Time for what I'll call rant number 3. And let me give you a little set up here:
I'm a big rap fan. I don't know if I'd call it my 'favorite' genre, but it's certainly what I listen to most often. I love everything about hip hop...I love the beats, rattling the trunk of the car. I love the flow, Twista rapping so fast you have to rewind the track just to catch two words out of 20. I love the lyrics, 2Pac rapping about wanting a life better than what he knows. I love putting that whole package together, and coming up with music that not only makes you want to get up and move, but also makes you think a little. That's what hip hop means to me.
A second paragraph of background for you folks, hip hop is a tough nut to crack. The way it works, unless you've had incredible commercial success - you release a mixtape. These get played regionally typically, until someone big hears it and gains radio airtime. For example, Mike Jones released 'Still Tippin' over a year before it came out on the radio. And he didn't have a record deal when you may have first heard it. But that's the way it is. Even if you're Lil Wayne, you toss a ton of mixtapes out there because if people love it, you'll put stuff on your next album like that. It's basically either a great way for an artist to get noticed, or an artist to realize how good his stuff is before it goes out to the masses.
Okay...enough background. I LOVE getting new mixtapes. The Game just put one out 6-8 months ago I listen to all the time. You can get the lowdown on beefs in mixtapes, you get just straight up raw freestyling a lot. They can be awesome. Here's what I don't like...stupid DJ's who can't keep their own name off the track for more than 10 seconds. REALLY? I need to know every 2nd word that DJ JackAss produced the track? Go f**k yourself MC Get Busy, I want to hear the actual music, not your stupid voiceover on what could have been a good song. Serious here, there are some that are so bad, you can't even understand the music. I remember when DMX put one out back in early 2000's. 'X Gon Give It To Ya' was completely unlistenable, because some douche kept yelling his name in the background. Ugh. Don't artists not want this to happen too? Why is this still going on? I understand the DJ needs a little pub for mixing the record, but at what cost? The cost to the listener not caring and then not enjoying the music and buying it when it hits store shelves. Kick this practice to the curb fellas, and give me my music from the booth, not from the DJ's over-volumed microphone.
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ReplyDeleteNah, all jokes aside that gets all over my nerves too, when its overdone. Just like you, I agree that the DJ needs some recognition for mixing, but not at the expense of my ears. Once again, it becomes monotonous. That seems to be a domino effect throughout many mix-tapes. Eh, I don't know sometimes.
It can really ruin a mixtape for me. There are songs I'm forced to skip because of overuse of the dubbing. When you starting singing along the DJ edits when you're singing along with the song, you know it's gone too far.
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