Rap?

DC The Don

I would be lying if I said that rap is a completely new genre for me. I used to listen to it a lot in early high school, but slowly fell out of touch with it as time went on. The only rapper I have consistently kept in touch with over all this time is DC The Don. I have been listening to DC The Don since 7th grade after my cousin introduced me to him. My friend from high school and current roommate recently started producing for DC, which has opened up opportunities for me to put guitar parts on beats that get sent his way. This is one of my favorite songs by him. Here is a clip of him performing my favorite song at a concert I attended last semester.

DC The Don

Other than DC, there hasn’t really been any rappers that I have been very consistent with. This week I went back and listened to some artists I used to listen to, and also discovered some new ones.

J Cole

One of my favorite artists that I “discovered” this week was J Cole. While I definitely know popular J Cole songs, I have never really dove into his discography before. J Cole really has a talent for storytelling, and his ability to translate that into rapping is amazing to me. One song where I think this is done especially well is Lost Ones. Throughout the entirety of this song I feel like I am part of the conversation between the two people he is rapping about. Another thing I love about his music is his ability to switch flows without disrupting the rhythm of the song. Sometimes when he switches flows he will start singing a melody, which is one of the coolest techniques in rap in my opinion.

Lil Baby

While exploring a variety of popular rappers, one thing stayed consistent across all of them. If Lil Baby was featured on it, the song was amazing. Lil Baby has a couple singles that I like, but his ability to elevate any song he is featured on is a skill not a lot of people have. The only artist I would say has comparable features is 21 Savage. The song Wants and Needs by Drake has the best Lil Baby feature in my opinion because of how he is able to keep the same feeling the song has through the first half of the feature but is able to increase his energy and make it his own in the second half.

Childish Gambino

Childish Gambino is someone who I knew about but never actually listened to. I listened to a lot of his album titled Because The Internet. The only song I knew before listening to him is Redbone, so I knew his music was unique. However I was not prepared for how diverse his voice, pacing, and beats would be. Some songs were incredibly dramatic and big while others were so melancholy. The diversity made exploring his music very interesting and exciting. Childish Gambino is someone I will continue to explore along with some of the other rappers mentioned.