Whoopin' the Rat (Naughty-words gallore, parental advisory)

Nice combo of styles.
We went from a ride through the park . . . .
to a ride through the ghetto.
Good lyrics. That's not easy. I've been messing with lyrics the last two months myself.
I liked it. Brought a smile to my face :D

Like the start, like the end. Middle section left me cold - I utterly loathe rap, my remaining brain cell just said, "Enough's enough, MF!" and switched off.

As always, though, can't fault the production - nicely put together, just not my cuppa tea. But don't let my feeble attempt at an honest critique put you off - keep doing what you're doing, and be true to yourself - and do what YOU do best. I wouldn't have listened to it twice (or more times - I think I got it to loop somehow!) if it hadn't been "our Arjen" - or Ingar, or whoever you are this week.

And I still don't like profanity in a song - only Lennon ever got away with it, IMO, on "Working Class Hero." After that, nothing would ever have the same shock impact.....

But that IS a lovely piano riff!

:D :D :D

Vic

Hi,

This took a while to download, so I'd left it to it, and then forgotten it was on the hard drive. So when Vic mentioned rap, I thought "Uh oh, this doesn't look promising....". But to my surprise, I actually liked it all. :) I've listened to it 4 or 5 times now, and the rap is definitely losing its appeal though. I'm not sure if I'd prefer a shorter rap section and then have the piano swell back up and take control again, or if that would ruin the punchline at the end. Perhaps it's just that listening to the same rap track 4 or 5 times in a row is just a not a good idea under any circumstances.... I did enjoy it though, and thought that the combining and contrasting of two unlikely musical partners came off successfully.

Chris

Hey, that's great! It's like you 'sampled' yourself!
I liked it a lot. 8)
:)

In a world full of sameness you really are a breath of fresh air. Shades of John Lennon for starters and then bang in comes the Rap, I don't like Rap either but it really works on this.

Never have time to listen to much these days but listening to this for a second time, whoops now third time. this really is very clever and good stuff.

Gerry

Thanks people! I know rap is about as much loved by most guitarists here as beef is by vegetarians so thanks a bunch for even bothering with it in the first place. I'm not planning to go far in the hiphop scene but rap vocals are the new tool I want in my toolbox so I'll be pracicing it for a while. As it stands the flow is pretty rough and there's way too little variety in the type of rhyhmes used (doubles, triples, alliteration, stuff like that). I'l be working on that first and slowly I'll try to blend in with what I usually do.

Ken: Thanks. :) I'm about as ghetto as John Leonnon is a NASA space shuttle but I'm always willing to pretend to be someone else. ;) Glad to hear it made you smile!

Vic: I don't try to 'shock' people with swearwords, it's more a back-to-basics principle. In everyday life I don't censor myself as much as I do on GN and my 'natural speech' is kinda uncivilised, to say the least. The ammount of swearwords used will probably decline once I'm done with practicing the basics and can spend more time on writing slightly more eloquent lyrics. ;)

Chris: practically all popular hiphop songs use a very melodical chorus which is repeated every once in a while to break up the monotonous nature of rap, espescially when the beats are minimalistic. I'll need to learn to write that way, too. Thanks for pointing it out!

Boxboy: Heh, that's the best part yeah. I don't need to sample anyone, I can write whatever I need to sample. :)

Gerry: Thanks, glad you appreciated it.

Vic: I don't try to 'shock' people with swearwords, it's more a back-to-basics principle. In everyday life I don't censor myself as much as I do on GN and my 'natural speech' is kinda uncivilised, to say the least. The ammount of swearwords used will probably decline once I'm done with practicing the basics and can spend more time on writing slightly more eloquent lyrics.

I wasn't actually suggesting you went out of your way to shock - if swearing's natural, so be it. It'd be a strange rap, or hip-hop, or whatever, record without a little invective - it mirrors the normal speech pattern of the culture it comes from, and as such, well at least it's true to its roots.

No, it's just me - the older I get, the less I like bad language. When you've got kids and grandkids, you do tend to watch what you're saying!

And as for rap, again, it's me - and a few others around here! - I have a total hatred of the whole genre. Yes, it may be true to life - but that world's so far removed from my little narrow musical world there's absolutely no point of contact. Don't even THINK for one second of changing your style of creating music because of a few dissenting voices - be true to YOUR artistic vision, and do what pleases YOU. If other people like it, that's the icing on the cake. I may not always like what you do - but at least there's always something interesting there. You have talent, and you're an innovator, and your music's always worth a listen, even if it's not particularly appealing to my musical taste buds.

The world does need a few people pushing back the boundaries!

:D :D :D

Vic

And as for rap, again, it's me - and a few others around here! - I have a total hatred of the whole genre. Yes, it may be true to life - but that world's so far removed from my little narrow musical world there's absolutely no point of contact. Don't even THINK for one second of changing your style of creating music because of a few dissenting voices - be true to YOUR artistic vision, and do what pleases YOU. If other people like it, that's the icing on the cake. I may not always like what you do - but at least there's always something interesting there. You have talent, and you're an innovator, and your music's always worth a listen, even if it's not particularly appealing to my musical taste buds.

The world does need a few people pushing back the boundaries!

"A few others"? You can count me in. Can't stand rap. I've that made clear on another board.
(And you knew the prevailing views yet still posted the song. That's partly what brought a smile. Ya got da ballz.)
But I enjoyed your song, MC Ignar. By the way, MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" is on my iPod. I don't consider that rap.
Rap has no room on any of my technotoys. It would be considered noise pollution at best. At worst . . well this board has filters for me wording those thoughts.
"Yes, it may be true to life - but that world's so far removed. . ." From my world too and I am so thankful for that . . . daily.

Here's where I diverge from Vic's view about changing the style of your music:
I have such an aversion for rap, that I am going to be bold enough to say that you are wasting your time with it.
And I DO believe it is a waste of your time.
But if you feel a need to pursue that weakness in the music industry, it's your time to waste.

That's my opinion. And you and I are stuck with it until you or I change it.

I think rap is really OK. Its poetry as far as I'm concerned. You used this very well in my opinion. Musically its very good IMHO :D

dog

It'd be a strange rap, or hip-hop, or whatever, record without a little invective - it mirrors the normal speech pattern of the culture it comes from, and as such, well at least it's true to its roots.

Whoa, don't get me wrong: I'm a white middle-class college student. I don't know where or what the roots of hiphop are (actually I do but I'll be flogged if I mention it ;) ) but I'm pretty sure it ain't got much to do with me. And besides, I don't personally care about the roots anyway. I have no connection with the hiphop culture or scene, my rap-collection consists of two Eminem CDs and one Dutch hiphop act and that's it. It's more like what the Dog says. I've already been doing spoken word since the day I started writing my own stuff and adding more interesting and diverse rhythms seems to me the logical next step. Giving rap a shot is, I guess, the best way to get started with it because rap music is relatively simple, the beat is pretty constant and static and the ammount of musical distraction is minimal. In other words: basic rap is the ideal playground for me to 'enhance' my spoken word parts. When I've made some progress with that I can slowly 'fade out' the elements that are central to urban music and replace it with whats central to my music.

In other words, my 'Inside Outsider' project was me using all the tools I know to create a work I stand behind, while this track is me adding tools to my toolbox. Listening to it might be a chore, it might deviate from what you'd expect from me, you might find it thematically unintersting, musically bland and all that but I'm convinced I need to make moves like this to keep expanding and getting closer to what ultimately be my own style. And that makes me even more thankfull for all your people's comments because I know that for many of you there is no personal fun to be had with this at all. I'll try to make it up later, promise. :D
And as for rap, again, it's me - and a few others around here! - I have a total hatred of the whole genre.

Heh, I've been thinking and I guess rap is to you what grunting is to me: a vocal style that completely annoys me no matter what happens with it. You could be shakespear for all I care but I'd still wont listen if you grunt it to me. :lol:
By the way, MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" is on my iPod. I don't consider that rap.

That;s a brilliant example Ken! You might not consider it rap (or it might not be rap, what do I know) but obiously it contains elements of rap but used in a different musical context. I want to be able to do that, take 'musical elements' and mix them to get my own thing going. The best way for me is to focus on the 'hardcore' basics first and then drag it to my cave for consumption. :D
I have such an aversion for rap, that I am going to be bold enough to say that you are wasting your time with it.
And I DO believe it is a waste of your time.
But if you feel a need to pursue that weakness in the music industry, it's your time to waste.
That's my opinion. And you and I are stuck with it until you or I change it.

Heh, maybe I am wasting my time, maybe I am not. I guess we won't know until the day I die and I can look back and decide whether or not I learned anything from these 'experiments'. And for the rest, the whole world seems to be constantly having opinions about what I should or shouldn't do. I've got no problem with that but I'm sure you understand I have to follow the map in my head or I'll get hopelessly lost in the Land of Music. But as always your opinion has been noted and it's always fun to see someone just speak his mind instead of sticking feathers where the sun don't shine. I'd much rather talk with someone who has a different opinion then someone with no opinion at all. 8) I'm working now on a industrial raptrack with poppy vocals and a driving ukelele track. Trust me when I'll say it'll be hated just as much on rapforums as it'll be hated here. :lol:
I think rap is really OK. Its poetry as far as I'm concerned. You used this very well in my opinion. Musically its very good IMHO

Thanks Ken. :) I agree with how you look at it, even though I have to admit that I've yet to use the poetic possibilities or rap. :oops: But yeah, that is how I see it and how I eventually would like to approach it.

Thanks for listening and commenting, everyone!

Well, I thought I'd have a listen 'cos I like 'controversial'.....

Yes, well, hmmmmmm - Ignar Hillstrøm meets Puff Daddy and they have a good laugh together.

It's funny how you get used to hearing profanities in records, on tv and films - even in the street so it doesn't really shock or offend me unless I was in the presence of children or my dear old Mum - I suppose that's a bit of sad reality. I'd like to think I wouldn't need to use profanities in my songs, but then if you write about a particular subject it probably calls for a few - Rappers wouldn't be taken seriously if they didn't cuss until the muvverf*******g cows came home.

Well done Ignar for extending your repertoire - don't knock it 'till you've tried it....

Here's a rap song for you Vic...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u7geU-4MPOE

*@*k on!

D 8)

I want to be able to do that, take 'musical elements' and mix them to get my own thing going. The best way for me is to focus on the 'hardcore' basics first and then drag it to my cave for consumption . . . .
. . . .
I'm working now on a industrial raptrack with poppy vocals and a driving ukelele track. Trust me when I'll say it'll be hated just as much on rapforums as it'll be hated here.

Ahhh... so you're doing research and development (R&D).
The imagery of you taking the bone back to the cave to chew on is very vivid.

Someday, someone is going to input, into a computer, all the top songs in every genre and have the computer analyze them for their components (lot of variables and factors to analyze I imagine - all those things you guys talk about that goes over my head. ie, chord progressions, keys, intervals, beat, baselines, etc.). The next step would be to program the computer to look for common (similar) factors for songs of the genre and then generate its own song based on those factors (for that genre). It's going to be real freaky when the [Enter] button is pushed and out of the computer's speakers comes a composition that Mozart could have written.

And as far as taunting the rappers with poppy vocals and a ukelele . . . rappers have been known to pop a cap into someone's donkey. <--- I went ahead and deprived the censor by typing "donkey". Ha!
Anyway, looking forward to your next one.
KR2

I have read the thread before I gave a listen. ya. rap is held at least ten feet away from me. I have seen way too much white people aping ghetto rap. it does not work. I had disliked rap in general until I looked into its make up. you have a good musical understanding of the genre. you made it yours. you and Kid Rock do the genre well.
I appreciated that you follow your ears in your life.
you are living an artists life.

well i am not a rap fan at all, but for some reason i really like that track! i think its a cracking job! well done