Turn Up The Bites! (The Auto-Tune Rap Thread)

Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Some of my favourite rap tunes of this year have been Future-aping auto-tune tunes like the following:



Rich Homie Quan - Type Of Way (2013)



Lil Durk - Dis Ain't What U Want (2013)

And obviously the king himself keeps doing it best



Future - Honest (2013)



Future - Keep On Shinin' (2013)

Now I guess the autotune phenomenon in rap music came about via Kanye and Wayne, but this whole raft of imitators in 2013 are probably direct descendants of Future. All of this stuff really reminds me of Movado, too - and I suppose there's a similar principle of melodicism meets gangsta credentials here. You can get away with singing AND being a thug if the singing is machine-generated.
 
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Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
And how can I forget cybatshit crazy Young Thug?



Young Thug - Condo Music (2013)
 
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Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy


Kirko Bangz - What Yo Name Iz? (2011)

This is from 2000 and fucking ELEVEN, but its not quite that trap-choir meets robo-soprano thing that you hear on a lot of mixtapes now, but its a good example of an RNB singer using an autotuner to RAP (rather than visa versa).
 
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Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Just listening to that Gucci track, and knowing the depressive state's he's always in, its a reminder that autotune seems particularly good for expressing sadness/melancholy. It gives a weird melancholic edge to voices most of the time, I wonder why? Is it cos your voice wobbles when you're upset? Also when you sob you make those noises that slide in pitch smoothly ifyouknowwhatImean.

Future is from Haiti apparently so maybe this IS a carribean/JA thing?



King Louie - More Bandz (2013)
 
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banshee

Well-known member
Corpsey said:
Just listening to that Gucci track, and knowing the depressive state's he's always in, its a reminder that autotune seems particularly good for expressing sadness/melancholy. It gives a weird melancholic edge to voices most of the time, I wonder why? Is it cos your voice wobbles when you're upset? Also when you sob you make those noises that slide in pitch smoothly ifyouknowwhatImean.
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yeah, i think thats all true. but also the thing you said about getting away with singing and thuggin because the singing is machine generated. so its like it simultaneously nullifies and intensifies the emotion. its incredible.

Future obv does this best


its also great for creating that druggy, numbed out vibe, i see at as similar to dj screw in a way but for the '10s.. probably my fave autotune tune for this reason:


^^ chief keef is a master at this style too.

its like it distances them from their own emotions by exaggerating them. i dont know, theres something so powerful and moving there which is hard to put into words tbh...

most exciting thing happening in music now tbh, along with footwork... and they've had a go at it too:

 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
banshee said:
yeah, i think thats all true. but also the thing you said about getting away with singing and thuggin because the singing is machine generated. so its like it simultaneously nullifies and intensifies the emotion. its incredible.
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Uhh where did you come from, spirit-twin?

Johnny-Cash.gif
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
btw can I change the thread title or have it changed to ''Turn Up The Biters'' please cos it is currently WRONG.
 
R

Roshman

Well-known member
Listened to the 19 & Boomin mixtape last night. Out of 20+ tracks I only came away wanting to return to that Future one and this Ca$h Out one. The Gucci Mane tracks are probably decent if you like his stuff. Never really been able to get into him though.

 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Banshee recently sent me a mix of this sort of tune and its great. I LOVE that Gucci tune now.



Johnny Cinco - Gave The Wrong Young N*gga Money (2013)
 
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Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
http://thequietus.com/articles/03828-this-month-in-dancehall-by-neil-kulkarni

This is from 2010, still figure it might be relevant (though given the type of rap that has emerged since 2010, perhaps Kulkarni's comments are rendered ironically off-target):

RULE 1 — rappers should stop singing. Don't sing, rappers. Rappers, do not sing. The singing has to stop for those of you who are rappers. Y'know you rappers who sing? The singing rappers? Yeah, you. Sorry and all that, I know some of you have tried really hard but you can't do it. Give it a rest. Anyone can rap (look at all the singers who think they can) but not everyone can sing. It's your chronic reliance on autotune to fill the gaps in your melodic abilities that's making much black pop feel so foil-on-the-filling nasty right now. Harmonies, multiple voices, are pop's sweetest sound but autotune roboticizes their creation so predictably, fatally removes ALL trace of humanity. No matter how devoted you are to electronics and synthetic textures, without the sense of some moment of human volition/decision behind it pop simply doesn’t work. Spector, Meek, Derbyshire, Czukay, Macero, Quincy J, Moroder, Orridge, The Bomb Squad, Timbaland, Dre all knew it is an utter mistake to think there is 'nothing natural about recorded music'. Without something natural, there is no recording; there is only demonstration, a tour round the desk, a spod’s snortling glee from the depths of the manual. Technological exploration/abuse is only progressive when directed by heart or head, when it's kinda afraid but insatiably curious, when it wants revolution (e.g. scratching) or release (e.g. distortion). The only emotion you can consistently connect with autotune is smugness about the program's performance, pride in the presets. And, crucially, when the machines are being binge-fed entirely unimaginative lazy-assed tunes to correct, it's no wonder there's so much hip-hop now you just can't and won't remember even if or when it's huge.

The new kit — and crucially, too many producers’ lack of imagination with all that doodaddery — have served to make much ‘urban’ in oh-ten an identikit chrome blob, orbited by tricksy voices solidifying nothing. And it’s not just harmful for US pop when R&B is in such stasis; it’s harmful to any music for whom R&B is an historical, ever-influential touchstone."
 
C

CrowleyHead

Well-known member
Corpsey, I've TOTALLY been developing a theory about this, and I will expand on this a lot.

(Was actually going to do a post on this sort of trend, but chrome crashed on me and I lost it, so I gave up. :p)

EDIT:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YKMYwg0F52Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Also, the new Rich Kidz tape is fucking incredible. Hideously indebted to Kendrick, but the way they do it is so much more expansive in ways he was so rigid.
 
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yyaldrin

yyaldrin

in je ogen waait de wind
Srsly, that Danny Glover tune is my fav track of 2013. I'm not even able to play it only once, it goes up and it goes on repeat.
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
yyaldrin said:
Srsly, that Danny Glover tune is my fav track of 2013. I'm not even able to play it only once, it goes up and it goes on repeat.
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Actually in full agreement with this. I listened to it about fifteen times prior to New Years Eve and then spent the rest of the night singing it to myself or banging on to other people about how good it is.
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
This documentary's good. Anyone interested in the Chicago gang violence situation should definitely check out ''The Interrupters''. It's heartbreaking.

I'm quite surprised at how thick the Chicago accent can get, as ignorant as I am I always thought you had to go further south to get accents that sound that ''country''. But that's just like an American might not be able to distinguish regional English accents, and why should they?
 
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