So I'm not drunk per-se, I'm just really high. Not on PCP or any narcotics, I've just been taking in a lot of sugar because my body is completely sore from walking downtown this afternoon + moving furniture all night. I thought of going out to either the Padre game to drink with my co-workers, or to Convoy to drink with my future neighbors, but after cutting escrow checks for the past week, it makes you realize how expensive buying a house is.
Music is fortunately one of our more frugal endeavors, and to an audiophile such as I, I love the hip hop and rap landscape. People who know me know that I love music. Particularly, I love hip hop and rap, for similar reasons.
1. Beats
I love a good beat. (that's what he said!)
E.T. with Kanye West and Katy Perry has my favorite beat on the radio today. You hear the drums come in with a thunderous BOOM BOOM CLAP. I think it's an 808 drum, and it has a techno beat laid underneath it. And then when the hook drops, it becomes EPIC. All I Do Is Win is meant to get you up out of your chair as the beat raises every time Khaled yells WIN! It fluctuates up and down with each word, so you're constantly moving your hands up and down, which is the point. It's a great blood plumping song. Black and Yellow is all about that beat, where it drops as soon as he says UH HUH! YEAH!
2. Lyrics
Rap music is poetry. There's no argument about it; rappers have legitimate claims to being masters of metaphors. Eminem proved this during Not Afraid. Everybody come take my hand, we'll walk this road together, whatever weather, go to war. You can tell he wrote this song knowing full well that he's moving from "everyone bow down to me" to "everyone come with me". A guy who is completely appreciative of life and everyone around him. He laces the song with metaphors too: lift the whole liquor counter up because I'm raising the bar? Nice one! Treat this roof like my daughters and raise it? Lol. Rihanna pushes the envelope with S&M when she let's out I may be bad but I'm perfectly good at it. The clever irony of that sentence makes you appreciate songwriting. My personal favorite is Ne-Yo in Knock You Down, being commander in chief of my pimp ship flying high, until this pretty little missle shot me out the sky.
3. Flow
So you got the beat, and you got the lyrics. But you have to flow, i.e. the ability to deliver those words HOT. Let's take No Hands, with the hook done by Wale. How smooth is that when he says girrrrllllll, drop it to the floorrrrrr, i love the way your booty gooooooo? Usually you have your best flower come in for the hooks. You know how Dev is popular? Listen to her deliver any hook. You can hear how sexy it is when she asks to be your backseat driver in Back Seat. Ask anyone what their favorite part of Rocketeer is, and they tell you it's when Ryan Tedder says it's with youuuu right heeere i'm a rockkettteeeeer. Nicki Minaj flows it so hard at the beginning of Moment 4 Life, but then the hook comes out like silk where you're in your car repeating "for life.... for life.... for life...".
This isn't limited to just hip hop and rap. Some of my favorite classic rock songs from Queen have the "karaokeability" factor, to where you can combine your friends + alcohol + korean karaoke machines for some unforgettable nights.
Either way, keep those radios turned up, because I have a feeling the music industry is hearing us, and is putting out hit after hit after hit.
Even you, Rebecca Black :D
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