2014: year of the rapper with a weird voice/weird flow/novelty chorus soundcloud hit

dej loaf - try me
rae sremmurd - no flex zone
og maco - u guessed it
ilovemakonnon - tuesday
ot genasis - coco
bobby shmurda - hot n*gga
rich gang - lifestyle
snootie wild - yayo
tyga - hookah

why

father - look at wrist

riff raff - tip tuh muh juhduhzzzz

lil b's entire career? i think that's worse than any of the things listed above by a significant margin

You will not speak ill of Lil B

i can see why other folks dig it i spoze, just not my bag, also i could just be residually mad at him for this basedcurse thing retaining legs (get well KD)

i didn't say any of this was bad (except riff raff), I'm just saying it all kind of feels like successfully mining a certain feel/formula, despite everyone being from different places on the map and different levels of success

It's the year of the vine imo

I love the spongebob subgenre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nZhuWIqG9E

"hot n*gga" feels like the odd one out in that list in that it's almost anti-weird (despite its vine hit status)

lil b never really got round to the "chorus" bit of this formula

"hot n*gga" feels like the odd one out in that list in that it's almost anti-weird (despite its vine hit status)

― lex pretend, Wednesday, November 26, 2014 11:20 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, most def. It's here for the "bout a week ago (bout a week ago)" and "get up out my traphoooouse" stuff, which is being traded more for how it's said than the content of it's lyrics

Expanding on an idea that J0rdan S. had, we're def entering an era where rap is not about "quotable lines" and more about "catchy/entertaining way things are said"

"shmoney dance" is a shmurda-related track that fills the criteria p well, certainly much better than "hot n---a"

i think if this overlooks anything it's that these are all "weird" or "novelty" in v disparate ways

also are we really entering this era when nicki minaj is over half a decade deep into her career? isn't the uh vine-ability of these songs' hooks more of a unifying factor?

sounds like you're just describing "how to have a hook on a low budget"

This warble-rap stuff was well represented last year though. Young Scooter "Colombia", UOENO, Versace, French Montana songs consisting entirely of haaannnn, Future's big year (esp "Sh!t") all come to mind. With the exception of Young Scooter it isn't quite as woozy as this year's crop, but I still trace these songs back to last year's action.

I think the Soundcloud nerds on ILX might be overestimating how much it's blown up though. I only ever really hear most of these songs on rap radio post-midnight, although the local top 40 station here in Ottawa, Canada (!) played "Tuesday" as part of one of those weekday traffic jam mixes.

I hear most of these songs on my rap station, some of them constantly. It's one of the reasons I love rap radio: It feels like one of the few formats where any grassroots hit, however odd, can get a shot at mass exposure. Plus it's important that rap radio keeps its doors open to new voices, since the format so often falls back on the same five or six big names.

That's why it kills me when Drake or Nicki jumps on the remix of one of these songs. For me a big part of the joy is hearing artists who aren't A-listers; a playlist needs some variety

totally agree. i'd add shy glizzy's "awwsome" to that list too, even though it appeared on "no sleep" last year

I think the Soundcloud nerds on ILX might be overestimating how much it's blown up though.

I mean, I don't listen to radio, but these are the songs that keep steady on iTunes/Shazam/Spotify charts that weren't like BIG SEAN.

I think this is more about young artists blowing up from below while the industry keeps trying to make ppl care about old ppl garbage

Also isn't "made me" by snootie wild a bigger hit than yayo

is it too soon to lobby for rolling spongebob vines 2015

haha rolling doodlebob vines

weird voices are the 5th element of rap imo, god bless all these folks even the ones i can't stand like makonnen

^^^

ranking:

rich gang - lifestyle
tyga - hookah
rae sremmurd - no flex zone
dej loaf - try me
bobby shmurda - hot n*gga
snootie wild - yayo
ilovemakonnon - tuesday
og maco - u guessed it
ot genasis - coco

actually might switch the bottom two

^id move up yayo & tues and drop hookah otherwise thats m/l otm

My rank

No flex zone
Try me
Hot nigga
Lifestyle
Tuesday

(big gap - all the ones above are classics)

Coco
Hookah
Yayo

Haven't heard the OG Maco one

rich gang - lifestyle
dej loaf - try me
tyga - hookah
rae sremmurd - no flex zone
snootie wild - yayo
bobby shmurda - hot n*gga
(big gap)
ot genasis - coco
(big gap)
ilovemakonnon - tuesday

haven't heard og maco either.

I mean, I don't listen to radio, but these are the songs that keep steady on iTunes/Shazam/Spotify charts that weren't like BIG SEAN.

big sean 'paradise' is better than a bunch of these :-/

and when it comes to rae sremmurd i'm definitely team 'no type'

i ain't got no type...rappers with weird voice/weird flow/novelty chorus are the thing that i like

no flex zone
hot n*gga
yayo

(big gap, top 3 are all incredible, as are "no type" and "made me". next 3 i can see the appeal but i'm not into them personally)

hookah
try me
coco

(huge gap, bottom 3 are trash)

tuesday
lifestyle
u guessed it

does trae tha truth/young thug's "try me" fit into this at all?

there is such a massive gap btw no flex / hot n*gga / yayo / lifestyle and this coco song it's like they aren't even from the same planet.

i don't even like tuesday that much and it's >> coco

ok, off to listen to coco again why can't i stop listening to this song?

and when it comes to rae sremmurd i'm definitely team 'no type'

― out here like a flopson (tpp), Thursday, 27 November 2014 09:46 (1 hour ago) Permalink

Yes. My #1 song this year

I think I'm getting some sort of moral thing mixed in w my push for coco at the bottom when "u guessed it" is really the worst, emotionally dishonest, theater kid crunk music

what's theatre kid about "u guessed it"? i hate it as well but not for those reasons (albeit i've listened to it like twice)

It feels like "acting"

Maco and Shmurda are the only songs on this that I bang on repeat

lol listened to u guessed it because of the above posts and i like it more than everything else i've heard here

o/

i feel like Young Thug and Rae Sremmurd are continuation of Atlanta rap's proud history of being loudly eccentric but also commercially savvy, and with OG Maco and Makonnen and Awful Records there's this quirky scarequotes layer that makes it kind of corny to me.

Otm

Ppl who prefer "No Type" to "No Flex Zone" idgi. Latter is song of the year, former is just barely ok.

"Tuesday" is corny but also super-catchy and fun and fills an important gap in the list of subjects that have been covered in song and I've liked way cornier things.

Ppl who prefer "No Type" to "No Flex Zone" idgi. Latter is song of the year, former is just barely ok.

― burbbhrbhbbhbburbbb ranks (The Reverend), Thursday, November 27, 2014 3:46 PM (42 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

seeeriously. "No Flex Zone" is like the best ringtone rap single since the ringtone era ended and "No Type" seemed like such a disappointing follow-up before it became bigger than its predecessor.

Love the og Maco rev I think you would dig it

team both "no flex zone" and "no type"

Lex otm.

No type has a wayyy catchier chorus than no flex zone

Tuesday isn't even in the same ballpark, total drake stimulus record

Can't belive everyone's forgotten icejjfish already.

This thread reminded me of the fact that the West coast revival seems to have fizzled out already.

Lately I've been getting serious Biz Markie vibes from Makonnon. One of those "once you hear it" things

the criticisms of u guessed it itt are reading very 'oh biggie oh pac oh lord'

-_- the concern with snap music wasn't that it felt forced and theater kid-ish

What WAS the concern with snap music? That it had grown men snapping their fingers?

that it was the death of rap.
http://nahright.com/news/2006/06/20/d4ldfb-killed-hip-hop/

"Tuesday" ... fills an important gap in the list of subjects that have been covered in song

i agree with you on this point and it is catchy. it's just so mopey and that video

lex's hate for 'lifestyle' is his most outrageous opinion since saying 'don't like' wasn't catchy.

the performance in 'u guessed it' does have this quality of seeming really detached while at the same time obviously trying to bill itself as a viral anthem. maco reminds me of chief keef in that way.

generally tho a sense of artifice is tolerable and m/l inevitable. idk this is is like hating on the infamous because mobb deep is trying hard to seem hard (nvm the fact that they're actual theatre kids)

*don't think 'u guessed it' is some kidn of classic, just making the abstract comparison

every day i listen to 'lifestyle' on the bus to work, close my eyes and pretend i'm on birdman's yacht popping bottles in the sunshine

and pretend i'm on birdman's yacht popping bottles in the sunshine

snap feels more like the rebirth of hip hop these days.

comparing og maco to chief keef & mobb deep is o_O x1000

"Lifestyle" does definitely feel a bit out of season.

This thread reminded me of the fact that the West coast revival seems to have fizzled out already.

Eh that's not really so much what happened as your average Big Seans have jumped on the bandwagon and you haven't had a YG/Schoolboy Q/Sage/Iamsu release schedule like earlier in the year.

is it too soon to pt out how 'coco' and 'try me' and shmurda owe keef for their sound/approach

can we slot tkay maidza into this list as well?

thug obv a thing of his own, quan owes future, 'yayo' i thought was biting gates but it turns out dude was just doing his own rap version of reggae in parallel to gates, does makonnen owe yung lean or maybe lil b or maybe keef? then there's og maco where it's like, man, we really had it good with pastor troy huh

year of the weird voiced novelty chorus hemiola flow

lol it up but it's clearly true

nah im cool w it

my girl just brought me some cocoa while i was listening to coco and i had an xzibit recursion moment

ILXor: Noooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

u guessed it

Maco sounds more like a cross between gucci, 2 chainz and some shouty guy shouting in the streets imo. Not won over by his EP yet but i'll give him a few more chances.

Let's be real guys Maco sounds like he's been listening to a lot of Death Grips which is probably why me and Whiney like him

speculating on whether an artist has listened to Death Grips is the 5th element of talking about rap on the internet

i buy it, though

btw im listening to this fetty wap tape and his song 'make it' is entirely in keef's 'hallelujah' flow

Expanding on an idea that J0rdan S. had, we're def entering an era where rap is not about "quotable lines" and more about "catchy/entertaining way things are said"

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Wednesday, November 26, 2014 9:24 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Vocal manipulation is the next (last?) frontier in rap.

I thought it was the 5th element

keef hemiola multipass

5th Element is love, it's like you guys didn't even see the movie

Expanding on an idea that J0rdan S. had, we're def entering an era where rap is not about "quotable lines" and more about "catchy/entertaining way things are said"

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Wednesday, November 26, 2014 9:24 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

its always been this tho

stop schemin
and actin hard
i got a great big bodyguard
so step up if you wanna get hurt

lol so simple so dumb lololol

I heard "Tuesday" on 89.9 The People's Station.... On a Tuesday, feel like that song might have the longest legs just because there will always be Tuesdays

Haha so true. Share if you agree

Tag a friend for laughs.

More people have heard (In Da Club) than "How to Rob."
And it doesn’t get old because it’s always someone’s birthday

Industry dudes stay getting robbed tho.

https://vine.co/v/OixOBueKIbb

otm tbrr

https://medium.com/cuepoint/why-2014-was-one-of-the-best-years-for-rap-40ecab5b0ecf

"2014 was the year of SoundCloud rap—why hasn’t anybody pointed that out?"

:|

Dej Loaf is from Detroit?! That's amazing!