From Tom Millar Sent Wed, Apr 21st 1999, 00:26
From Tom Millar Sent Wed, Apr 21st 1999, 00:26
I think that "beat determinism" is a very effective theory. I think that what Sam is trying to say is that when the beats were locked-up drum machine electrowank, gated snares and so forth all over the place, the rapping ended up suffering from similarly stilted delivery and bad funk. It is notoriously difficult to sound good using a modern rap delivery style on top of syncopated-freakout bass drum patterns with too much reverb and choppy hi-hats. The raps had to be deliberately simplistic and each line was forced to carry about the same dynamic weight just to be heard clearly over the beats. When the beats became more sample-driven, tighter, and more reliant on live-feeling loops as opposed to the tyranny of the 16th-note resolution forced by older gear, the rapping opened up and was freed to stomp all over the place. When the rhythm underneath isn't tripping all over its own polyrhythms, it makes it easier for a rapper to play with his delivery and use _his_ polyrhythms, dragging and rushing over the beat to emphasize phrases. So I agree, the beats lead the way, though I'm sure plenty of rappers were all set to use some different delivery patterns as soon as affordable samplers and such hit the market. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's not a rap song to be heard, janky remixes aside, where the beats don't define to the last letter the method of rapping on top. Tom