Does /qa/ listen to rap?
I love artists that display mastery of techniques and diction. It's not limited to rap, any artistic display of ultimate authority over one's diction I find mesmerizing. Couple that with vivid story telling, and I'll listen to the same tracks on loop for months on end.
I'll be using this thread to introduce a couple artists I've been absolutely loving these past days. Also would like to see what /qa/ listens to.
Starting with someone most people into rap would know of; MF DOOM.
At first I didn't get the hype around DOOM. His tracks lacked all the characteristics of a mainstream song. No catchy rhythm, no hooks or choruses, just straight talking for half a minute or two. I didn't get what was so good about him.
Heard about his
>One for the money, two for the better green, 3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamineline in
https://youtu.be/3k0LezNohJk , thought that was neat.
Few years after that, I decided to actually give DOOM a try, starting with Madvillany (
https://youtu.be/zQ0yXh_ADlQ&list=PL9dk_xtWpAkKs1-EKcvq-nKwdaaS-3czd ).
As I went on listening, the vibe of the album grew on me. The instrumentals by Madlib played a major role towards me liking the album. Then, once I started paying attention to the lyrics, it was like a new door of endless possibilities was opened for me. I liked his vocals, his voice, and the way he rhymed and was just having fun with rhyming in general. Just pure rhymes, no funky rhythm, no catchy hook, just raw rhymes. With all the references and slangs, I had no idea what the fuck he was saying. It really felt like he was rhyming (not rapping), not for someone to listen to, but just because he had rhymes in him that he wanted to let out.
The whole album is full of great rhymes, but the one that comes to mind right now is from
https://youtu.be/x8Ru8d0l_fU :
>Hackthoo'ing songs lit, in the booth, with the best host>Doing bong hits, on the roof, in the west coastLove the fact that he uses "Hackthoo" instead of "spit" here.
Plenty of other instances where he rhymes whole lines with each other. The rhyme scheme at the start of the track is also otherworldly:
>Tripping off the beat kinda>Dripping off the meat grinder,>heat niner, pimping stripping soft sweet minor>China was a neat signer,Another rhyme scheme off the same track:
>The worst hated god who perpetrated off favors>Demonstrated in the perforated Rod Lavers,>... In all quad flavors,>Lord save usAnd the final rhyme scheme he ends in:
>The van screeches,>the old man preaches,> About the gold sand beaches,>the cold hand reaches>for the old tan Ellesses>...>... JesusI could go on for days talking about all the rhyme schemes I like from DOOM.
Then I listened to MM FOOD (
https://youtu.be/NcHrGCcXU74&list=OLAK5uy_nrJrTr7PqEnT6S3NPxIuTf-6Z6lZWIBOM ), full of jokey rhymes, with everything relating to the topic of the track in some way or another. There are the classics,
https://youtu.be/dERcdvcXuE0 talking about how rappers will be the star witness to their own crime by rapping about it (side note: I love Mr. Fantastik's voice/flow and how chill he sounds),
https://youtu.be/XvKDFX00tsU throwing shade on rappers that like to cause "beef" and diss-rap each other. But the track I like most from this album has to be "Kookies", he relates/references every line to a cookie brand, and the story for the track is about him masturbating in his bed late at night. Masterpiece.
After that was Born Like This (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp3YkTooC5c&list=PL40E02D35D796129F ). This is probably his rawest album. Very gritty and energetic. Almost like he's angry. An "all filters off" album. All the tracks are great. Though, the last few tracks is where I think he displays the most rhyming skills; with
https://youtu.be/xogecVMyNEw and
https://youtu.be/vw99ZCUsqrI . Especially "That's That". I have no fucking clue what he's saying here, but does it sound dope? Very. The thing with DOOM is, I don't need to know what he's saying to know he's saying something with it. I just cant comprehend what. Even in
https://youtu.be/HYi6lHJR_Dk , he rhymes for 30 what seconds? No idea what the fuck he's saying.
Next was Take Me To Your Leader (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2bEeA8ws2g&list=PLJqdZ1vU1uRRiZcxFmEGefmMY-A6i1Wcs ), an album under his "King Geedorah" alias (he as another alias as "Viktor Vaughn"). This album I think is his best album, instrumentally speaking (another side note: I love his instrumentals as
Metal Fingers). He did all the production for this album, and I have to say, he's a talented producer as well. The two most notables tracks for me are
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuXcebpEayM and
https://youtu.be/LB3bK1ENFwM. Every track he has with Mr. Fantastik sounds so
cool.
Next is Danger Doom: The Mouse And The Mask (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXAPsLJ6Kb8&list=PLjyAiNZYWkGYdV_OWY3n9nvhfIbKHTCox ), an album he did in colaboration with Danger Mouse and Adult Swim. This album is just pure fun. It's him having fun making jokey raps, with characters from shows that aired on Adult Swim at the time. The highlight of this album for me is probably
https://youtu.be/jh_xz8s06y0 , he rhymes on, well, vats of pissu™. Who but DOOM.
A notable rhyme scheme from this album I really like is from
https://youtu.be/kjMkhy13ON0 :
>He said, "Try scam, no-thing, three-card, dead>Fly man go for bling, he got bled>I jam over Sting, see spots red>I am 'Sofa King, We Todd Ed'"His first studio album as MF DOOM, Operation Doomsday (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEk-hcPEqqY&list=PLsiiNfmWVgnn7ZoOtH2n3fw3Ckj1GUNlO ) is also nice. Not quite on par with the other albums, but good nonetheless.