Hip hop in odd time signatures?

[Rene]

Cool attempt, drums were programmed probably:

[Mark P]

Surely the whole point of Hip Hop is to make people dance?

Something that's much harder when it's shoehorned into an odd time. I don't want to say 'missing the point', but...

[Henrik]

Thank you very much for all of your suggestions! There's some cool stuff in here!

The last video is cool because it really features someone having to phrase their rhymes over an eighth-note subdivision, which gives it another dimension of "using your voice as an instrument", something I always enjoy when it's done well.

That guy (Andrew Huang) is obviously a multi-instrumentalist (apparently with a fairly eclectic taste in music to boot, from watching a few of his other videos), which isn't a very surprising background for someone attempting hip hop in an odd time signature. It'll be interesting to see what the future holds regarding this, be it in the underground or the mainstream.

On the topic of using your voice as an instrument in a contemporary/urban style of music, check out this gentleman from the UK; Beardyman:

[Henrik]

Surely the whole point of Hip Hop is to make people dance?

Well...no. Can't say I agree. It's a form of musical expression like any other with a wide variety of styles and "uses". The fact that it traditionally is very vocal/lyrics-centered makes it especially suitable for sending out just about any message, not just "shake your booty", and since it is also based around samples you can basically choose from any genre or mood when you create your beat.

I'd say virtually all styles of music had some sort of communal function to begin with, for instance getting together and dancing/celebrating something, but if the style lives on, it evolves into something else.

Would you by the same token say that the whole point of jazz is to make people dance? It certainly was the main dance music of an era in its earlier years.

[samnmax203]

Outkast- the whole world. The song is in 4/4, but the second verse (killer Mike I think) is rapped in 3/4. The feel is very triplet based throughout the song though.



Kanye West- Spaceship. Song is in 6/8



Flobots- Mayday. Verses kinda switch between 12/8 and 4/4 if I remember right... I didn't have time to re-listen (at work! )