The Rap Solo – Even more tasteless successor to the guitar solo?
To start with, I feel I should state that this is an opinion piece. It’s just what I think, and I can’t speak for the other people involved in Musiquista. That said, I’m aiming to bring this piece of writing to a place where you’ll hopefully see that the particular gripe I have is a perfect example of why the music industry, as it is, stands in opposition to the values Musiquista holds dear.
As in, I’m not just whinging for the sake of it…
It’s one of those things that has been bugging me for a long time, though I feel it’s got worse in the last, I don’t know… six months, or so. I am talking, of course, about the rap solo. A sickening blight upon modern popular music.
But not without precedent. I am of a certain age, the kind of age that makes Top Gun one of seminal films of my teenage years. I remember when the arrival of Channel 4 increased the number of TV channels by 33.333333 (recurring)%. Or, a third. And yes, I remember when ‘metal’ bands had to release a rock ballad single if they wanted to bring their mullets bouncing into the charts.
And, I remember guitar solos. (Shudders, and somewhere in the distance a wolf howls, but is cut off by a high-pitched, yet distorted, A#. That’s sharp, not hashtag.)
Of course, instrumental sections in popular music songs make sense. Something to break up the verses that tumble into pre-choruses and choruses, then back again. Maybe a double verse or a shortened verse here or there, if we’re feeling daring. Instrumentals can take the song somewhere else (or repeat what we’ve already had, just without words) while we let the first bit of the song sink in. They can be a pause of sorts. When we get back, we can reiterate what’s gone before (then slowly fade out, maybe a bit more instrumentalling), or reach some sort of conclusion… Or, completely contradict ourselves, it’s all good.
Instrumental sections don’t always need to be there, and maybe they have been generally overused, but they can also bring so much to the middle or the end of a song. They are an opportunity for a different sort of invention, and a different sort of expression, too.
And then came the guitar solo. Which was an opportunity for a guitarist to see how fast he or she could twiddle their fingers. I am, of course, generalising, there are some great guitar solos out there, but the best guitar solos – to my mind – are essentially instrumental sections with a guitar riding on top of it, taking the melodic lead.
Far, far, far too many guitar solos were just an excuse for some guitar ‘hero’ or other (what the hell does that even mean, what’s heroic about playing a guitar? Me, I’d like to be a ‘triangle hero’, see how fast I can ding that triangle,) to explore the phallic virtues of their instrument. Like a toreador laying out a challenge to other bull fighters to ‘slay the beast’ with more grace, finesse and speed. Basically, crap-all to do with good music.
I will confess that they probably helped to make the odd live show a bit more entertaining. There’s energy to it, I guess, sometimes. But guitarists also look to be in their own world when performing a guitar solo, they never really look like they’re connecting with the audience all that much. But maybe that’s just the way I see it.
Anyway… back to the point in hand. Rap solos. Or, rap middle-8s if you want. I think you know what I’m talking about.
Now, looked at one way, the rap solo is a good idea. Commercially speaking. And I have no basic issue with people having good commercial ideas in music. Often these things are called ‘collaborations’, which is a little bit laughable. But it’s quite clever, when you think of it, (though not exactly an invention of the 21st century) to release a single that appeals to two sets of fans rather than just one. It’s not only the extra single or streaming sales that such a venture might bring, but the potential for each artist to gain new fans from the other. What’s wrong with that? Nothing.
‘Nothing’ if the music doesn’t suffer for it.
And this is my issue with the rap solo, an issue far greater than I ever had for the guitar solo. Guitar solos could sometimes make a good song suck a little, but never like a rap middle-8 can.
Rap-hater! No, no, no-o-o-o-o! I don’t hate rap. I love rap and R & B. Well, some of it. But that holds true for most musical genres. I do think that the best rap is almost always when the artists find something to talk about other than themselves. Or, at least, something other than about how great they are and how tough the world they live in is. But, again, there are some great exceptions to that. It’s about finding the right message, framing it in the right way.
So… why, why, why do I want to hear about ‘makin’ mo’ mon-ay’ and all the ‘honeys that want me’ and – for crying out loud – the rapper’s name(!!!) in the middle of a song about a failing relationship (for instance). Honestly, if rap solos stayed on task, were specifically written for the songs they were a part of, I probably wouldn’t have a problem with most of them. Indeed, the very few I’ve heard that are that way, can be amazing, powerful things. Which kind of annoys me even more that they all aren’t this way. Of course, there will always be songs where a rap solo just isn’t going to work, and that’s the way it is. Not that, I imagine, that’s ever going to stop a pre-arranged ‘collaboration’ between two platinum-selling artists. Know what I mean?
And that’s what, for me, makes them so indicative of the state of the music industry. That this commercial pairing is put in front of actually making a song as good as it could be. I’m guessing the executives around the song are principally to blame, but you’ve got to put this on both the artists as well. Geez, where’s your pride? Where’s your desire to provide a decent, coherent product? This is supposed to be your living for heaven’s sake!
People write crap songs, it happens. Music is terribly subjective, anyway. But this is so very intentional, so cynical and driven by commerciality and greed, I just find it kind of sickening. I’m not missing something here, am I? It’s not just me? So many of these rap solos are really, genuinely, counter to the song in which they are placed. Honestly, sometimes it’s just so surreal.
I’m not a particular Rihanna fan, but if I’m listening to the radio and enjoying one of her songs, then this happens to it, well, it just makes me think that Rihanna (or, whoever) doesn’t care about what they do. And someone earning millions to live their dream, a dream that so many other artists never even get a shot at, should damn-well care. It’s the least they can do.
There, I’ve said it, rant over. Like I said, this is my personal opinion, and not necessarily one widely held at Musiquista. But I do feel that our desire to give musicians a shot at creating the music they want to make, outside of the pressures of a commercial environment, is in complete opposition to everything I’ve just described. Please help us do that.