Types of flow in rap. Hosting from
underground
Underground (underground - underground, underground) - a number of artistic movements in modern art (in music, literature, cinema, fine arts, etc.), opposing themselves to mass culture, the mainstream.
The underground is characterized by a break with the dominant ideology, ignoring stylistic and linguistic restrictions, rejection of generally accepted values, norms, social and artistic traditions, often shocking the public, and rebellion. As a rule, such works are either published illegally or written “on the table,” that is, without hope of publication. However, over time, the prohibitions weaken or are lifted, in which case the work comes to the reader, albeit with a certain delay. Also, the term Underground very often refers to general trends in music that does not support classical paths. The term began to be used in the second half of the 20th century, in relation to:
* to countries where art was subordinated to state ideology
* to trends in developed countries, where mass art is market-oriented
In the modern world of information technology, a large number of movements and communities are emerging that can be classified as underground.
Unplugged
Literally - not connected equipment. That is, live sound without the use of hardware amplifiers. Not so long ago, this style of performance was quite popular, thanks to music channels and the unusual sound of old songs.
Beef (beef - meat (beef), figuratively a complaint, dissatisfaction) - enmity between representatives of hip-hop culture. Beefs, their characteristics and unspoken rules of conduct are an important component of hip-hop culture. The most famous beefs are between rappers, but such conflicts are also possible between other representatives of hip-hop culture: DJs, b-boys or graffiti artists. The reasons for beefs are usually accusations of plagiarism, claims to leadership in the genre (unfounded in the opinion of the opponent), irreconcilable creative differences, affiliation with competing record labels, and even accidental insults.
In practice, conflicts are expressed in specially recorded songs (traditionally called disses) and interviews, less often in fights and shootouts, in some cases ending in murders.
Beatboxing
Beatboxing is the art of creating beats, rhythms and melodies using the human mouth, but modern beatboxing techniques include many other areas as well. Vocal percussion of hip-hop culture.
Beat is a beat in music, used in English expression. beat per minute, bpm - beats per minute. The higher the value, the higher the tempo of the music.
Brakedance
Breakdancing (b-boying, breakdance) is a street dance, one of the five elements of hip-hop.
Battle (battle, fight, fight) - a competition between MC and rap performers, usually accompanied by humiliation of the enemy. A battle track is often nothing more than a diss at the enemy.
Bootleg
A bootleg is a pirated collection of tracks that the performer may never even know about.
Graffiti
Graffiti - in its original meaning - rock paintings that ancient people painted on the walls of their homes; in the modern sense - inscriptions or drawings painted, inked or scratched on walls, as well as fences and other vertical surfaces. Nowadays, it is the artistic style of hip-hop culture.
Diss (diss, disrespect - disrespect) is a trend in hip-hop (more specifically, in rap). The essence of a diss is a statement of disrespect in the text of one rapper (or group) to another rapper(s). In such tracks, obscene speech, swearing towards the enemy, and sometimes threats are practiced. Often disses come in pairs, that is, “diss - response diss,” or in chains of disses. Disses are often ignored. Diss tracks are used in beefs.
Rap (rap, rapping) is a rhythmic recitative, usually read to music with a heavy beat. A rap artist is called a rapper, or more generally, an MC.
Rap is one of the main elements of the hip-hop music style; often used as a synonym for hip-hop. However, rap is used not only in hip-hop music, but also in other genres.
The word rap comes from the English rap - knock, blow (a hint of the rhythm of rap). To rap also means to talk, to talk.
Rapcore is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the use of rap as vocals. Rapcore combines the instrumental and vocal properties of such genres as punk, alternative rock, and hip-hop.
Mix (mix) - several pieces of music (tracks) arranged in a continuous sequence. As a rule, mixes are compiled by DJs for various purposes (for example, for inclusion on the radio in thematic programs). Typically, mixes consist of tracks that are similar in genre, mood and other characteristics. On average, the duration of a mix ranges from 25 to 74 minutes (fits on an Audio CD), but can be much longer. The sequence of tracks in the form of a mix is specific in that the tracks smoothly replace each other. At the junction between the tracks there is no “gap” in the form of silence, and the tracks themselves during the transition process coincide in tempo, time signature and other characteristics, thus merging together. The process of creating a mix by a DJ is called mixing.
Newschool (Newschol, New School) - “new Russian rap” - all Russian Rap from 1998 to this day.
Old school (Oldschool, Old School) - old rap, classic Russian Rap. All Russian Rap before 1998 is considered to be old school.
Promo
Promo (promo) - introductory release. May contain incomplete tracks, low quality, text inserts indicating that this is a promo.
Russian rap
Russian Rap is rap performed in Russian (there are cases of performance in other languages, such as English). Despite the fact that rap was founded by African Americans, Russian Rap has acquired its own unique style, which is unique to it.
Stuff (stuff - things, rubbish) - these are the works of a rap artist
“Rappers make things” means “appreciate my thing” - “appreciate my stuff.”
Technique is a way of controlling rhythm. There is also a small branch: “technicality” - the degree of skill to control the rhythm.
Triplet is a musical time signature. In rap, it is now customary to call a rap with broken chips, like tanguist, acceleration, etc.
True (truth, truth, true) is the opposite of fake. “True rapper” is a rapper who reads the truth, whose words do not differ from his deeds.
Freestyle
Freestyle (free style) - improvisation in rap; recitation of a rhymed rhythmic recitative composed by the performer on the go. This is not a pre-written, unrehearsed, "raw" form of hip-hop. Performed to beatboxing, or to instrumental versions of previously recorded hip-hop songs.
In freestyle, a large number of competitions (so-called “battles”) are held, in which participants compete with each other in the skill of rhyming words on the fly.
Fakes, fakers (fake - lie) are liars, performers whose tracks contain a lot of lies, and reality is at odds with the lyrics (To fake MC's).
Hip-hop is a youth subculture that emerged in the mid-1970s among African Americans and Latinos. It is characterized by its own music (also called hip-hop, rap), its own slang, its own hip-hop fashion, dance styles (breakdancing, etc.), graphic art (graffiti) and its own cinema. By the early 1990s, hip-hop had become part of youth culture in many countries around the world.
Haters (hate- hatred) are people who hate anything or everything. In Russian Rap they denote people whose work is permeated with hatred towards any artist.
Album
Album - the term came to us from the times of vinyl records, when one track was placed on one record, and they were put together as if in albums (record albums). Accordingly, an album is a collection of songs from one artist into one collection.
Crunk is a style of Southern rap music, with repetitive phrases and fast dance rhythms.
DJ (disc jockey - disc jockey, DJ) - a person who plays musical works recorded on audio media for the audience.
Doubble Time is a reading that is approximately twice as fast as the beat rhythm.
EP - literally Extended Play - a term from the days of vinyl records. EP - means an incomplete album, with a playing time of 10 to 25 minutes.
Flow (presentation) - the ability to decorate your text with a competent emotional tone.
LP - literally Long Play - a term from the days of vinyl records. LP - means an album with a playing time from 25 to 80 minutes.
Live - recording from a live concert. The roar of the crowd and the amplifier is usually present, but that has its own charm, doesn’t it?
MC, MC (Master of Ceremonies) - in reggae culture and hip-hop - an artist, accompanied by electronic dance music, pronouncing words from the stage - pre-composed or improvised, usually in the form of rap - to excite the audience, as well as introduce the DJ. In Russian Rap, MCs are usually considered to be participants in battles who read their own text to someone else’s music.
Flow is another Anglicism that has taken root in Russian-speaking rap culture. In principle, it is completely natural: the word is short and intriguing. In addition, flow, which means “fluidity, flow”, is a multifaceted concept.
It refers to how the performer presents himself to the public, how he manages to “rock” the audience. Flow makes you perceive the text of words as an undeniable truth. Rhythm, high-quality reading, dynamism, varying speed to emphasize attention, or following the beat, plus the charisma of the performer (group) and all of the above - this together can be defined as a flow. If you try to fit a more or less adequate translation into one word, which means the essence of the term, following the rule of brevity, you know whose sister it is, it will be “feed”.
Disclaimer. When determining the flow of performers, we used our own subjective feelings from the perception of their work. Judgments do not claim to be absolute truth, and it is likely that they may not coincide with the opinions of readers.
Historical excursion Flow
Flow is considered a new attribute of a quality performer, although in reality this is absolutely not the case. Even the very first rappers, who often drew inspiration from English-speaking colleagues and the surrounding reality for the melody and lyrics of their songs, had a high level of presentation.
It’s just that at the dawn of hip-hop and rap in Russia, the term flow did not exist. Without him, wild popularity and the ability to get the audience so excited that they shouted the words along with the performers were obvious. The already disbanded group “Bachelor Party”, at the core of which was the triumvirate Dan-Dolphin-Mutabor plus Deer, rocked not only the halls.
In every courtyard of the early 90s of the last century, teenagers knew their scandalous texts by heart. What is remarkable is that there was no need to teach them - the energy of the feed was transmitted even through the speakers of cassette recorders. They were among the pioneers of the format, contrastingly different from those that thundered at the same time, they will not be remembered by night, “Tender May” and “Mirage”.
Another founder of Russian-language hip-hop, Vlad Valov (aka SHEFF), by his own definition, has a “nuclear” flow. Quite justifiably - he knows how to rhyme his thoughts and read them to the public in such a way that not only the words, but also the semantic message are clear.
Decl and Timati, for all their popularity, have a delivery as such that is far from not only nuclear, but also from the TNT equivalent. They tried to increase the flow by shocking the public. Of course, also the funds invested in promotion and the frequency of playing songs on TV and radio.
Which means flow has always been in rap culture. It’s just that he, as a separate merit of the performer (group), was not taken beyond the boundaries of creativity.
Modern trendsetters flow
Some rely on the technicality of the reading, its dynamism, while others focus on the text’s load of meaning and artistry. Various ratings on the Internet, scrupulously counting the number of subscribers of performers, or conducting voting, are subjective by definition. But almost all of them contain Guf, Scriptonite, Noise MC, and the already mentioned Timati.
Oksimiron is particularly technical, apparently due to English-language training. The absorbed rhythm of American and British rap was transferred into his own work, and, although it causes mixed reactions among his colleagues, on the whole it is a success among the public.
The appearance of singer Bianca in the ratings may seem like complete nonsense. But, besides the fact that there are few girls in hip-hop in general, she clearly has an original style. She adds dancing to the spoken texts and shamelessly exploits the sexuality of the image.
Speed, or fast-flow, when the words of the recitative are pronounced quickly, gains momentum. At the same time, it is important for the performer not only to pronounce the text quickly, but also to make it legible. Performance requires technical skill and the ability to masterfully master a sense of rhythm, setting a swinging beat (during a drop performance), or following the established one. There is the concept of sluggish flow. Its essence is clear - the presentation does not evoke a strong emotional response from the public.
Flow training
Flow, like presentation, is available to every hip-hopper or rapper by definition. The question is quality and format. There is probably no point in explaining in detail the importance in battles. An opponent with a polished serving style obviously has an advantage.
The main problem is how to make it effective. The first step is to analyze many successful performances. But mindless copying alone is not enough. Rivals and listeners will definitely notice him, and they will not fail to reproach him.
The second stage, ideally, is the creation of an original flow. Which means your own author's and performing style. Talent cannot be bought, traded, or stolen. But you can work on flow, and if the goal is designated as popularity, you need to work.
There are valuable tips online on how to improve your flow: polish your diction, train your breathing to pronounce long texts without shortness of breath or pauses, add artistry. The presentation will be better. Another question is that this will happen through exercise, sleepless nights and daily torment spent in search of your own style of presentation. What do you want? High-quality rap is work, and there are already so many crappy surrogates. 
Pronounced "two-two-eight". The number of the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for liability for the illegal acquisition, storage, transportation, manufacture, processing of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues (see Bely, Gandzhubas, Kosoy, Splif). The numbers 228 have become a kind of “friend/foe” marker for performers and active listeners of Russian rap - and at the same time, a designation of an important threat for them.
example
“Summer, autumn, cigarettes, 228, 228./Summer, autumn, cigarettes, 228, 228./228, 228, 228, 228, 228, 228”(Noggano “Anton Palchikov”)*
Ander
Short for "underground". A cultural position that involves opposing oneself to commercial music; in most cases in relation to the quality of the cons (see) and the sound in general. For a long time, provincial MCs and schoolchildren from VKontakte used under to cover up their technical inadequacy; now the term is mostly used ironically.
example
“Love with all your heart, so that you can bask in the Hertz,/Do things in general, underground and commerce./Rap new version, don’t stand still”("Combining lyrics" of "Don't Tell Me")
Battle
From English battle. A speech duel between rappers consisting of freestyles, that is, free recitative improvisations on (most often) a given topic. The concept of a battle is inseparable from the diss (see) exchanged between the participants. -Historically, battles took place live, and the winner was determined by the reaction of the public; in Russian culture, however, Internet competitions held on hip-hop.ru and other sites played a much more important role; many current stars (for example, Noise MC or Oksimiron) first announced themselves there.
example
“When we read, battle rap is all resurrected, / And all other Russian rap looks more like a kindergarten”(Mr. Bif "Battle Rap")
White
Originally cocaine; now, however, this is more often the name given to heroin and its derivatives.
example
“When the day is not blurred with white, / Even the sun in the blue sky will seem gray to me.”("The Third Way" "White Friends")
Little bit
Diminutive from “bit” - in turn, a phonetic calque from English. beat. This refers to the rhythmic part of the -minus (see), over which rappers read the lyrics.
example
“Don’t worry, there’s no need to think about it now,/It’s better to throw some little bits around the ring./They’ll remember our handwriting.”(Guf “Our Handwriting”)
Biff
From English beef. A public and most often long-lasting feud between rappers. In the 90s, beefs could even result in death (primarily in the USA); now they are more often perceived as unnecessary posturing and playing to the public. However, outlandish incidents do happen - such as, for example, two years ago the conflict between the patriotic rapper Zhigan and his colleagues Oksimiron and Shock, as a result of which the former came to the latter’s apartment with friends and guns and forced them to apologize for insults.
example
“Beef is a war in which everyone is against everyone, / Beef is when only the arrogant will succeed.”(Oxxxymiron “What is beef”)
Blanche
Bruise, black eye. Unlike the neologisms and anglicisms beloved by Russian rap, this word is no less than several decades old.
example
“From that game we are left with bruises and blanches, / But today the cup will be ours and we will take revenge!”(Serega “Anthem of FC Spartak fans”)
Boshki
example
“Killer heads are more expensive, / But it can be simpler, good Kazakh ones, / So, from the heart, for those who are thirsty.”(The Chemodan "Everything is in rap")
Vatokat
Regional Ural jargon, derived from the phrase “roll cotton wool.” It denotes a slacker, quite happy with life, but at the same time not at all as simple as he seems at first glance.
example
“AK texts are written katas, / The mind of a genius, the soul of a watokata”(“AK-47” “To those who are with us”)
Ganjubas
Marijuana.
example
“All summer long there is moonshine and ganjubas./All summer long we spend like this,/Glasses are not for the sun but for red eyes!”(Noize MC “Moonshine and ganjubas”)
Diss
Insulting verses exchanged between rappers who are in a beef with each other (see) or participating in a battle (see). Diss songs are characterized by intensity and extremely offensive personal insults; textbook diss tracks can be seen in the climactic scene of the film 8 Mile.
example
“You made a diss, but also... my rap and flow,/Why are you wasting my time, fuck off, idiot”(Schokk "Lily")
Smoke
See Ganjubas.
example
“There is always the right stuff for the root:/Smoke, alcohol, gunpowder that kills tea”(Noggano "...pump")
Swing
1. Synonym for “grater”, “showdown” - usually with rival rappers or with the police. 2. Designation of specific drug intoxication, when the emotional state of the lyrical hero changes dramatically under the influence of psychotropic substances.
example
“Swing according to feelings, hard up-down, / This is probably the very underground”(Basta “Rap, which is fiercely rushing”)
Oblique
Roll-up cigarette with ganjubas (see).
example
“I’m leisurely frying something, / I don’t need a reason for this”(Guf “420”)
Micro
Abbreviation for “microphone” (into which, accordingly, rap is read).
example
"When I took the micro, I melt steel like a steelmaker"-(Legalize “Russian rap”)
Minus
Musical background for speech-tative. In battles (see), the same - and often someone else's - minus is often used, for which rappers read disses at each other (see).
example
“Come on, Steam, let’s read the minus from Little John “I Don’t Give a Fuck”(Steam feat. Drago “Vanich”)
Mukhtar
Distorted "mixtape". Mukhtar mixtapes differ from studio albums in that they are fundamentally free - as a rule, they are posted on the Internet by the authors themselves. Historically they were needed to attract the attention of labels to the rapper, but now they have acquired independent value.
example
“After the jester, he demolishes the tower, like a fortune teller in the tarot, / I gain experience under the second mukhtar.”(Obe 1 Kanobe "Grishnak")
Napas
Oblique puff (see).
example
“For supply, supply,/Then again./A steam locomotive in reserve,/Wind in the sail.”("Mahogany" "Two Napas")
Padik
Diminutive form of "entrance". The obliques (see) are hammered into padikas and cotton wool is rolled out (see “vatokat”).
example
“Lapka, bag, glass, kilogram, / Padik, picket fence, that’s just Ivan”(“Triagrutrika” “On Vanin’s Quarter”)
Punch
Short for “punchline”: the semantic and dramatic culmination of a track, its most powerful concentrated message. The ideal punch is then quoted far beyond the reference group.
example
“I’m the most technical here, the most pumped up, / My lyrics are bombs, punch on punch”(Anacondaz "Punch on Punch")
Respect
From English respect. The fundamental concept of rap in general, without reference to geography. Respect is directly related to the degree of labor (see) contained in the performer’s texts. In general, it is an abstract and unverifiable concept with a clearly positive emotional connotation.
example
"Hey! I’m giving respect to all the barefoot, / To the boys in general, strict and special”(Noggano “Zhulbany”)
Ruble
Thousand rubles. Originally a southern slang, thanks to rap, it began to be used everywhere.
example
“Time is fire, and now we burn not like minutes, / Give that ruble, so that later we can become a corpse”(Center "Autumn")
Swag
Another Anglicism. A related term to respect (see), but even more difficult to literally translate. In Russian rap, swag is usually a relaxed, but at the same time powerful rap; absolute self-confidence and some contempt for others, as well as an elaborate demonstration of one’s wealth. Lately, the word has often been used in a mocking manner.
example
“Swag... And along the way, we are behind fashion./Adult nifers are making faces, dancing merrily./This is in trend, this is wow, this is in circulation, yo”(Loc-Dog "#SWAG")
Spliff
From English spliff; see Oblique.
example
“The boys put a spliff in the sting under Kid Cudi, /In donut crumbs on the cuffs of a hoodie”(Guf “420”)
Staff
From English stuff; see Ganjubas. Also, in some cases, staff is understood as an array of a rapper’s creativity for a certain period of time.
example
“The staff is sharpened from point to point, in short, / Handwriting like a barrel, sharpened to the kidneys”(“Scammers” “On Air”)
Dot
A small amount of hashish.
example
“Pour some boiling water while the dot is smoldering./What, maybe I should get some sleep? Better still pee"(“Triagrutrica” “At Sunrise”)
True
From English true. A fundamental concept of rap in general. Historically, it is believed that a rapper does not have the right to a stage image and is obliged to directly broadcast his personal life experience to the listener.
example
“...true, and you have a golim -theater, / TGC, AK, Ike, akuna matata!”(“Triagrutrika” feat. Vitya AK, Hayk Dym - “Hakuna Matata”)
Fake
From English fake. Antonym of true (see). -Rappers whose songs are fake, a figment of their own imagination. And now it is quite a serious insult.
example
“The hunchback Edward, right there on the dance floor,/He deftly spins the bottom break on his hump./The dwarfs are true, and no fake.”(“Lenin's package” “Dwarves two”)
Fit
From English feat, short for featuring. It means joint creativity and the presence of MCs friendly to the author in the track.
example
“We started this feat so that your brain swells./Today “TGK” and Guf are on stage together”(Guf feat. “Triagrutrika” “PNP”)
Flayva
From English flava (distorted flavor). A get-together, a group that is almost like a family for the author.
example
“I’ve lost my style, I don’t smoke Belomor, / But my vibe is with me, my vibe is with me”(“Backflip” “Flaiva”)
Flow
From English flow. Technical mastery of reading and its individual characteristics.
example
“My flow flows like Ksenia Sobchak at the sight of new Gucci,/Tell me who’s cooler here,/My flow bugs everyone”(Drago “My flow”)
Hap
The same as hip-hop, but with a real (see) English accent. Vlad Valov always stubbornly called his activities “Hap”; The Orthodox rap group “Komba BAKH” also calls its tracks “khaps”.
example
“In short, forget about your mother, forget about your favorite hip-hop...” - “Petrov, “hip-hop” must be said!” - "Doesn't matter. “You must tell your thoughts to stop!”(2H Company "Brain Cucumber")
Hustle
From English hustle. Difficult to translate, but widely used in rap, the term denotes overcoming obstacles to achieving a material goal, preferably carried out by deceptive and semi-legal means. Hustle is an indispensable step on the path to enrichment for an American rapper; in Russian rap, traditionally boyish and unmercenary, it is rare.
example
“Rap is hassle. Rap is hustle, it's hustle/You have to rise up, breaking the boundaries around you"(Lyon feat. Smokey Mo "Spin")
Hater
From English hater, that is, a hater. In the hip-hop subculture, historically there are no halftones: you can only be true or fake, fan or hater. Thanks to social networks, hate in Russian rap blooms wildly and takes the form of disses (see), parodies - or parodies disguised as disses.
example
“I’m a hater, I hate your rap, your track,/Your lyrics are soft like pate”(Oxxxymiron “I’m a hater”)
Chica
From Spanish chica - or from English. chick. Young woman. One of the most ancient words in Russian rap slang - the group “Malchishnik” started using it. Unlike almost all Russian-language synonyms, it fits well into the stanza and is not openly chauvinistic.
example
“Chika, chika, chika, chika, -chika you are mine. / Kitty, sun, fish, bunny, the whole world is for you. / Cars, - yachts, tchotchkes, stones, you are my soul. / You are my sweet little silicone, whatever without me?"(Ptah feat. Tato “Chika”)
Cabbage soup
Var. "shchi". Face; most often with a serious expression.
example
“Sharp micro and edifying words,/Don’t be poisoned, don’t be stupid, but learn and search!”(“Grotto” “Red Thread”)
*The YouTube videos posted on this page contain the same quotes from the songs that are given in the text. Afisha thanks Anastasia Karagodina for her help in preparing the material
In recent years, the musical tastes of young people have undergone a new round of changes - rap has taken the place of piercing rock ballads and incendiary dance electronics. Along with the new culture, new words penetrated the masses - terms used among performers and their devoted listeners. However, those music lovers who first discovered rap are unlikely to understand the meaning of the words flow, battle, diss, beef and similar slang words. Of course, descriptions of such terms are not difficult to find on specialized websites - the Russian-language hip-hop sector is widely represented on the Internet. However, if most terms have specific definitions, then it is quite difficult to explain in a nutshell what a flow is.
Origin of the word "flow"
The word “flow” came to Russia from the English language, the ancestor of rap culture. Flow is translated as “flow”, “current” - at first glance, this concept has nothing to do with hip-hop. However, in this case there is a metaphorical transfer. Rap artists and their listeners equate rhythmic and multifaceted recitative to the uniform and noisy flow of water. Thus, for a hip-hop fan, the flow is a fairly important indicator of the quality of the track.
Flow as an assessment of a composition
Among discussions of rappers and their work, you can often find the term in question as a review of an album or track. What is flow in this context - a positive or negative characteristic? Based on the translation of the word from English and the beautiful metaphor, a positive response. Flow is the recognition of a rapper’s entire work or individual compositions as “rocking” or “rocking,” that is, affecting listeners to such an extent that they involuntarily begin to shake their heads to the beat of the track being performed.
Flow as a musical term
Along with everything described above, it is worth noting that the term flow is not purely emotional - for hip-hop artists it has a very specific meaning. Flow is the correct reading speed, an impeccable technique for writing and reproducing text to a “rocking” beat. However, you should not think that quality in this case depends on speed. A fast but confusing reading will not excite the viewer in the same way as a slow but clearly falling into rhythm. Thus, flow is not only an assessment of quality, but also a skill of the performer.
Flow in Russian-language rap
The ability to create truly “rocking” tracks has long bypassed Russian-speaking performers. Often the compositions were read over not particularly prominent beats in calm, almost emotionless voices. Probably, this state of affairs was associated with the Russian mentality - gray and joyless everyday life with its dank weather and heavy sky did not encourage Russian rappers to show emotions. Listeners found something of their own in the quiet and melancholic performance, but hip-hop culture in Russia still remained isolated. With the appearance on the Russian stage of such rap figures as Hyde, Oxxxymiron, Horus (Lupercal) and other supporters of the prevalence of reading techniques and the quality of text drawing, something has appeared in the domestic hip-hop sector that fits all definitions of the word “flow”. Even those who have not previously listened to or understood this kind of music often highly rate these performers, noting that their tracks, unlike the compositions of many of their “colleagues,” really rock.
At the same time, fans of the “old” style of performance do not recognize such changes - in their opinion, in this form, Russian-language rap loses its soul, becoming only technically meticulously executed, but empty text. Rapper Ptah, whose compositions are mostly calm and melancholic, spoke extremely negatively about the tracks of the aforementioned Oxxxymiron, accusing him of an excessive craving for pretentious poetry and complex technology, which, in his opinion, is why the work of Miron and similar rappers , ceases to be “masculine”. The conflict between the two rappers has not yet been resolved - it is unlikely that the two opponents will shake hands when they meet. Despite this, the new style of rhyming and performance is gaining momentum and attracting more and more new listeners, which is undoubtedly a good indicator. This only confirms that the same “flow” that could previously only be heard from overseas and some European performers has penetrated into Russian-language rap.
Every modern rap song begins with unintelligible and inarticulate screams and onomatopoeia. What do all these “r-r-r-a” and “yak-yak-yak” mean? Is this a mass rage or new creative methods? The Life columnist understands these and other issues.
Hip-hop changed forever this spring. A young rapper from Brooklyn named Desiigner (that's right, misspelled) released a song called Panda. The lyrics of the song turned out to be not the most original - in the chorus, Desiigner compares the white BMW X6 with a panda because of the large black headlights against the background of the white car body and clumsily plays with words. And the music wasn’t particularly memorable - everyone has long been accustomed to the sound of digital trap drums in modern hip-hop.
A video for the same song. We immediately answer important questions: yes, he really behaves strangely (drugs are to blame) and yes, in one of the scenes Kanye West is driving.
It was the "r-r-r-a" roar that the rapper made every few seconds. Over the past summer, this cry has been parodied by hip-hop artists, comedians, musicians and even TV presenters - the Desiigner cry has become the main musical meme of this summer.
To move away a little from the aggression and pressure of the black ghetto, we suggest listening to the acoustic version of “Panda” performed by white people.
Before the advent of the “Year of the Panda” in hip-hop, every self-respecting rapper had similar signature screams, called “edlibs.” Most often they were played as a bridge before the first verse, so that the listener could recognize familiar artists as soon as the track started playing. A song started playing on the radio out of the blue - and immediately in the first seconds someone growls, grunts or grunts - it immediately becomes clear that such and such specific rappers took part in the recording of the track.
Someone wheezes "haaa" with a slightly questioning intonation? This is Kanye West. Does the track begin with a lament of "Yak! Yak! Yak!"? This is Shoolboy Q - the favorite rapper of the group "". Adlibs have become a functional part of modern hip-hop - analogous to a musical signature with an approving stamp, “I recorded this track and I like it.”
Hip-hop has become monstrously, unbearably abundant lately. It is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish good and promising artists from each other. Therefore, rappers have already given up trying to please people from the first listen, and are setting themselves a much more feasible task - to be remembered. And if this requires growling, coughing or shouting strange words every five seconds, then fine - that’s the price of popularity and the subsequent sales of songs and concert tickets.
A few weeks ago, rapper Husky, who entered the trend at the right time, recorded the magnificent track “Bullet-Fool”, where he uses the instantly memorable adlib “bullet-durrra”. We also ask you to pay special attention to the line “close the gate, cockatoo.”
The word ad-lib comes from the Latin ad libitum, meaning speaking impromptu without preparation. Most of the rapper's trademark edlibs were born from fooling around in the studio during the warm-up, and only then were immortalized in songs, becoming the calling card of the artists. When the fashion for adlibs finally took hold, they began to be recorded separately: immediately after recording the main part of the track, the rapper stood in front of the microphone and read adlibs over the finished song. Sometimes it looks strange - for example, that same Desiigner while recording howls looks like a person with a difficult past, a vague future and dependence on ten illegal drugs at once.
Details about each
To understand which rappers use which adlibs, why, and what, Life prepared a video review of the ten most popular and memorable screams in modern hip-hop. After it, it will become clear why Desiigner uses the “r-r-r-a” roar, what adlibs Kanye West and Jay Z use, and also which rappers use the cry “Truth!” as their personal tag.