How much does audio quality affect the appeal of a vocal recording?

[Al B. Sure!]

Jay-Z used to be an exceptional rapper.

You mean back in these days?

[Ben Kenobi]

Dude so phat
He look so fresh
Got his swag
Up yo mesh
Gucci bag
Ain't all that
C'mon babe
Take the mat.

[Kitschum]

You mean back in these days?

This is really good. Look, don't get me wrong, but he gets destroyed by the other guy, Jaz. Jay-Z here, as always, has nothing to say.

He's got talent, but he's not a technically skilled rapper as I see it.

[Tupac Shakur]

He's got talent, but he's not a technically skilled rapper as I see it.

[Kitschum]

He's got talent, but he's not a technically skilled rapper as I see it.

This isn't new to me, I dunno. I just notice so strongly every time he catches his breath. He takes a lot of pauses. He puts on on act (H-O-V-A) rather than speak truthfully. I don't think you're going to convince me about Jay-Z.

I still bought two of his albums as a teenager, and I still respect him, look he ended up with Beyonce somehow. Some kind of talent that man.

[Kitschum]

Better than Jay-Z:

[MikeH]

On Recording:

Think Cort and Jrabbit have covered everything. And with rap I think you really need a pop shield.

On the Raps:

Yeah, flow. Specifically in some of those you are doing the same thing on every line, eg. quiet at the start, emphasis on last word. It's much too exaggerated, and makes it sound boring. And I don't know what the raps are about really. And where's the passion?

Go listen to some Eazy-E. He's got great flow. He makes it sound like he's having a conversation with you, which I think is kind of the style you are going for. But you sound like you're trying hard to rap. Of course, he was also an amazingly natural talent...

[Al B. Sure!]

Kitschum is sort of right. Jay-Z isn't the best technical lyricist in terms of rhymes per bar, use of metaphors, etc. He's pretty good at punchlines but his real strength is, relevant to this thread, his delivery. Jay-Z's casual, talking delivery is one of the best in the game. As you can hear from that song with Jaz-O, Jay-Z didn't always rap like that. He changed his entire delivery to something far more appealing and modern.

[Pax]

Al for my money I can name more than 10 MCs that are better than Jay-Z. But consider this....Most of us can agree that Jay-Z is a good rapper. What makes him a great rapper is that everybody knows him, and the majority says he is great. Now let me ask you a question. Why does everybody know him and why does majority say he is great? Because he was able to find his audience and convince them that he is great. You and I may know Nas is superior but who is killing the sales and who is getting invited to Oprahs farewell show? Jay-Z found an audience. Jaz did not. Therefore, the majority of us have forgotten Jaz but not Jay-Z.

[Pax]

Al,
before I listen to your songs let me tell you about myself. I used to write a lot of poetry and do spoken word. When I first started writing people would tell me that whatever I wrote was good. After I got my heart broken a couple of times and after I got more exposure to the world outside of Atlanta, people would be like damn, what were you on when you wrote that ****. Initially, my poems were long and flowing with "to the heavens" and stuff like that. Life made them shorter and deeper at the same time. I stopped writing poetry to focus on scriptwriting and because people were starting to think I might kill myself(joke). Although, I was not any more likely to kill myself than morrissey(he's still alive as of today).
I am about to dive into your songs, but before I do I want you to start thinking about taking your songs back to the essence and building from there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wbWPyhW7fE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rexmpozJJH4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPfIIn5V_LQ&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_rFd2F8vgc

listen to this similar lyrics/different flow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOz18RNmCQI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McCYYE6eAm8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54JDvneFDcg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_d_VfOZPf4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt-ZE3OtKH0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8rGpHqM_q4

Okay, lastly for the most part a "punchline" rapper is a lazy rapper. Songs need a common theme. That's why Rakim would be the real ultimate punchline rapper. So let's finish how we started.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7t8eoA_1jQ&ob=av3e

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a91rv2vTl4o

[Pax]

Your song Mr. Bill Collector. I'm not feeling it. No emotion. I don't want to put my hands in the air. I don't even feel like you have bills while listening to the song. Do you really have an american express? Refer back to paid in full. I feel like rakim is really trying to get out of his financial situation. your song lacks passion and I suspect you don't have the bills you are talking about. Also going back to Rakim, if you don't go out a little you will never learn how to "move the crowd"
For example, this song has a nice beat but is somewhat boring and this group never went anywhere....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE7QEnXGAtU

Do not emulate this group.

[Pax]

Mr. Bill Collector has an okay beat. Your lyrics don't fit the beat.

[Pax]

Fairhill Street. Is it about Fairhill Street or something else? Anyway, boring song. Delivery boring. background boring. Try contrasting your topic with the music. Like maybe, this music would have went well with how you were on the block selling coke, dime bags etc.. I know it's fiction but most rap is and as long as we're telling a story let's make it a good one.

[Pax]

Ho-happy. My girlfriend came in while I was listening to your song. She says you have an old school voice and she liked the music and some of the initial lyrics. I agree that your voice can have an old school feel to it. But I think that the song high lights that you are too wordy and you just don't feel authentic on this song. Maybe it's because I know your background but really when you start rapping you're supposed to draw me into the song and once again I am not drawn in.

[Pax]

Who is that/What it do - Once again lacks authenticity, songs Lacks originality. Your delivery lacks personality. Both songs are interchangeable and if you play them back to back you have trouble remembering which song is which. Also a- a- a- things reminds me of Juelz Santana. Not a southern rapper but a boring rapper. I don't like it or him.
You need a catchy hook and an energetic menacing beat for some real south trap ish...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1u9u7mq9Ck

Once again, the song has hints of authenticity. For example, the hotel that is shown in the video is a real hood Dope spot that's well known in Decatur.
Trap music is hood music, d-boy music, hot sweaty nights music do you really think you can capture any of that?