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Many here seem to be interpreting vocabulary size as a signal for quality. When it comes to rap I completely disagree. Firstly, the repetition is rap's main ing
by seizethecheese 13y ago
Many here seem to be interpreting vocabulary size as a signal for quality. When it comes to rap I completely disagree. Firstly, the repetition is rap's main ingredient. I read an article a while ago where researchers found that listening to a spoken phrase that is looped activates the same part of the brain as music, which helps explain this phenomenon.
Personally, if I want food for thought I read. Rap is not an intellectual pursuit. I've been perusing rappers on this list, and the top artists have not been good at all to my ears. It seems that the best rappers are in the middle, and being on either extreme is a negative signal.
- TheCoelacanth 13y ago> It seems that the best rappers are in the middle, and being on either extreme is a negative signal. Objectively, I don't think that is an accurate assessment. There are highly respected artists all across the chart, including the extremes. For instance, Wu-Tang Clan and its members at the upper extreme and Kanye, Snoop and Tupac at the lower extreme.
- seizethecheese 13y agoYeah I agree, that statement was definitely a stretch. There are well respected rappers across the spectrum, which is my main point: that the interpretation of the chart as a proxy for quality is wrong.
- pandler 13y ago> Firstly, the repetition is rap's main ingredient. Is it though? I don't dispute that sheer vocabulary size isn't a sign of quality, but that seems like a very ignorant generalization of rap.
- TheCoelacanth 13y agoRepetition is a key ingredient in all genres of music. You would be hard pressed to find many significant pieces of music that don't use repetition.
- seizethecheese 13y agoI think saying it's the "main" ingredient is debatable but it surely is very important.
- dools 13y agoIt's mostly the voice...
- danielsf 13y agoI never made the claim that vocab size was correlated with quality.
- seizethecheese 13y agoI'm addressing what seems to be a common interpretation, not an explicit claim.
- cruise02 13y ago> Firstly, the repetition is rap's main ingredient. Sure, within one song. But if an artist has a narrow vocabulary throughout their career, it's a sign that they're just writing the same song over and over.