What is the name of this verbal beat in "Anaconda"?
August 29, 2014 12:49 AM Subscribe
Say he don't like 'em boney, he wants something he can grab
So I pulled up in the Jag, and I hit him with a jab like
Dun da da dun dun dun dun dun dun
I've been obsessing over the Anaconda music video and this beat, and rap genius is giving me nothing. It's a reference to MIA's (Nicki's 'bad bitch from Sri Lanka') identical beat in her collaboration with Timbaland, and the jungle setting of the video is also an echo of MIA and a reinforcement of the way the song and video explore and play with exoticization of black/brown womens' sexuality, I and I'm wondering what rhythm it is that both women are using. I don't have much music theory experience and and kind of grabbing at wikipedia straws, and would really appreciate if a mefite who knows more about this school of music could help me out.
Music theory mefites, what is the name of this rhythm?
I've been obsessing over the Anaconda music video and this beat, and rap genius is giving me nothing. It's a reference to MIA's (Nicki's 'bad bitch from Sri Lanka') identical beat in her collaboration with Timbaland, and the jungle setting of the video is also an echo of MIA and a reinforcement of the way the song and video explore and play with exoticization of black/brown womens' sexuality, I and I'm wondering what rhythm it is that both women are using. I don't have much music theory experience and and kind of grabbing at wikipedia straws, and would really appreciate if a mefite who knows more about this school of music could help me out.
Music theory mefites, what is the name of this rhythm?
To build on what Potomac Avenue said, there's a great example in the reggae sample from Mercy.
posted by Itaxpica at 5:24 AM on August 29, 2014
posted by Itaxpica at 5:24 AM on August 29, 2014
Riddims. I can't point you to the specific one, but this is a useful starting point.
posted by judith at 6:15 AM on August 29, 2014
posted by judith at 6:15 AM on August 29, 2014
Same rhythm shows up in Missy Elliot's Work It with a lower bpm.
posted by bfranklin at 6:23 AM on August 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by bfranklin at 6:23 AM on August 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
FWIW, I'd write that rhythm instead as "dun da da dun dun da da dun dun", with the "dun"'s quarter notes and the "da"'s, eighth notes. It starts on beat one of a measure and ends on beat 3 of the following measure. The missy elliot just replaces each "dun da da dun" by "da da da da dun" but keeps the same feeling (just a little slower with different syllables).
The MIA one is "dun da da dun da da dun da da dun dun". The "dun" in "da da dun" lands right on a strong beat each time so sounds less interesting to me than the other two where the second "da da dun" is shifted back a beat with respect to the measure.
I think. I might be misplacing the bar lines.
(Anyway, all that to say I wouldn't go so far as to call these "identical" even if they may have a common influence.)
posted by bfields at 7:09 AM on August 29, 2014
The MIA one is "dun da da dun da da dun da da dun dun". The "dun" in "da da dun" lands right on a strong beat each time so sounds less interesting to me than the other two where the second "da da dun" is shifted back a beat with respect to the measure.
I think. I might be misplacing the bar lines.
(Anyway, all that to say I wouldn't go so far as to call these "identical" even if they may have a common influence.)
posted by bfields at 7:09 AM on August 29, 2014
I almost posted this in the Anaconda thread (part II) with the same suggestion for where she was lifting it from - Come Around, and then possibly Missy. But I wasn't satisfied that she was referencing either one, and I still don't think she is.
And then in doing searches I found her website has a Nicktionary, and she said it was "Used when you have no more words for washups and shortcakes" [rg has a screenshot]. So maybe she's used it in other songs or maybe she just made it up or whatever, but I don't think she's signifying back to any other artists that I can mentally recall.
posted by cashman at 4:06 PM on August 29, 2014
And then in doing searches I found her website has a Nicktionary, and she said it was "Used when you have no more words for washups and shortcakes" [rg has a screenshot]. So maybe she's used it in other songs or maybe she just made it up or whatever, but I don't think she's signifying back to any other artists that I can mentally recall.
posted by cashman at 4:06 PM on August 29, 2014
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posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:09 AM on August 29, 2014 [1 favorite]