CPM Raps or C Rap for short...Alien Challenge

  • 20 Replies
  • 1067 Views

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

cowparsleyman

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 2700
  • What would you rather be or a wasp?
« on: June 01, 2020, 08:37:23 AM »
Whato All

The sword of damocles fell right upon my head with this one, Rap, I have no idea how to do this, and I avoided listening to @MichaelA 's song so as not to influence mine, as that is nearly all the rap I've heard (Firestarter and Mr Wendel were the last and probably only 2)

Anyway, here it is, a little darker than Michael's. Just for the record there are 72 tracks on this, and I had to step outside my comfort zone to get the rap vocal...But it was a superb learning experience, and thanks to @pompeyjazz for setting up the challenge, I've loved hearing the other forum members work.



....And so It begins... with the Biblical wonder of the Promised Land, personified by the City of Angels, where the streets are paved with poverty, not gold.

It moves onto a semi biographical section about my schooldaze, I clearly remember drugs arriving on the scene, one of my mates got hooked on grass then H.

Then it describes the slippery slope that is directly related to drugs and crime.

Vignettes of EarHustle appear from time to time, with

Trippy Happy West Coast Funk/Prince could be the song on the radio in the police car on the way to San Quentin Prison.

Finishing up with a cheap chapel organ and a reflection on the 3 strike rule, where a petty criminal can get a long long sentence for 3 crimes, one guy got 50 years, the last crime was stealing $40 from the cash register.

Land of the Free?

Lyrics

Got dragged up in a middle class town
doing bob-a-jobs for half a crown
But mu Cub leader stole it, took it from me
That's when i thought "That's not for Me"

My school was a '30's brick built dump
My teachers were cool, but they had the hump
Took an Axe on the very last day
Got sent home, I hate to say
He was arse with a whistle and flute
Looked like berk with a brain of a newt
never looked back on those times, you know,
Told myself I had to go

Then came grass or dope or weed
it was on the block and it sowed the seed of
drugs, unhappiness, that was ubiquitous
some of my mates said "Are you gonna stick with us?"
never looked back on those times, you know,
Told myself I had to go

I met a girl with a DB9
She said "Do you wan t a life of crime?,
do you want to be with us,  mix with us, kick with us
smackin' it up, crackin' it up, burnin' the foil?
beating up Punks, to the gang she was loyal
she gave me her Pussy, so I took it to the Vet
It got a busted leg, but it ain't got better yet
I declined and went on my way
haven't seen her since so I'm askin' you this.

She ended up in clink called Mrs Muscle
She was fly, she was high, she was diggin' EarHustle
25 to life is a long long time
25 to life is a long long time

Middle  section
Hey, won't you take me back to the place where
You/I can bring it all together
Why won't yu take me, why won't you make
I wanna be with you
Gotta draw the line, down in the sunshine state

Outro

Credits
Lead Vocals, backing vocals, All instruments, mixing, production - Cowparsleyman
Amazing Grace, Whispers - Cowparsleydaughter

Dedicated to George Floyd

Thanks to EarHustle (PRX) for samples. and inspiraton


pompeyjazz

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 5668
  • pompeyjazz
« Reply #1 on: June 01, 2020, 09:21:52 AM »
Dude, this is TIGHT !! (Have I got the lingo right ?)

I know that you like to experiment with genre jumping Rich @cowparsleyman but this one is an absolute revelation. I bet that you're glad that you studied your 27 genres of rap video. This deserves multiple listens as there is one helluva lot going on. Clever lyrics and to me you have absolutely nailed the genre. The rap is genuinely authentic and I love the harmony and counter vocal work that you have dropped in. Love the little bit of Prince guitar that you used and the sound clips.

This whole challenge has been hugely entertaining and fascinating to listen to you guys working outside your comfort zone.

Looks like the forum is being taken over by rappers and Hip Hop artists  :)

Brilliant mate  :)

PeteS

  • *
  • Platinum Album
  • ****
  • Posts: 704
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2020, 09:55:34 AM »
Wow! @cowparsleyman you have excelled!  I would never guess that rap was not something you did regularly, the lyrics are great as is the delivery but the production is brilliant, so much going on but all in a good way.  All 72 tracks were worthwhile!

Brilliant!
New album out now - Wrong Time, Wrong Place : https://open.spotify.com/album/7AKxi8xiendb9dY22v4QnP?si=AR0VZ1pjSDOwVosifVd_sA
Instagram @echodogsofficial

Jamie

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 3144
« Reply #3 on: June 01, 2020, 12:36:10 PM »
@cowparsleyman
Hi Rich, hey dude this is dope man!  But, what a lot of effort and skill went into this.Great lyric super choice of instruments and production .  Although ultimately it's a serious take on a theme handled in a quirky way it still manages to be poignant in light of current events. Great work Rich!
Enjoyed it!

Cheers
Jamie

CaliaMoko

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 3687
  • Strumming on the couch in pigtails
    • Late Bloomers Rock
« Reply #4 on: June 01, 2020, 06:10:42 PM »
I am blown away by this. I can't think of anything to say that hasn't already been said. I was really hoping to use the phrase "this is dope" but Jamie beat me to it. I really like the setting a lot. It sounds better to me than most rap I've ever heard (I remember maybe one live performance by amateurs that came close, years ago).

Sebandme

  • *
  • Open Mic
  • **
  • Posts: 215
« Reply #5 on: June 02, 2020, 05:34:36 AM »
@cowparsleyman  oh my days Rich, you smashed it right out of the park it was absolutely fantastic! Well done! Such a talented man :)

adamfarr

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 3149
    • SongEspresso
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2020, 09:17:14 AM »
This is fab! The backing is amazing - especially the wonky piano samples, just like vinyl! And the sub-bass and guitars..

Great energy in the delivery of the vocal (I think that's one of the hardest things).

Very clever, to make the second Prince section so different.

The "welcome to the promised land" at the beginning is so apt, I think I'd like to hear it come back as a recurring theme in some of the lower energy sections (maybe in conjunction with 25 to life is a long time) and definitely at the end?

Ubiquitous and stick with us is one of my favourite rhymes of 2020!

PaulAds

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 3477
  • Haemorrhaging Enthusiasm
« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2020, 12:51:06 PM »
Well cor blimey guvnor if this isn't a work of genius.

So much of the know-how and expertise you have has been used to bring this about. This challenge has produced some amazing stuff and this is right up there with the very best of them.

I nearly issued the forum kiss of death by saying that it's my favourite song of yours 😃 but I think it'd be more realistic to say it's the song of yours that has most impressed me.

You sing it brilliantly...and it must be incredibly hard to step into such over-sized trainers with the laces undone to take that on and make such a great job of it.

Attention to detail is amazing and the story and lyric are inspired. The only thing I could find that helped me fulfill my contractual obligation to make a dick of myself was to imagine a would-be axe murderer trudging off in a huff as he'd been sent home before the opportunity presented itself for him to carry out his intended bloodbath.

Joking aside. I thought this was really quite marvellous.

Take a bow, CPM.
heart of stone, feet of clay, knob of butter

shadowfax

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 3178
  • Singer songwriter
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2020, 01:52:16 PM »
As good as anything Stormzy has done..or will ever do...this is dope man... 8)
Soundcloud Shadowfax6

from the nightmare!

cowparsleyman

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 2700
  • What would you rather be or a wasp?
« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2020, 07:19:17 PM »
Many many thanks for the listens and subsequent reviews, glad you dig it, you might has guessed it was a gas doing it. Why not try to rap along with it, out loud, next time you hear it and you are alone in the music room, it'll give you an idea of work a Berk I felt doing it (at first)...

@pompeyjazz - Yes you are right John - the 27 Rap styles was a real help to me, thanks Mac Lethal (is that your real name?), yip most of the 72 tracks were Vox...

@PeteS  - Glad you liked it, rap is and will be something that I don't do regularly...production wise it was OK as long as I used submix busses for the groups of BV's, for example the 'Prince' bit needed dry, the rest were a bit wet, with the convology XT plugin thats free, but very usable.

@Jamie - Thanks for your kind words Jamie dude ...Dope, well that's cool, can't ask for more than that. Glad you noticed the work that went into the lyrics, yes it was a bit like Crufts choosing the right synths...oh yes and beatz.

@CaliaMoko - thanks Vicki, that's such a compliment, I was a buzzin' when I read that.

@Sebandme - Thanks man, that's really kind of you to say, But I feel the same about your songs, they are really very good indeed.

@adamfarr - Gracias Adam, very kind of you, Glad you dig the piano, they weren't samples, that was me, the Lounge Lizard electric piano and some healthy use of the Pitchbend automation lane at the beginning of each note. You are right about the LVox, that was the hardest thing, shouting into my mic feels dead weird, but I remember watching a pro singer in a studio trying to catch the vibe the producer wanted, and she just couldn't get it, she ended up hopping on one leg....so I knew I had to feel odd to get it right, the 27 styles of rap also really made me feel more comfy doing it, once the early takes sounded OK, I was in...man.

Regarding the Prince section, I was after a totally different vibe, as I was getting bored with the rap theme, so I dangered it up a bit, and decided to go for a completely different kind of feel, but the 25 to life vocal hook glued the 2 together...the transition between the 2 sections was a little troublesome, but the octave driven telecaster kind of plastered over the gap. I like the idea of make the 'promised Land' recurring, i kind of made an implicit reference to it by returning to an organ at the end...personally I didin't think the opening was very strong, and took ages over which vocoder to use, in the end I used 2 and a mix of dry signal.
Ubiquitous and stick with us was indeed a personal challenge, I mentioned it to MichaelA a couple of weeks before in the forum zoom night, almost making fun, but I thought, Well there's a challenge. Glad it was noticed.

Thanks Adam

@PaulAds - Strike da light man, You must be reviewing someone else's work...so happy that you found this impressive, thatt's the trouble, that back to front baseball cap kept chafing my head, as for the lo slung pant's showing off my arse crack, well nearly frightened the vicar, I'm getting used to wearing a big down jacket - my neighbours call me Out of Puff Daddy, and keep knockin on ma door to try and get me to move my 'Stang , and complaining about the number of implant laden groupies that roll up in that stretch limo and mingling around ma pool, with my Homies.

The reference to the Axe on the very last day was actually true, I went into school with one of my guitars, and Mr Andrews the head teacher sent me home, HE was the berk in the whistle and flute. I did wonder if anyone would think it was the other kind of axe, given the nature of the song.

Bow taken, probably illegally...cheers Paul.

@shadowfax - Never heard anything by Stormy Z never likely to either.

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen, and comment.













« Last Edit: June 02, 2020, 08:08:23 PM by cowparsleyman »

5 guys named Lars

  • *
  • Solo Gig
  • ***
  • Posts: 331
    • 5 Guys Named Lars- Soundcloud
« Reply #10 on: June 03, 2020, 06:13:00 AM »
This is superb CPM. Great fun, all the way through. Love the wonky keyboard lick & the spoken word inserts add the realism (poor old Stacy). The guitar work is amazing & the production overall is top dollar. The "Amazing Grace" bit at the end is inspired. Lovely ending. Well done G.

cowparsleyman

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 2700
  • What would you rather be or a wasp?
« Reply #11 on: June 03, 2020, 08:32:21 AM »
@5 guys named Lars - Cheers Man, glad the fun came through, it was definitely tongue in cheek, Stacy is my favourite part of this, is he crying or laughing? I editing out one guy who was sentenced to 1002 years, can you believe it. The Wonky piano idea was CPD's.

Really kind words, thanks

Rich



MichaelA

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 1499
    • Sixth Beatle - a music themed novel by Michael A (not much about  The Beatles!)
« Reply #12 on: June 04, 2020, 12:00:38 AM »
Hi Rich, I admire your studious approach to this and your attention to detail to ensure you were authentic to the genre right across the board.

Your attempt at rap is great, and so hard it is to sound convincing for most, but you pulled it off big time. And the 'chorus', if you are allowed to call it that, is really catchy and in yer face!

With the outro and the vox pops the song takes on the realms of an epic composition, all very thought provoking.

A top top contribution to the challenge that shows you off at the height of your game versatility wise. Very intelligently pulled off and far more than we could have reasonably expected. Excellent work, hats off to you! ( and CPD, of course! :) )
My latest novel: pls check it out!

‘Gavin & The Bodysnatchers’, a quirky comedy crime thriller. Easily found on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09GZ7C8M7?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860

cowparsleyman

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 2700
  • What would you rather be or a wasp?
« Reply #13 on: June 05, 2020, 10:04:32 AM »
@MichaelA - Wassup Bro' us Hip Hopster Homies have to hang, you know what I sayin' thanks for the listen, review I would be surprised if it were a chorus, not sure what any of it is really...glad you dig.

It aint easy all that rapping mullarky is it?



Grubstar

  • *
  • Open Mic
  • **
  • Posts: 235
« Reply #14 on: June 07, 2020, 02:21:05 PM »
Great production and musicianship on display here, a tough job to try and do justice to this particular genre but I think youve done a very good job.