Oh Yes I Did: Comparing Rappers' Styles To The Beatles

Okay so before I get going on this post I feel like I should explain myself to any Beatles fan, old hard rock fan, or any old head music fan for that matter: this post is in no way comparing the accomplishments, the influence, or the threshold that the Beatles have held on music to ANY other artist of the last 50 years (even more than that, actually). There is no comparison to them even in the slightest. Their accomplishments and influence is unrivaled, no artist or band has had such a lasting impact on music for generations (and generations to come) as much as the Beatles have. John Lennon and Paul McCartney remain 2 of the top 10 greatest song writers of all time (I'd even put George Harrison up there with them, though he'd probably disagree), and numbers will never lie. However, I would like to use this post to simply point out the comparisons and concepts that may mimic the Beatles (in rap you say?  It can't be done!  Don't belee me juuuu watch). If anything, this post will show the continued influence the Beatles have on music (yes, even rap, a lot of rappers are smarter than you think and they do in fact respect their elders). So read on and enjoy the comparisons of writing styles in rap vs. the Beatles.

Quotable lyrics: "And if God was a human it'd be yours truly watching horror movies with some foreign groupies thinking this décor suits me, I do drugs get more loopy, I'm in tune to ancient jiu jitsu's spirituals it's blissful, looking out as far as eyes can see, I'm glad that me and this elevation could finally meet, I think I'm JFK's final speech, they try assassinating all of my beliefs."

The easiest choice (to me) would be easy mac with the cheesy raps. If his latest album Watching Movies With The Sound Off or his latest mix tape Faces says anything about him, it's that he has truly transformed himself as not only a rapper, but an incredibly diverse artist. It takes many drugs to reach a level where you feel making a song like "The Star Room" is acceptable to rap culture (which it's not, and that's what makes it great). The best thing about this song isn't even the quoted lyrics above: it's the fact that Mac's alternate personality Delusional Thomas takes over with crazy lyrics that you could only truly understand on drugs, and maybe not even then. Mac is known to take on many personalities in his raps, other than the usual rapping Mac Miller there is Delusional Thomas and Mac even has a producing side to him that he's named Larry Fisherman. It is said that only geniuses get bored with their lives and make up alternate personalities for themselves, and this certainly makes sense with Mac Miller given his musical history; Mac in 2010 compared to Mac in 2014 is almost a completely different artist.

The Beatles' "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" might be a tad for the more experimental types:  the song writing is questionable, but the picture it paints for you is incomparable to almost any other song ever written. Actually, it's probably safe to say that the only songs that could ever come close to it in terms of imaginative song writing would just be more Beatles songs. I'd say if you wanted to listen to this you certainly shouldn't do it sober, you'd have to be on something stronger than alcohol or weed to truly be amazed by this song (and probably sit there debating what the hell John is really talking about), but even sober you can't help but sit and marvel at how the hell this guy John Lennon came up with this. Mac Miller and John Lennon may not have been writing about the same concepts when you compare "The Star Room" to "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", but it'd be hard to argue that they weren't under the influence of the same thing.

Big K.R.I.T probably isn't the first guy you think of when you think "imaginative song writing" or "genre changing music" (second one is debatable), but his latest album Cadillactica is certainly one that could change your perspective on him as an artist. In case you haven't gotten the concept of Cadillactica, I'll fill you in; long story short, K.R.I.T created his own planet and the music on this planet is fucking insane. The beats on this album are almost futuristic (although it includes those bumping bangers you love K.R.I.T so much for), and it fits so well because not only did K.R.I.T evolve himself as an artist, but he stepped up his game by replying to "Control" by basically saying "fuck you, I reside on my own planet with no other artist." Game changing rap, this is, young sky walker.

The Beatles were so ahead of their time at one point in their careers that they got bored with being so good. They got so bored of being good in fact, that they wanted to make a concept album describing what it's like to be the average band (hard to describe average nowadays, at least during this time period it was average). Although the Beatles were never considered average, could it be possible that the Beatles are really the first band/artists to make a concept album?  Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is widely considered the first "concept" album, the main reason being because the Beatles were not being themselves; they were taking on a different persona as a completely different band altogether. This "concept" album concept (mind = blown) is still used today, and is definitely what you could say K.R.I.T used to make Cadillactica, and the double personas concept is applied to Mac with Delusional Thomas, and even one of the greatest hip hop groups in history (debatably) used to describe their personas in their lyrics, D12 (Eminem as Slim Shady, Proof as Dirty Harry, etc.). Are you seeing the way the Beatles maybe paved some ways for hip hop yet?

It's pretty damn hard to observe music nowadays and not see/hear something that the Beatles didn't inspire. Like, seriously. If you're a youngin like me (the fresh, crisp age of 21, in my prime I might add), then you might not have really understood the impact that the Beatles have had on music until now. Hopefully you have too because the Beatles' fingerprint on music is in stone and it shall forever be, but the point is that their influence hits home for every genre, not just rock. The influence of the Beatles lies in all of rap music, not just the examples I shared, and some of these artists don't even realize how inspired they've been by the Beatles, which is the amazing part, because that's the impact and the altitude of which the Beatles have had on music altogether. The Beatles even rhymed in some of their work, you could practically say the Beatles were rap pioneers (not really, but in a sense)! The point here is that if you think you know music, you probably really don't know music until you've started at the roots of the ever growing tree that music is; The Beatles.      

   


         

    
      


     

What are your rap DREAM COLLABORATIONS?

I'll admit, Shady XV has got me feeling all types of dreamy and wondering what to expect from it, and admittedly some of these thoughts have expanded into bigger ones. Things like when are they releasing a track list, who's going to be featured on the album, and why are they making me wait are just a few questions I had at first about the anniversary compilation. But then I got to thinking about bigger things, outside of Shady, outside of compilations, anniversaries, or any sort of other reasonable rap theories. So the same questions I asked myself, I ask you, rap readers; what are your DREAM rap collaborations?

So obviously there have to be a few terms and conditions to what these dream collaborative tracks will consist of, and I've come up with 3 possible song types defining what type of track I personally would like to hear (although you can come up with your own, these just happen to be 3 song types I could think of at the moment): story telling tracks, lyrical onslaughts, and party songs. Now normally you would think there would be a bit more of a broad selection of types of tracks, but if you REALLY got to hear what you wanted to hear, would it really matter?  My point exactly. Now if you're still confused on the details or the ramifications of these mythical dream tracks, allow me to give a few examples of what I would like to hear on my very own "If I died and could make songs in my own personal version of afterlife" playlist.

Eminem + Nas / Storytelling Track

This song would be absolutely insane. I honestly have to ask... WHY HASNT THIS SONG BEEN MADE YET?!?!  Both of these emcees are practically the lyrical masters of what they do, and the weirdest thing to me is that Eminem & Jay-Z have been on a song together (once, as far as we know, "Renegades"), Eminem & The Notorious B.I.G have been on a song ("Dead Wrong"), and Nas has been on a song with Jay-Z ("Black Republican", "Success", also including multiple other tracks with other rappers), and hasn't been on a song with B.I.G, but apparently was in discussions with Biggie about a Tupac diss track back in the day that never happened. So it probably doesn't add up "statistically" to fans or any sort of logical way like that, but the history of each emcee is highly storied, which only makes sense for them to tell a story on this song!  But of course how can you make a Nas/Eminem collaboration without adding in their trademark lyricism and legendary flows into the picture?  You certainly can't. And that is why this collaboration needs to happen.. like... NOW!

Slaughterhouse + D12 / Lyrical Onslaught

This "dream collaboration" might have been a result of thinking about Shady XV and the possibilities of what will happen on the compilation album, but does that make it any less exciting to think of the possibilities of it?  I'd like to think not. Your attention span would have to be an extra 10 times bigger listening to this song (that's IF all of the remaining D12 members agree to get back together), but it certainly would be one for the ages. This song would be (including Eminem) a 9 person vocabulary-flexing track that you would have trouble ignoring even if you weren't a fan of Eminem, Slaughterhouse, or D12 (although you'd probably avoid it if you didn't like any one of the rappers included, in that case, I say good riddance, who needs you anyways!). The best thing about this "dream collab" is that our dreams could possibly become a reality when it's time for that Shady XV compilation album to drop. An "alleged" track list of the album leaked not too long ago, and the list included a track of not only Slaughterhouse and D12, but also Shady label mates Eminem and Yelawolf as well!  I wouldn't get too excited until an official track list is given, but the idea of this collab is certainly a possibility.

Kendrick Lamar & J. Cole / Story Telling + Lyrical Capabilities

Maybe I had to include these guys just because I'm still obsessed with the idea of this album happening (and it will, I have faith), but honestly, is there a better pairing in hip hop today than these 2?  When you have the possibility to make a perfect track, starting from lyrical capabilities (two of the best) leading to story telling abilities (again, two of the best), while also thinking about social power and speaking on issues (AGAIN, two of the BEST), and also thinking about just making good music in general (do I have to say it again?), who REALLY is better than these 2 right now?  Putting them on one song together would blow up the internet, let alone an entire album (which we've discussed before, do I really have to come back to this discussion?  Doesn't matter, I'm willing to anyways). We've seen tiny little previews of what these two can do together (production on songs from one and hooks on songs from the other), but the fans will always crave more, and I can almost say that's a fact, because I'm a contributor to the discussion!

So these are just a few of the examples of collaboration ideas that are constantly on my mind that would blow the music world up (and step up its game particularly if you ask me, another reason why I need to be an "idea man" for those guys over at Interscope, but that's a discussion for another day). Some other dream collaboration ideas I've recently come up with are Drake & Big K.R.I.T (Houston influence would play a big key with a slow, bumping track, you'd definitely need subs for that one), and even something like an ASAP Mob and TDE collaboration might not be too bad (the discussions of a TDE and Slaughterhouse battle came up in an interview with Ab-Soul recently). The ideas are certainly endless, and this is where the real fun comes into play!  I want to hear about your wildest and biggest dream collaboration tracks. Be sure to give me the type of song you believe it would be (again, no limit to the types I've listed, you can mention your own type of track), and the reason you believe your collab would be so awesome. Make sure to hit me up on twitter (@SuperNovaRover), Google+, or even just leave a comment on this post detailing your dream collab. I can't wait to see the ideas for this one!  





      













             

Shady XV: An Exciting Year For Shady Fans

Normally I'm more of a Twitter addict than I'd like to admit, but last night I was glued to it for one reason and one reason only. You'd probably think because of the VMAs right?  Wrong. Well, half right. But it wasn't because of Beyoncé's acceptance of the Video Vanguard Award, it wasn't because of Nicki Minaj or Iggy Azalea (at least not last night), and it wasn't even because of Usher's performance (shocker). I was glued to Twitter of course because of Eminem's Shady XV!  What is Shady XV you ask?  Well now I can tell you (since last night Mr. ILikeToRelease20SecondPromoVideosButGiveNoRealDetails didn't feel like... you know, giving any details).

At first I was excited about seeing an Eminem tweet that read "Blink and you'll miss it... #VMAs #SHADYXV." But of course we should know by now that when it comes to Mr. ILikeToRelease20SecondPromoVideosButGiveNoRealDetails, that was all people were going to get. Oddly enough the real promo didn't come during the Video Music Awards, but on Twitter. Shortly after this tweet, Eminem then continued to tweet a 20 second promo video that ended with the words "SHADYXV" on the screen. Check out the promo video below.

Pretty sweet right?  Now if you think too much about these sorts of things (like me) and start to make your own theories about what this could mean, your first assumption would be that it's another sequel to a classic album. Slim Shady LP 2 possibly?  Man would that be insane!  It only makes sense right?  Following up the successful 2013 effort Marshall Mathers LP 2 with a sequel to a record that started it all?  While all of this sounds cool, to me Shady fans got something equally as cool, released in a statement exclusively from shadyrecords.com. Shady XV is a compilation album release of Shady Record's 15th anniversary of its original start in 1999. It will include the greatest hits of all Shady Records members, including the newly released "Guts Over Fear" record from Eminem and Sia that will be used as the lead single for "The Equalizer," the new movie featuring Denzel Washington.

But there is more than just a compilation album coming folks. Yes that is correct, not only will we be getting a new album of the greatest hits from these fellow Shady Records members that will include new material, we will also be getting new albums from Eminem, Slaughterhouse, Yelawolf, Bad Meets Evil, and even a new D12 record is on the way. Are you excited yet? 

So admittedly I'm pretty damn excited about what is going to be happening in the rap world in what I can only assume to be the next year. I mean it wouldn't be proper to release this 15 year anniversary album the year after the anniversary, obviously, the compilation album is set for a November 24th release date. But in the year to come?!  A HUGE year for Shady Records alone, let alone all of hip hop. I've personally been waiting for a new Slaughterhouse album since after the last one came out (knowing they can do better production-wise, and they will, with Just Blaze at the helm obviously). Only time will tell what happens up until that point. It's funny, it's almost like the calm before the storm all over again. Enjoy Eminem's new single "Guts Over Fear" below.