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

[Tupac Shakur]

This is actually a pretty decent Kanye parody; Trey Parker has some legit songwriting skill.

[Al B. Sure!]

Cort,
I do like fish sticks. However, in this case it's a reference to the interior and exterior of a car.
Al,
It would be unfair for me to judge your song because the music and lyrics do not feel connected. I would suggest that you find a partner and one of you raps and the other DJ.

I got a team but I think they suffer from some of the same problems as me:



Nothing recorded in a while, though. I don't have anything recorded with them.

[Al B. Sure!]

People are really quick to go hollywood though. The better rappers I grew up with are tough to get a hold of nowadays. They're also the ones who could do the best at 'mentoring' me but you know, gone hollywood and all.

[-Jrabbit]

OK, as suspected, it got down to songwriting and rapping. These must be in place before production becomes a major consideration.
Great songwriting and delivery can overcome cheap equipment and poor production; but not vice versa.

I'm out. Good luck, Alby.

[Al B. Sure!]

OK, as suspected, it got down to songwriting and rapping. These must be in place before production becomes a major consideration.
Great songwriting and delivery can overcome cheap equipment and poor production; but not vice versa.

I'm out. Good luck, Alby.

Why? Because Drake said so?

I don't like this answer. That means that if, even after 10 years of this, I still don't have it right, that's not a good sign.

[giblets]

Well, I'm guessing not everyone can make it as a rapper.

[Pax]

Alby,
Of course you can make it as a rapper. If you are determined enough. It takes a combination of skill and determination for every profession/hobby/career in order to make it. Look at Eazy E, Wacka Flocka and Master P.

[Pax]

One of my favorite rap songs on this subject is "touch the sky" where Kanye is seeing other people make that are not better than him. But through perseverance and determination he eventually makes it.

[Al B. Sure!]

I've seen first-hand how professional recordings and editing have dramatically improved someone's sound, though. That's what gets me. I asked this thread to confirm what I've heard and what more than one rapper has told me. However, it's possible that while we all sounded bad on amateur setups, there were different reasons for sounding bad; with them, purely audio quality, while other reasons for me. What exactly those other reasons are, though, no one seems to know. That's what is making the audio quality 'excuse' so compelling because no one can put their finger on what it is.

I would share examples but apparently, my friends have deleted their old amateur recordings so I can't post them and compare it to them now.

Ultimately, I guess I wouldn't know unless I make a professional recording.

[Cort Haus]

There's nothing unusual about a recording suffering from both poor engineering and poor musicianship.

[Pax]

One of the things that will help your raps alby is if you expand your horizons. 1. I recommend that you go to a couple of clubs just to see how people move to the music and songs. Also, see what songs get people on the dance floor and try to figure out why people dance to this and not that. 2. Philly is an international city, check out other cultures and foods. 3. write and rap about what you know first then expand from there. For instance, instead of writing about how you're getting women write about your awkwardness with women. It will feel more genuine and resonate with your audience. Going back to Kanye, when he raps about being broke it really feels genuine and it gives me a connection back to when I have been similarly broke. But Alby, if you have lyrics about getting girls I won't feel it. Partly because I already know this is not true but also because you know it's not true. That's why it's important to expand your horizons..

[Pax]

Do an acappella.

[Al B. Sure!]

Song about not getting women?
Here: http://soundcloud.com/ramseya/our-song
Here, too: http://soundcloud.com/ramseya/unfamiliar-2
Here, from 2008: http://soundcloud.com/ramseya/bittersweet-poetry-2008

Song about being broke?
Here: http://soundcloud.com/ramseya/mr-bill-collector


I've been doing this since I was a teenager. I know how to write. You all are the first to ever criticize my lyrical content. It's how it sounds on wax that is the problem.

[Al B. Sure!]

Do an acappella.

You mean like spoken word? Or like I grab one of my vocal tracks from rapping to a beat?

[Pax]

I'm not criticizing your lyrical content yet. I simply say that I can't give you an honest opinion of the song, lyrics or your rap skills if the rap and music sound disconnected.