Within the final project, I am aiming to find my own unique sound via experimenting with other rap genres. In order to hit my aim, I have carried out practical and grounded theory research.
Firstly, I utilised Spotify for their playlist section, for instance: “Todays biggest hits”. This is a section of Spotify which indicates you to the biggest hits of today. Doing this helped notify me on what people are wanting to hear which means I can get a better understanding of which genres to create in order to engage more with the audience’s interest.
. To illustrate this; there is a playlist within “Today’s biggest hits” under the name of “TTH (Today’s Top Hits)”. This playlist consists of today’s biggest songs by some of today’s biggest artists/ bands such as: Coldplay with “My Universe”, Elton John with “Cold Heart”, The Kid LAROI/ Justin Bieber with “STAY” and many more.
To follow up on this research, I have listened to genres which aren’t rap. The genres I have been listening to are Soul and R&B even though R&B is a subgenre of soul, hip hop, funk, pop and even blues (How Does R&B Music Affect Your Mood - YouKnowIGotSoul.com). Therefore, when these genres mix such as Soul and R&B, you get a result of some powerful, effective, and inspirational music. For instance: For Tonight (Giveon - For Tonight (Official Music Video) - YouTube), All To Me (Giveon - All To Me (Official Audio) - YouTube), and Stuck on you (Giveon - Stuck On You (Official Audio) - YouTube). Each of these songs were created by the amazing R&B/ Soul artist Giveon (Givēon - YouTube). I have been listening to Giveon’s music because to me, it feels very spiritual and emotive. I have been listening for the way this artist utilises his vocals to complement the emotion he is wanting to express. Within the song “Stuck On You”, Giveon is emotionally singing about a breakup. In the chorus, Giveon utilises his voice to really get the feeling of lost hope and heartbreak across. This is indicated with the first line of the chorus “I can’t say I love you no more”. He sings this line with loud roaring emotion, so much emotion that you can tell he has had that feeling bottled up, waiting to be exposed. This research really opened my eyes to the ways I can utilise my own vocals to expose the good or bad times. I will pursue this within my project by mixing certain genres such as R&B and Soul to get a pianissimo, Lento feel. This is so I can get a passionate feel within my music. I also feel like this would be a good way to utilise my voice in more ways such as singing. I got this idea from the ISG Platform Northeast weeklong course I participated in; the host (Ste) heard a voice clip I of me singing a little part of a chorus I was writing. Ste advised: “utilise your vocals with singing as well as rapping as an experiment”, so that is what I will try.
To extend on to this research, I have been listening to another genre under the name of Lo-fi. Best of lo-fi hip hop 2021 ✨ - beats to relax/study to - YouTube. This genre of music is known for its exposure of low fidelity sounds which means you can hear the imperfections which would typically be considered errors. However, these imperfections speak to the natural sounds of recording music. This includes environmental sounds, frequency interference and misplaced chords. Why Lo-Fi Music Draws Listeners In | Discover Magazine. The reason I want to include this into a track is because Hyde School states “Lo-Fi music is used all across the world to help them study, workout, and focus”. By utilising this information, I have found out that lo-fi is also used by working people to help stress release by significantly decreasing your cortisol levels and increasing your dopamine levels. I would like to utilise in order to give people a mood boost and to decrease their stress levels. So far I have collaborated with a producer “FadedWave” Spotify – FadedWave, This producer wanted me to rap over a lo-fi beat he was creating called “Stroll” for his ep; so I sat down and wrote the lyrics which his beat made me feel to really get that lo-fi sensation. Firstly, I started writing a hook by utilising the name of the beat and the spacey effect it carries out “Taking a stroll down Space Avenue, flying out in my rocket, you know that’s how I do”. The start of these lyrics, I utilise a metaphor, “taking a stroll down space avenue”. This carries a laid back approach to the listeners and can give them a sense of peace. The reason I wrote these lyrics is because the beat sounds quite dreamy and imaginative, so it had me on my own little stroll through my mind and that’s the kind of sensation I wish to carry out with the lyrics.
Some unintentional research I did was listening to one of my peer’s tracks (Micah Benjamin) and I decided to ask if he would work on a song with me. This is because his style of music is more musical, therefore, I thought about mixing it with a soulful feel as well as introduce my voice to more alternatives such as singing. To start this idea off, I watched YouTube tutorials on how to play “Red Bone” Childish Gambino - Redbone (Piano Tutorial Lesson) - YouTube. Once I could play the song, I was playing the melody and my lecturer gave me the idea of utilising the first 3 notes of that:
in order to create my own unique, original sound. The way we started the song was by extending onto them first 3 notes to create a new melody.
After we had the melody down, Micah added chords behind it to fill out the spaces to make the song sound fuller. After the chords were figured out, we thought about how the structure would work. We decided that the structure would be ordered: Chorus/Hook, Verse, Chorus/Hook, Verse, Chorus, Hook. The reason we only include verse and chorus/hook is because this is a new style so I thought the smarter idea was to not over complicate it with bridges etc. At this point our lecture entered the room and had a little listen to our progress. After hearing it, a light bulb flicked on inside of his head and his instant idea was to grab a bass guitar and start melodising over the track.
So far this is how the track sounds. Over the section where only the bass is playing is where the hook comes in. The way the bass comes in for the hook, creates a perfect place for me to be able to utilise my voice in an alternative way (singing). However, it also gives me a perfect chance to collaborate with another singer in order to give that contrast between sounds. Research for this; I have listened to duets such as Dilemma by Nelly Ft. Kelly Rowland. Nelly - Dilemma (Official Music Video) ft. Kelly Rowland - YouTube. Listening to this song has made me understand more about how to show the contrast between two different artists. The hook by “Kelly” shows the passionate side of a relationship hits the first lines in the chorus “It don’t matter what I do, all I think about is you”. This implies that no matter what, through bad and good, Kelly is only thinking about that specific person in a passionate way. However, in the verse, Nelly expresses (in a rebellious mana) that he isn’t into the person that much to fight for them but is still passionate about them. For instance: “ain’t no way, Nelly gon’ fight over no dame” The noun “dame” is an American slang, giving a title for a “classy woman”
Dame Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster. This indicates that Nelly still likes the person even though he won’t fight over them. Due to this research, I was able to understand more about how 2 distinct singers can sing about the same topic but in a dissimilar way: creating contrast between the verse and chorus. I shall utilise this within my song by creating some sort of call and response technique which shows contrast.
In conclusion, my overall research has pushed me to develop my knowledge on the aspect’s different genres utilise. For example: lo-fi music consists of background noise and bended chords/notes. I shall pursue this information by creating my own lo-fi rap song with producer “FadedWave” because I know that this producer can utilise EQs in a specific way, creating that low fidelity sensation. Due to the research, I have carried out, I have also developed a comprehension on how to use my vocals in contrasting ways, such as: singing, higher notes, lower notes, etc and where to use them. I shall pursue this within my project by creating a song with “Micah”. Creating this song will help further develop my vocals in contrasting ways; this will open more opportunities to more genres which I will take on board for the future. Another development my research has brought me is understanding when and where to pursue expression within a track. I have included this research within another song I was writing “Gold”. In this song, I express emotion about a girl that led me on in a relationship.
Bibliography:
How Does R&B Music Affect Your Mood - YouKnowIGotSoul.comYouKnowIGotSoul.com | New R&B Music, Songs, Podcast, Interviews. 2022. How Does R&B Music Affect Your Mood - YouKnowIGotSoul.com. [online] Available at: <https://youknowigotsoul.com/how-does-rb-music-affect-your-mood#:~:text=R%26B%20music%20is%20one%20of,its%20name%20suggests%2C%20the%20blues.&text=One%20of%20the%20best%20qualities,give%20us%20an%20adrenaline%20kick> [Accessed 10 February 2022].
Giveon - For Tonight (Official Music Video) - YouTubeYoutube.com. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRoam571b58> [Accessed 10 February 2022].
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Why Lo-Fi Music Draws Listeners In | Discover Magazine Discover Magazine. 2022. Why Lo-Fi Music Draws Listeners In. [online] Available at: <https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-lo-fi-music-draws-listeners-in> [Accessed 10 February 2022].
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Childish Gambino - Redbone (Piano Tutorial Lesson) - YouTubeYoutube.com. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joGCSdKda2o> [Accessed 10 February 2022].
Nelly - Dilemma (Official Music Video) ft. Kelly Rowland - YouTube Youtube.com. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WYHDfJDPDc> [Accessed 10 February 2022].
Dame Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dame#:~:text=2a%20informal%20%3A%20an%20elderly,fashioned%20%3A%20woman%20a%20classy%20dame> [Accessed 10 February 2022].
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