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chess not checkers Martin Connor – Freestyle No. 1 For Brass

Reference to a line in “The Wire.” The best TV show of all time.

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added at October 1st, 2012 17:02
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One wrecked
Two wrecked
Next, next next
Check! Martin Connor – Freestyle No. 1 For Brass

Maybe the best line musically in the whole song. Check the rhythm:

the word “wrecked” right after “two” lasts 2 sixteenth notes

the first word “next” lasts 3 16th notes

The second word “next” lasts 4 16th notes

The third word “next” lasts 5 16th notes

The word “check” lasts 6 16th notes.

Notice a pattern?

Each time, I’m adding a 16th note.

This is called “additive” rhythm, and stands in contrast to “divise” rhythm. Most Western music is written in divise rhythm. This means that the beat, which is almost universally the quarter note in rap music, is divided: first into 8th notes, then 16th notes (at which most rap is rhymed), and then 32nd notes (which would include faster rappers like Twista.)

Additive Rhythm, instead, denotes the beat as the smallest unit of music, and rhythm is created by adding this beat to itself. Examples of this include Indian raga music.

I do the same thing here: I add 16th notes to rhythms.

Note that the upset of syntactical structure is instrumental here. If I were to set a sentence to the same rhythm, 2 16th notes + 3 16th notes + 4 16th notes, etc., it wouldn’t work as well, because when people rap, you are automatically constrained by the reality of how people actually talk in real life.

For instance, take the sentence “I rap the best way.” Try setting that to the same rhythm I used here. It doesn’t work as well, because the listener is wondering, “Why is he taking so long to say the word ‘way’”? Because people don’t talk like that in real life.

So, if you’re an aspiring rapper and want to be great, first, think most about upsetting the syntactical structure of your rhymes. That is, get into grammar where you don’t have to have a verb after subject, adjective/noun agreement, etc.

Here, I did exactly that. I am simply listing things. I do that later on in the song as well, starting at “slicker bastard, master trickster.” Go there for more explanations.

If you liked this, google “Composer’s Corner blogspot” for more rap analysis.

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added at October 1st, 2012 16:56
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Fine-art Martin Connor – Freestyle No. 1 For Brass

Comparing myself to the traditional distinction between “high” art and “low” art.

This is after my musical heroes, the classical musicians of yesteryear: Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, J.S. Bach, and more.

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added at October 1st, 2012 16:54
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I call him the aggresive bee
He flies at me aggressively
He seems to like to mess with me
With fear I see the aggressive bee Zach Sherwin – The Aggressive Bee
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This is the musical transcription of MC Mr. Napkins' rap in music notation. To see it in full size, right click on the images and select “Save Image As…” Then save it and open it with an image viewer on your computer, then zoom in if you have to.

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I'm surious Zach Sherwin – The Aggressive Bee
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Play on rapper’s tendency to alter how words are pronounced in order to make rhymes fit.

This vowel substitution, of “ur” for “er”, was brought to the public’s attention with Chingy’s “Right Thurr” (“Right There.”) Kanye West does the same thing on his song “All Falls Down” from his debut album “College Dropout”:

Sophmurr
Three yurrs
Ain’t picked a carurr…

(Sophomore,
three years,
ain’t picked a career…)

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There's a pair of wings on the fellow
And a ring of black and a ring of yellow
And he gets me wound tight like a string on a cello
Makes ya wanna freaking yell and bellow Zach Sherwin – The Aggressive Bee
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A repeat of an earlier line, but this time, the line is delivered in a much shorter amount of musical time. This is known in music theory as rhythmic diminution. MC Mr. Napkins has simply cut all of the rhythmic values that he used earlier on this line in half.

A very classical-music thing to do

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640

7 years

in rap it’s often called “double-time”

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Oh, "Put on the red light! Zach Sherwin – The Aggressive Bee
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A line from the Sting song “Roxanne”, which MC Mr. Napkins referenced earlier in the song.

Play on the name “Sting” and the bee’s stinger

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Nas, Busta Rhymes (Ft. Nas) – Don't Get Carried Away
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This is the musical transcription for Nas' verse from the song “Don’t Get Carried Away.” In order to see it closer, right click on the images and “Save Images As…”, then open it on your computer with something like Preview for Macs or the equivalent for PCs, and zoom in if you have to.

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Toastin' the ways of the original Pablos Busta Rhymes (Ft. Nas) – Don't Get Carried Away
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He refers to Pablo Escobar, the incredibly powerful head of a Mexican drug cartel in the 90s. When he was captured, he was killed by the policeman tasked to bring him in alive because if Pablo was kept alive he could flip and give away the names of all the dirty cops who allowed Pablo to thrive in the drug business. Guy was ridiculous, owned tigers and shit.

Nas has a long history with the name Escobar. It’s a nickname (sometimes shortened to Esco) he’s often used in the post illmatic period, and even has a song dedicated to it.

Escobar was extremly rich, so he could most likely throw some huge parties. He´s celebrating/toasting as the real Escobar!

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Rockin' the suburbs Martin Connor – Freestyle No. 1 For Brass

Reference to one of my favorite albums, Ben Folds' “Rockin' the suburbs.”

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added at September 15th, 2012 18:16
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