry
Jun 14th 2007
23
      RE: i actually came back to bring this up...
Jun 14th 2007
29
           what about 'raps double-time for half a bar'
Jun 16th 2007
33
                also... technically all rapping is ALREADY in double-time
Jul 12th 2007
65
      i found a more extensive list of poetry terms... this is the big one
Jun 21st 2007
54
Its already been done...
Jun 18th 2007
41
mail that shit to the record labels
Jun 14th 2007
8
this is why i love rap music.
Jun 14th 2007
10
....
Jun 14th 2007
11
soundtrack for this post courtesy of Casual (from Hiero). link:
Jun 14th 2007
15
styles styles so many styles
Jun 14th 2007
16
why can't it be both?
Jun 14th 2007
22
no that's what i mean... rapping = writing/lyrics + performance
Jun 14th 2007
24
Well done n/m
Jun 14th 2007
25
About the voicing section...
Jun 14th 2007
26
Jun 14th 2007
27
i guess it's a bit like different classes of opera singers or something
Jun 14th 2007
28
      Chali exagerrates his deep voice when he raps
Jun 15th 2007
31
           i read Eminem express regret that everything was behind-beat on SSLP
Jun 15th 2007
32
                he said...
Jun 18th 2007
34
                     btw, did you catch this
Jun 18th 2007
37
                          Foneticcus touched on this...
Jun 18th 2007
48
                               aah... i just noticed he raps to those background keys on Way I Am
Jun 18th 2007
49
                                    it's actually been discussed that...
Jun 20th 2007
50
                                    i agree with the above assessment mostly
Jun 20th 2007
53
                                    word (up).
Jul 07th 2007
61
                                    *double post*
Jun 20th 2007
51
up (to read later)
Jun 15th 2007
30
2 gaping holes, the content of course, and
Jun 18th 2007
35
hmm?
Jun 18th 2007
36
      still waiting for you to put 'flow' in a box
Jun 18th 2007
39
           what does he say in the first line of the verse?
Jun 18th 2007
44
                RE: what does he say in the first line of the verse?
Jun 18th 2007
47
                     *cough*
Jul 12th 2007
67
                     haha ok.... the truth is though
Jul 12th 2007
69
                          RE: haha ok.... the truth is though
Jul 12th 2007
71
                               aah... ok i thought you meant the poetical stuff
Jul 12th 2007
72
                               RE: haha ok.... the truth is though
Jul 22nd 2007
73
lol
Jun 18th 2007
38
Tonedeff developed a notation system for rap in 2005...
Jun 18th 2007
40
copped.
Jun 18th 2007
42
      surprised you aint heard that...
Jun 20th 2007
52
yeah, this is great
Jun 18th 2007
43
yeah that's why i had no prob with the Q-tip vs 2Pac poll
Jun 18th 2007
46
      RE: yeah that's why i had no prob with the Q-tip vs 2Pac poll
Jul 12th 2007
66
Kool Moe Dee's beat overall MCs criteria:
Jun 25th 2007
55
RE: articulation i submit kool g rap
Jun 25th 2007
56
      g rap is fairly exquisite technically
Jun 25th 2007
57
           conviction is his cure
Jun 25th 2007
58
I think folks just kinda jacked off to this post and didn't do nothing
Jul 04th 2007
59
RE: I think folks just kinda jacked off to this post and didn't do nothi...
Jul 07th 2007
60
      i concur.
Jul 09th 2007
62
           un edited draft
Jul 10th 2007
63
                RE: un edited draft
Jul 12th 2007
64
                yeaaaahh.
Jul 12th 2007
70
                did you ever finish this?
Aug 19th 2007
79
This post is like Hagakure for emcees
Jul 12th 2007
68
this should be published
Jul 22nd 2007
74
rhythm in rap vs rhythm in poetry
Aug 19th 2007
75
this is why i say it follows music more than poetry
Aug 19th 2007
76
      expanded
Aug 19th 2007
77
           rhymes as arpeggios or broken chords
Aug 19th 2007
78
                inbox
Aug 19th 2007
80
good post
Oct 05th 2007
81
word this post is definitely worth checking out
Oct 05th 2007
82

Lobby The Lesson The Lesson Archives topic #93317 Previous topic | Next topic
Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.25
Copyright © DCScripts.com