The Hamilton Mixtape

I feel badly that I have not posted in a few days.  I hope my post now will make you forgive me!

We all love history, especially classic history that everyone knows.  I remember watching this video a couple of years ago in my history class.  It is a parody of "Apologize" by OneRepublic and is titled, "Too Late To Apologize:  A Declaration" and I have to say it is really well done.  Have a look (and listen) down below:

[Source:  YouTube]

Do not sit there in front of your computer and tell me it was not a clever video.  The lyrics are perfect and the video is great as well.  Have to love the wigs, too.  Classic.

What made me think of this video was my brother.  He watched this video of a guy named Lin-Manuel Miranda rapping a song all about Alexander Hamilton called, "The Hamilton Mixtape."  It is a great representation of Hamilton's life.  Have a look:

[Source:  YouTube]

Stop the Music

A new EP by Sammy Adams was recently released and I just had the chance to listen to it.  It's called Homecoming and sounds similar yet more mature than his previous albums...not that his previous albums sounded immature.

The EP is just $4.99 (plus tax) on iTunes and features six brand new tracks...which are all explicit so I don't recommend it for children under the age of 17.

The genre, of course, is rap, but they don't sound like songs from a new Lil Wayne album.  No, no, no.  The songs sound the way Sammy Adams has always sounded, trust me.  My favorite one is called "Stop the Music" which is the first track on the EP and really does not sound like rap at all.  Here's the tune:

[Source:  YouTube]

Sammy Adams is currently on tour with Timeflies and their final show is tomorrow night in Detroit.  If you would like to find out more about Sammy, you can go here!

The Way I Am

So something interesting was recently brought to my attention.  Hip-hop vs. Shakespeare.  When given the task of determining whether a line is from a famous rap song or from one of the playwright's works, the answer is quite difficult to come to.

You see, Shakespeare was a self-educated man who spoke with deep meaning.  Rappers (although not always) do the same thing.  They take their feelings and modern day issues and address them in their raps, but do so with a lot of emotion.

So, I thought we would play a little game.  I am going to give you a line from either a work of Shakespeare or a line from a contemporary rap song and you will have to guess what it is from.  No cheating!!!  Ready?  Let's go.

1.  "And I rest again peacefully."

2.  "Hell is empty and all the devils are here."

3.  "I must be cruel only to be kind."

4.  "Then I hope this take away from my sins."

5.  "May the Lord protect me as the world gets hectic."

6.  "To destroy the beauty from which one came."

7.  "The most benevolent king communicates through your dreams."

8.  "I was not born under a rhyming planet."

How do you think you did?  Well, you had a 50/50 chance, right?  Let me explain the answers.

First, let's look at number one.  Hip-hop or Shakespeare?  Hip-hop.  This line is from Eminem's song "The Way I Am."  Number two is...Shakespeare.  "Hell is empty and all the devils are here" is from  Act I, Scene ii of his play The Tempest.  Number three should have been a piece of cake!  It was from Act III, Scene iv of Shakespeare's play Hamlet.  Know Kanye West's song "Jesus Walks?"  That was the answer to number four.  "May the Lord protect me as the world gets hectic" sounds like a line from Shakespeare.  Wrong.  It's a line from Nicki Minaj's "Autobiography" which means number five is hip-hop.  The answer to number six is hip-hop.  It 's from Jay-Z's song "You Must Love Me."  Number seven is a tricky one.  If you guessed hip-hop, you are correct!  It's a line from a Wu-Tang Clan song.  And finally number eight, which is surprisingly Shakespeare, Act V, Scene ii of Much Ado About Nothing.  

We Own It (Fast & Furious)

"We Own It (Fast & Furious)" is a song that was originally recorded by 2 Chainz and Wiz Khalifa.  I know I do not like rap but I love a remix done of this.

Mike Posner, the guy who sings "Cooler Than Me" and features in "L.A. Story" by Sammy Adams, got together with Niykee Heaton, T. Mills, and Sammy Adams to recreate this song.  I think I first watched the video just because Sammy Adams was in it but I ended up really liking the tune!

Now, the interesting part is the lyrics were changed, hence why it is a remix!  Here's the video:

[Source:  YouTube]

Without Me

Rhyme density equals the total number of syllables that are part of a rhyme ÷ total syllables.

In case I lost you somewhere in that first sentence, rhyme density is the most powerful statistic.  Let me show you an example.  If a song has a rhyme density of .40, that means that 40% of the syllables are rhymes and the other 60% are not. Pretty simple, right?

Let's take a glance at Eminem's "Without Me" which has a .49 rhyme density.

"So the FCC won't let me be

Or let me be me, so let me see

They try to shut me down on MTV

But it feels so empty without me"

FCC, me, be, me, be, me, me, see, me, MTV, empty, me.  Every single line contains at least two words that rhyme with each other and words from the lines to follow.

According to rapgenius.com, the five "best" rappers are:

1. MF Doom .44
2. Cam'ron .41
3. Big Pun .40
4. Eminem .38
5. Fabolous .36

Now, you are definitely wondering Who are MF Doom and Cam'ron? and I really don't blame you.  How could the best rappers be rappers we have never heard of?!?!  The answer is pretty simple actually.  A good rapper rhymes very well.  Guys like MF Doom are GREAT at rhyming.  But if MF Doom is so amazing, why isn't he that popular?  That's not a question I could answer because I am not sure.  What makes One Direction more popular than The 1975?  We have society to ask that question to.

[Source for info:  rapgenius.com]

Sammy Adams to my collection

I purchased four of Sammy Adams' mixtapes on eBay on Tuesday and I received them in the mail yesterday.  I absolutely love them!  The four CDs are OK Cool which is a pre-album to his upcoming album I Wish, Into The Wild, Party Records, and Boston's Opening Day.

The genre for the mixtapes is rap, which I know I have spoken about before but I think Sammy Adams is amazing and really cute so I have brought myself to listen to it.  While the majority of the songs are actually rap, he has a couple of remixes on the tapes.  He did a remix of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" on Boston's Opening Day and "No Speak Americano" with the original artist Yolanda Be Cool on Party Records.  Party Records has DJs DJ Whoo Kid and DJ J. Cash, Into The Wild has DJ Jayceeoh, and OK Cool has DJ Jayceeoh and Clinton Sparks.

The collection I bought contains several different producers on each of them like Deadmau5.  I would list all of the songs and producers/DJs for each song but that would be an extremely long list - 54 to be exact.  I would never make you sit through that.