MC Stylist: Finding your Voice-Tashana Shields
According to the Book of Rhymes, "MCs often talk about style like it is a possession, a lyrical fingerprint distinguishing one MC from all others." This is nothing far from the truth; the way in which a artists can easily distinguish him or herself from the crowd as being unique and a seeming breathe of fresh air is by creating a style that is unlike any other in the conforming music industry. When an artists can achieve this task of establishing ones unique style then they are an MC to be remembered such as idols and legends like Biggie or Tupac who has a style that current rappers strive to embody.
Style is more than the way in which an artists dresses or carries oneself, it is the swagger and aura of that MC that makes them seem to hold lyrical ingenuity. It can then be argued that are artists today trying to fit a mold of being labeled under a certain style. For instance, a majority of readers can identify and quickly point out the style of lets say Kanye West or even a polar opposite, 50 Cent. It is not only the style of a n artists that can be distinguished but also the "stylistic differences between Miami rap and Atlanta rap, Brooklyn style and Queens style." Style is a way in which the music industry tries to sell an new upcoming artist. If new artists cannot set themselves apart they quickly become swallowed and spitted right back out by the industry. After all, no one wants to see the same style of rapping over and over.
It is the few fearless individuals who dare to venture out beyond rap that make it the interesting industry that it is. But the inquiry in question is whether the music industry puts too much emphais on an artists being distinct. Every where we look in the media is a new artists claimign to be the realest of real or the new of the new. Its artists like Ty Dolla Sign and Rich Homie Quan who are fresh to the game who show their "swagger" as being hood or street glamorous. But at the end of the day every artist models themselves after another before their time. It is easy to point out just how similiar the flow of lets say The Weeknd is to Micheal Jackson. Or perhaps more popular artists sushc as J.Cole embody a fresh face of Drake. Either way you look at it; there is no such thing as a new style to hip-hop or rap it is all recycled and then given a new twist. New without being original.
Sources:
https://www.sodahead.com/entertainment/eminem-vs-
page=3&postId=21410005#post_21410005http://youtu.be/FXT1oKrgq0o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXT1oKrgq0o
Yeah I can defenitely agree with what you're saying. Some artists can start a new trend or a new wave of style in hip hop though, like A$AP Rocky, who has a style like no one else i've ever heard before. But even him and his A$AP Mob take the mold of what the Bone Thugs had going on. Each member of the mob has 'A$AP' in their name, and in the Bone thugs each member had 'bone' in their name. Plus you can hear the influence of the Bone Thugs on his rapping. I like and agree with your blog.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree.There's no such thing as a "new style" of hip-hop. My first paper was actually on this. People refer hip-hop in the since of death, how it doesn't have the spunk it used to. However I feel as if hip-hop never changed, people do. a genre will remain a genre and people adapt to new styles.
ReplyDeleteNot only that but hip-hop is hip-hop because of its diversity of music. So for people to claim that hip-hop has changed doesn't know hip-hop at all.
I definitely agree that the rap styles are recycled. Hip hop has only became new being that new topics are being discussed, and younger artists are being born. I don't know though I never heard anyone with Lil wayne metaphor rapping style. He gets me to think further every time he spit out a verse.
ReplyDeleteI liked the examples that you used. I personally like both versions of "Dirty Diana" very much. I'm happy that you chose these two versions to explain you point.
ReplyDeleteI do agree, i think rap styles do kind of cycle in a way. I believe we will see more and more of this as time goes on though. Rap really hasn't been around for very long in terms of time in history. So as the years go by we will see some things from 10 years ago becoming popular again, and new things will be added on as well as we cycle through the styles.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post because I think that style is something that makes an artists interesting to his/her audience. Style is very important because it is makes an artist different from the rest. Style is what allows the listener to identify the artist of an unknown song. Style not only comes from the way an artist sings or raps but from the beats that he picks. An artists has style when all of his songs have a particular feel to them that just separates them from the rest. A good example of this is Kanye whose contribution to a song is not only identifiable in his tracks but in the songs that he produces as well.
ReplyDeleteStyle is super important to rappers. I think you did a very good job of explaining this in your post. I don't think that all styles are "recycled". Biggie has a very noticeable style because he uses "uh", like this guttural sound that just goes with the flow, and I can notice it every time. Overall great post!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post. Styles do not really become new they just become newer versions of themselves. I think it is great that artists take the influence of the older rappers and make it relevant in their own unique way. It does not mean that rap is unoriginal, it means it realizes the good basics that it must uphold.
ReplyDeleteThe two samples that you used were very good. The weekend is known for making covers of songs in his own style. Style is important when it comes to an artists because I believe that is what distinguishes them from the rest.
ReplyDeleteGood post, and I agree that different styles are needed for artists to be original and to succeed in the industry. I like how you incorporated Michael Jackson's and The Weeknd's different versions of MJ's hit "Dirty Diana". You were able to show how different styles are seen from artists that aren't rappers, but from all genres.
ReplyDeleteI think you can create a new style. It is much more difficult these days because there are so many rappers but being unique can be made possible by combining other elements from different genres of music or speech patterns. An artist would have to try very hard to create their own style though. It can also be hard to recognize that a unique style may not be unique. Many people consider Jay Z to be a unique rapper yet he has been said to imitate the style of Big L. Hip hop is such a bent and borrowed genre it is hard to tell what came from where.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that older styles are recycled and are then called "new" again, but I feel like that is ok. Many genres evolve into newer breeds that still carry similar traits of their founders. To find or create something entirely new, especially as the years pass by, gets harder, which is why I feel like giving a twist to an older style is fine.
ReplyDeleteI feel that a lot of modern styles are mostly old styles altered to sound new. That way it sells as original and people still stick to their old ways of reacting to music, because it sounds so familiar. I feel like we should never forget the classics because it affects us all in the future regardless.
ReplyDeleteI 100% percent agree that the styles are cycled and reused. I think it is okay because it is what the audience wants. It is not the exact same because throughout the years, the styles evolve. Just as Lady Gaga is the modern day Madonna, 1980s song styles are present in songs today.
ReplyDelete