Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with rap

HELP! Need Wedding Playlist!!

madmamasmith — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:35:50 -0800

HELP! I am (was) using my ipod instead of a DJ for my wedding that is in 10 days and it just CRASHED! It synched to my computer without warning and now all my wedding playlists are GONE! I'm a dope and only very recently started using an external hard drive...long story short I need help to rebuild my wedding playlists. With the stress of the wedding planning I cant even remember to poop, let alone the collection of music ive been building for years!! I would appreciate ANY and ALL recommendations but I need the most help with the dance portion. I love all kinds of music from all eras and I want to make sure there are some dance hits from my school days ie TLC, SWV etc but I also want to play some newer hits and I am suffering serious brain fart. I'm also 6 months pregnant so I have baby brain as they say.

So far my playlists are thus (in a nutshell)

Preceremony/seating:

sun kil moon, joni mitchell, elvis, alasdair roberts, some instrumental stuff etc., peter gabriel

Dinner/Cocktail:

cocteau twins, yo la tango, van morrison, fleetwood mac, sufjan stevens, nina simone, otis redding, nuetral milk hotel

Dancing:

MGMT, MIA, Soldia Boy, JAson Derulo, Kool & the gang, outkast, madonna, pssion pit, cure, aha, TI, iggy pop, peter bjorn and john, daftpunk, the knife, george michael.......

Just for a minute, how do you think I feel about what's been going on?

cashman — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:21:20 -0800

Looking for rap songs with repeating sped up vocal samples from almost an entire verse or multiple verses of a song. That don't involve Kanye West. I'm looking for raps like these, where artists use a sped up sample (a couple of sentences or different spliced in verses from a song) early and often throughout a track, with great success.

-Royce 5'9 - Give up the guns employs entire verses from The Buoys - Give up your guns.
-Black Milk - Losing Out samples big chunks of verses from The Alan Parsons Project - Let's Talk About Me.
-Tanya Morgan - Stay Tuned uses a lot of sections from Barbra Steisand & Barry Gibb - Guilty again and again.

I love the recontextualizing, and I'm looking to make a mixtape of these. It's those rap songs where you listen to it so many times and its so well done that finally you have to find and listen to the song was sampled. Then playing the original song has some kind of audio stereoscopic effect where you hear the original in real life while the new creation plays along in your head. Then eventually you make playlists with the original followed by the recreation.

No Kanye please, I am familiar with his work.

In search of beats.

the foreground — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:45:02 -0800

What has happened to the instrumental hip hop scene? The only current producer "pushing things forward" in long player format that I know of is Flying Lotus. Who are the contemporary heirs to DJ Shadow, Prefuse 73 and Madlib? I read something today on Slate about the golden age of hip hop that made me think about this question and how a few years back there seemed to be tons of new instrumental beat albums coming out on a regular basis and new, exciting producers to get into making full albums of stuff in all different directions. It seems as though producers in this very broad style make one or two brilliant albums and disappear, or move on to more song based stuff like Bibio and RJD2. I'm already familiar with dubstep producers like Burial whom I enjoy, and of course the Ninja Tune and Warp labels, but I am looking for more up and comers to check out that you could firmly place in the instrumental (doesn't have to be entirely) hip hop genre, although I would be interested in hearing of electronic/experimental producers that incorporate hip hop breaks too. Thanks!

Shameless music that'll grab our son and your daughter in the arms of a jungle, animal instinct - massteria!

TochterAusElysium — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:29:05 -0800

What's this kind of talking/singing music called, and what else is like it? I particularly like a kind of music that I can't really name, as it spans several genres, and I'd love to find more like it. Generally speaking, it's almost like proto-rap; more spoken or chanted than sung, usually with elaborate non-repeating lyrics. It's hard to describe (for me, at least).

Some examples include Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan, I Do the Rock by Tim Curry, Modern Major General by Gilbert & Sullivan, I've Been Everywhere by Hank Snow, Trouble in River City from The Music Man, Come On-A My House by Rosemary Clooney (kind of), and so on.

"And I can picture you in heaven with a blunt and a brew"...because I'm going to kill you?

ignignokt — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:20:26 -0800

In what was the context was Tupac's "God Bless the Dead" written? I haven't paid much attention to Tupac and Biggie, but I do know they had that big feud. So, God Bless the Dead, which was released after Tupac's death on his Greatest Hits album, confuses me.

The song starts with Tupac graciously saying "Rest in peace to my motherfuckin' Biggie Smalls." Yet Tupac died before Biggie. So, this seems like it's a veiled threat. However, the rest of the song seems to respectfully reach out to Biggie. The other guy on the song, Stretch (who happens (?) to sound eerily like Biggie), explicitly gives his respect and says "You my nigga for life, forever."

I can't figure out when this song was recorded via Google. Was it done pre-feud? Or was it done post-feud as a disturbing and sarcastic threat

Help me remember a song...

jpburns — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:51:49 -0800

Help me remember a rap/hip hop song from the early 2000s that listed a bunch of black girls names in the chorus ("Shenika, Felicia, Shirvana...") done by some (I'm guessing here) Atlanta-based group? Maybe Lil Jon or Ying Yang twins? Thanks in advance.

Anyone know of a hiphop song that goes "I smoke marijuana, listen to Nirvana"?

ascetic — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:05:12 -0800

I heard a song on the radio, and I only remember two lines. The lines are "I smoke marijuana, listen to Nirvana." It was a hip-hop song, I'm pretty sure the artist is unsigned. Anyone know?

Help me find this eerie rap video

qvtqht — Fri, 29 May 2009 23:30:38 -0800

In the 90s, I used to watch music videos on The Box. In particular, I remember this one video that was spooky, with a lot of echoes in the music, possibly black and white video, possibly with kids playing in the ghetto street. Sadly, I don't remember much more of it, though I think I'll know it when I see it. With that in mind, can you please recommend some spooky, eerie rap videos from the 90s? Hopefully, this one will be among them, but I'm definitely interested in others.

I've already googled around a bit, and have looked through all the videos in this list.

Looking for Country and Rap/Hip Hop songs NOT in 3/4 or 4/4 time...

querty — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:18:50 -0800

Looking for Country and Rap/Hip Hop songs NOT in 3/4 or 4/4 time... Bonus points if you can find me a Gangsta-Rap song in crazy time signatures. Is there such thing?

What song is sampled in this Wu Tang cut?

hpliferaft — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:00:27 -0800

What's being sampled in Wu Tang's "Rock Steady"? What other songs are like this? Here's the song in question.

What is the original song?

And, if you can, please recommend more songs I'd like.

Something To Ride To

cashman — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 08:34:51 -0800

Trying to find good music with end-of-the-song refrain loops. I'm trying to find good songs like Tupac's "Lost Souls" where at the end of the song the refrain gets repeated again and again. Scarface & The Product also have a song called "G Type" that is an ideal type of this. The last 45 seconds of the song is the music playing and the repeat of the refrain and it sounds like it could go on forever.

Sia's "Where I Belong" does this as well - the last 1:42 is the refrain repeated again and again, sung in different ways.

I might loop the file so it goes on for a half hour, I'm not sure yet, but I'm looking for good songs like this.

I'm wanting to avoid metal, country or r&b if possible. Whatcha got for me hive mind?

What song was this?

FatherDagon — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:37:18 -0800

Looking for the title/artist of a conspiratorial hip-hop track from the mid-90s. I had a collection of mid-90s hip hop b-sides a while back, and it contained one cut that was all about wild conspiracy business - the Illuminati, the Bilderberg Group, water flouridation, alien invasion, the whole nine. The music was kind of a playful yet ominous loop, I think it was string instruments or something like. It definitely wasn't Immortal Technique, altho I know he gets pretty conspiratorial at times. I believe there were three or four different lyricists throughout the song. Anyone have any ideas? I'd most likely recognize the artist/song name if I saw it, but for the life of me I cannot remember.

Bassy rap music plz

oxala — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:31:41 -0800

Recommendations for upbeat 90's rap music driven by strong, prominent bass lines? Stuff like this and this. I'd prefer mainstream sounding 90's stuff with similar production to the two linked tracks, but modern or older examples are fine. Must be high tempo and the lesser known the better - one hit wonders and obscure stuff are great. Cheers!

Rap? Symphonically? On NPR?

jefficator — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:13:20 -0800

Did I really hear a symphonic version of Gangster's Paradise on NPR?a I've searched high and low on the NPR website, and I'm beginning to think I'm insane. My only recourse is to believe that the song I heard was played by my local affiliate and not by the national station. But the on-air personality claims he had no idea what background music plays.

Is there a symphonic, instrumental version of Coolio's Gangster's Paradise???

grimace

plexi — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 13:38:49 -0800

lil wayne's tha carter III got an 8.7 on Pitchfork, and made Rolling Stone's #3 album of 2008. I've listened to the album several times, and although I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about modern music, I just don't get it. Why do reviewers love this album?

I always hated campers

aheckler — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:04:51 -0800

I'm looking for an old rap song about Counter-Strike for nostalgia's sake. The only lyrics I can remember are "that b*tch is camping the hosties". I've searched YouTube and so forth, but no dice. Halp!

He/She/It Ain't No Joke

papayaninja — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:43:21 -0800

What are some hip-hop songs in the form of a third-person narrative? I like/love a lot of hip-hop music. Most of my friends do not. I played Paid In Full, and besides Eric B's occasionally annoying turntablism, my friend was particularly not happy with the lyrical content: "I'm the best rapper ever, and you are not" and its variants. That's pretty much the whole of that album, and a lot of other rap also.

He brought up the point that there is a ton of first person rap, but basically no stories about other people, a la the Beatles' Rocky Raccoon or Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. So, are there any?

I could think of some Beastie Boys (who he dislikes for other reasons) and Common's "I Used to Love H.E.R." which is really a first person story, but tells 'her' story anyway.

What else is there?

Give me knowledge with a side of head nodding

reenum — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:48:06 -0800

I need intelligent hiphop/rap with good beats. Any recommendations? I was a huge hip hop head back in the day. I love a lot of '90s west coast rap with phat beats. The misogyny and gunplay is a bit much for someone my age though. Some of my favorites in terms of good beat/bad content artists are Snoop, Dre, Nelly, DJ Quik, E-40, Ice Cube, Mack 10, WC.

The problem I have with a lot of underground or intelligent hiphop is the lack of good beats. Some lyricists I love who often have horrible beats are Ras Kass, Saafir, and Aceyalone.

Yesterday, I picked up Talib Kweli's "Eardrum" and it was exactly the sort of thing I love. Intelligent lyrics with slammin' beats. I also liked Hieroglyphics back in the day. Blackalicious and the rest of Quannum are awesome too. I'm not a big Jurassic 5 fan, and I've seen them mentioned a lot in previous threads.

I've checked the other hip hop related threads and none of them seemed to directly ask this question. I'm open to all styles of hip hop as long as it meets the preceding criteria.

Thanks!

Are there cases of something similar to e.g. "house" -> "hizouse" in non-English hip-hop?

kosmonaut — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:12:25 -0800

Help me multilingual Mefites: In American hip-hop, there are hundreds of examples of the infixation of "iz" into a word, e.g. modifying the word "house" to "hizouse", street -> strizeet, boss -> bizoss. Since American hip-hop is arguably the prime influence on hip-hop/rap in other cultures, I wonder: are there any cases of a similar phenomenon in the hip-hop/rap of other languages? I am not looking for any old case where a word is altered, but rather that some morpheme getting inserted in various words in a similar fashion to "iz", and is not a normal process in the language. (Or even if something worked almost the same but was attached as a prefix or suffix, that would be cool too!)

Here is a more in-context example of the "iz"-infixation from the lyrics of an American hip-hop artist:

And lizines (lines) get crizzossed (crossed)
Devils get tizzosed (tossed)
Angels get hizigh (high)
But no time gets lizost (lost)
You must want to wizalk (walk)
The talk you tizalk (talk)
You should have repented when Fly said time was shizort (short)
And Fly won't get kizaught (caught)

If there is any of this happening, I'd love to see actual samples!

What sample is this from?

PostIronyIsNotaMyth — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:08:37 -0800

What is sampled at the beginning of the Blood of Abraham song "Niggaz n Jewz"? Is it from a movie? A clip from a movie about guy who doesn't want to stay at a hotel run by Jews?

Name of a hip-hop book?

Bizurke — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 09:03:06 -0800

What was the name of the book about international hip-hop I read ~4 years ago? About four years ago, I read a book about hip-hop where the author went to a bunch of international cities (I think London and Johannesburg were among them), trying to figure out the ideas other cultures have about hip-hop. The cover was an old-school Nike sneaker, and I think the name was a reference to a rap lyric (something along the lines of Can't Stop, Won't Stop — but that wasn't it).

Anyone know it?

Help me find a song from a mixtape

ilike — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 05:37:48 -0800

I am looking for other rap tracks that use the beat that comes after about 1.40 into this youtube video of a Dilated peoples mixtape. It supposed it is made by The Alchemist I think.

Rap Emcee Drills and Freestyles

cashman — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:06:51 -0800

Best live rap freestyles or cyphers with multiple rappers? NOT BATTLES I'm looking for the best live show rap freestyles (not battles) featuring multiple rappers. One of the best is Mr. Lif's 12:44 long "Freestyle Session" (featuring Akbar and Akrobatik). Stuff like Supernat's performances on the Wake Up Show is great, but I'm looking for the best of groups of rappers freestyling live.

Passing the mic back and forth at a live show, doing themes, or even kicking the occasional written verse on stage - I just want to hear some incredible rap freestyles performed live.

Rappin' to the choir

jammy — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:50:40 -0800

Tell me of your favorite hip hop joints that feature a gospel style chorus. I'm not interested in Christian hip hop per se. What I am interested in is hip hop artists who have used upbeat, hand-clappin', foot-stompin', multi-voice, gospel choir-style refrains in their songs.

Held Down by De La Soul & Get By by Talib Kweli are pretty much perfect examples of what I'm looking for.

Basically I need James Taylor to cover a Jay Z song.

allkindsoftime — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:18:01 -0800

Best nerdy white band / artist covers of rap songs (the more offensive the better). OK so a friend recently played The Gourds' cover of Gin & Juice for me and it was clear that its pretty much her favorite thing ever, and I'd like to make her a little birthday mix-CD. Here's what else I have so far:

Jonathan Coulton - Baby Got Back
Nina Gordon - Straight out of Compton
Dynamite Hack - Boyz in the Hood

This question had a few answers that helped, but I need more of this specific type if ya'll have them. Bonus points for any suggestions including links to where I can buy / DL the songs.