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Rapping Versus Singing: Is it all skillz? |
It's 4:00 am and I just had a conversation (on da Heated scale: mild taco sauce) with my homeboy, Kareem, dat I thought would make a great Off Top Of Da Dome. For the record, Kareem is an Upcoming Producer/Engineer and owner of RTK Studios. He's also the produer of this month's (or week's depending on how you like it)
Unsigned Nu Joint: WE BREAK 'EM OFF.
Here's what happened: I was working on a beat and he was complaining I was taking too long. True it was 4 am, but I had only been working on this beat for little over an hour when Kareem said, "Dog, it's Hip Hop! A simple beat, a couple of changes, and you done. You ain't doing an R&B Trac. You should be finished by now."
"Phuck you!'" I said, "I'm not doing a wack Trac. Prefection takes time." We traded barbs back and fourth like this for a minute playing the usual dirty dozens all in fun. That is until, Kareem said that it does not take any real skillz to make a Hip Hop song as compared to making any other kind of song (with a singer). The latter being unable to go in to the studio and lay the Trac down completely in a single session cold, as compared to a rapper who can go in to the studio cold listen to the Trac and then hit the booth and 16 bars later is done.
I agree that a number of Hip Hop songs are made like that, but an equal amount if not more Hip Hop songs are done with written lyrics, edited and mixed like any singer's, which brings us back to Kareem's skillz statement. A person that can sing is not neccessarily a singer with skillz. That person just happens to be able to sing (see: Keith Sweat). And the same thing can be said for a person that can rap (see: Too Short). And not having skillz doesn't stop them from selling records.
So does it take less skillz to rap and more skillz to sing? Or is skillz in the ear of da listener much like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As a producer I take no shorts (though I have been offered some shorts for my efforts) when it comes to producing or writing Tracs whether the Trac is intended for Hip Hop or any other format.
Because a rapper can lay down a complete Trac in a single session doesn't lessen nor increase his/her skillz. Skillz is something you have or you don't, but its not determined by how long or how quick a Trac gets laid.
Chris "HNIC" Jam
You have something to say? Holla back wit some: FEEDBACK. Dayum! I was just thinking...
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