Top 20 Rappers More Melodic Than Eminem

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1. Cee Lo

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:23 (twenty-three years ago)

2. Michael Franti

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:23 (twenty-three years ago)

3. Lyrics Born
4. Gift of Gab
5. Doseone
6. Andre 3000

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:23 (twenty-three years ago)

7. Sage Francis

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:25 (twenty-three years ago)

Doug E.Fresh,Biz Markie,Slick Rick

― Scott Seward, Friday, 7 March 2003 21:26 (twenty-three years ago)

i don't get it

― schnell schnell, Friday, 7 March 2003 21:27 (twenty-three years ago)

(abandoning the number system once again)

MC Solaar
Lauryn Hill
Mos Def
Talib Kweli
Black Thought

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Roots Manuva
Taskforce
Will Smith

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:28 (twenty-three years ago)

these were some of the worst rappers ever until scott stepped in

― jess (dubplatestyle), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:29 (twenty-three years ago)

but fwiiw i'll say bone thugz

― schnell schnell, Friday, 7 March 2003 21:30 (twenty-three years ago)

blazing squad

― schnell schnell, Friday, 7 March 2003 21:31 (twenty-three years ago)

i don't get it

This thread is another nickalicious knee-jerk reaction to the absurd Eminem-as-most-melodic-rapper statements made by another forumite who also claims that, apart from Eminem, there is NO melody in hip-hop music, which is something I find so utterly ridiculous a concept that I felt the need to point out the plentitudes of evidence to the contrary. Ignore my thread if you like.

these were some of the worst rappers ever until scott stepped in

WTFever.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:31 (twenty-three years ago)

ok i get it now. like i said, bone thugz

― schnell schnell, Friday, 7 March 2003 21:32 (twenty-three years ago)

Black Eyed Peas
Kool Keith
Del the Funky Homosapien
Chali 2na
Fu-Shnikens
Tribe Called Quest
Busta Rhymes

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:32 (twenty-three years ago)

(can i just take this oppurtunity to say i've just discovered super ae and i am drunk)

― schnell schnell, Friday, 7 March 2003 21:33 (twenty-three years ago)

(can i just take this oppurtunity to say i've just discovered super ae and i am drunk)

We'd be offended if you didn't, really.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:34 (twenty-three years ago)

john lennon on 'give peace a chance' for all yall geir groupies

― schnell schnell, Friday, 7 March 2003 21:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Debbie Harry.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Why was the man from Mars eating cars anyway, was that ever explained?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:37 (twenty-three years ago)

Lisa Lopes
Lil' Kim

Hell, the entire ensemble of the singers of "Ladies Night."

― Alexis (Alexis), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Master Ace

― miloauckerman, Friday, 7 March 2003 21:44 (twenty-three years ago)

i'd be dissapointed if a man on mars was doing anything else to be honest

― schnell schnell, Friday, 7 March 2003 21:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Quasimodo
Nelly
Ol' Dirty Bastard
Mike Ladd
Goodie Mobb (so I already said Cee-Lo, whatevah)
And that's not even touching on Jamaican "toasters".

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 7 March 2003 21:53 (twenty-three years ago)

Eminem sings in a couple of his songs (a couple of them are even entirely without rap in them. And the melodies he sings are originally composed by him, and they are melodic.

Only Lauryn Hill or Missy Elliot would possibly come close.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 7 March 2003 22:00 (twenty-three years ago)

alot of the early cash money roster had quite a melodic flow: juve, lil wayne, turk, baby et al but that's in more of a dirrrty souf tradition rilly

― schnell schnell, Friday, 7 March 2003 22:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Only Lauryn Hill or Missy Elliot would possibly come close.

This...

A) is entirely bullshit.

B) would be disproven simply by listening to Cee-Lo's "Gettin' Grown" or Spearhead's "Hole in the Bucket" or Latyrx's "Lady Don't Tekno" or Princess Superstar's "Wet Wet Wet" or Outkast's "Miss Jackson" or The Roots' "Thought @ Work" or at least ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND OTHER SONGS.

C) is entirely inaccurate bullshit.

I mean, shit, Eminem can BARELY hold a tune...WTF!?!

Are you for real?

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 7 March 2003 22:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Not to mention to say Lauryn Hill might "come close" is turning a blind ear to the PHENOMENAL singing voice that she has, whereas Eminem, well...uh...wow, HE WROTE IT! OH MY GOD!!!< / sarcasm >

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 7 March 2003 22:08 (twenty-three years ago)

doth melody hath to be tuneful?

― schnel;l schnell, Friday, 7 March 2003 22:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Debbie Harry.
Dom Passantino is God. Lets all have a moment of respectful silence.

....

Amen.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 7 March 2003 22:21 (twenty-three years ago)

I think the real answer is...um....almost anybody. Hell, Lou Reeds rap track "The Original Wrapper" (off the otherwise heinous 'Mistrial') is better than Eminem.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 7 March 2003 22:22 (twenty-three years ago)

Absract Rude
all of Freestyle Fellowship
Phife Dawg
Ghostface

― oops (Oops), Friday, 7 March 2003 22:24 (twenty-three years ago)

Everyone knows that the Man from Mars stopped eating cars and now he only eats guitars, jesus christ. Pff, some people. That'd probably annoy Geir, eating the guitars I mean.

― Ally (mlescaut), Friday, 7 March 2003 23:20 (twenty-three years ago)

no one has mentioned any jamaicans yet

― jess (dubplatestyle), Friday, 7 March 2003 23:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Not to mention to say Lauryn Hill might "come close" is turning a blind ear to the PHENOMENAL singing voice that she has, whereas Eminem, well...uh...wow, HE WROTE IT! OH MY GOD!!!< / sarcasm >

The composer is the only true musician anyway. Singers and instrumentalists are overrated.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 7 March 2003 23:42 (twenty-three years ago)

no one has mentioned any jamaicans yet

Pato Banton!!!

The composer is the only true musician anyway. Singers and instrumentalists are overrated.

WHONK

― Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Friday, 7 March 2003 23:47 (twenty-three years ago)

The composer is the only true musician anyway. Singers and instrumentalists are overrated.

It logically follows that music should only be written on paper, so that those silly instrumentalists and vocalists don't screw it up.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Friday, 7 March 2003 23:51 (twenty-three years ago)

snoop

― dan (dan), Friday, 7 March 2003 23:53 (twenty-three years ago)

why. why.

― minna (minna), Saturday, 8 March 2003 00:06 (twenty-three years ago)

And that's not even touching on Jamaican "toasters".
-- nickalicious (nza2342...), March 8th, 2003. (later)

no one has mentioned any jamaicans yet
-- jess (dubplatestyl...), March 8th, 2003. (later)

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Saturday, 8 March 2003 01:17 (twenty-three years ago)

As for Jamaicans, the existense of some sort of "melody" doesn't mean the piece of music is melodic. Singing the same note over and over isn't any more "melodic" than singing no notes at all.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 8 March 2003 01:18 (twenty-three years ago)

LISTEN TO JIMMY CLIFF'S "MANY RIVERS TO CROSS" RIGHT NOW GOD DAMN IT

― Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Saturday, 8 March 2003 01:20 (twenty-three years ago)

"Many River's To Cross" doesn't contain a lot of toasting, does it?

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 8 March 2003 01:24 (twenty-three years ago)

"existense of some sort of "melody" doesn't mean the piece of music is melodic"

black is white, night is day, right is wrong, and everyone's created equal but some people are more equal than others...

― Shakey Mo Collier, Saturday, 8 March 2003 01:25 (twenty-three years ago)

Melodic music means that the notes change a lot and the chords underneath change even more often. A truly melodic song has several chord changes and modulations troughout and it has a verse and a chorus (preferrably a bridge too) that are contrasting and very easy to distinguish from each other.

Now what rap songs (and I am speaking of rap melodies that were premiered at the same time the rap record was released, not a cover version or sample) do meet with all of those criteria?

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 8 March 2003 01:30 (twenty-three years ago)

"Melodic music means that the notes change a lot and the chords underneath change even more often."

That's retarded. Where's the OED? It's melodic if it has a melody. Melodic = presence of melody. This is literally what the word means. I know you have a desire to use the english language and its many terms in ways that other people don't acknowledge and understand, so really, why do you bother even trying to communicate at all?

― Shakey Mo Collier, Saturday, 8 March 2003 01:33 (twenty-three years ago)

That's retarded. Where's the OED? It's melodic if it has a melody

You would never describe "When a Man Loves a Woman" as a "melodic ballad". That term is reserved for truly melodic balladeers such as Elton John and Paul McCartney

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 8 March 2003 01:35 (twenty-three years ago)

You didn't answer my question. Why do use words and terms to convey ideas that are completely different from those words' and terms' commonly accepted meanings?

― Shakey Mo Collier, Saturday, 8 March 2003 01:38 (twenty-three years ago)

there should be a "you" between "do" and "use" there. Sorry.

Marvel at my powers of clarity.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Saturday, 8 March 2003 01:39 (twenty-three years ago)

i always thought Buckshot Shorty from Black Moon had a lot of personality in his flow, and you could construe his stuff - especially on the remixes - as being 'melodic' i guess. but melody does not good music make. Black Flag or Hall and Oates? Cannibal Ox or the Doobie Brothers? It's yr choice pal.

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Saturday, 8 March 2003 01:55 (twenty-three years ago)

"When a Man Loves a Woman"

As in Percey Sledge??

― jm (jtm), Saturday, 8 March 2003 02:02 (twenty-three years ago)

!!!!

― jm (jtm), Saturday, 8 March 2003 02:02 (twenty-three years ago)

alot of the early cash money roster had quite a melodic flow: juve, lil wayne, turk, baby et al

So true. Also check Pimp Daddy, another early Cash Money artist (now deceased, like most early Cash Money artists)--he had a sing-song "melodic" flow, kind of like Nelly but before Nelly and also way better. His trademark "if you a [insert New Orleans-area neighborhood here] playa..." refrain is still being ripped off. I just heard it in a recent Rebirth song the other night.

― adam (adam), Saturday, 8 March 2003 02:16 (twenty-three years ago)

yep. and Big Tymers. Anyone associated with DJ Screw / Swisha House. IMHO Screw was the first true innovator since Flash. I like Lil Flip too. For melody.

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Saturday, 8 March 2003 02:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I think geir gets "melodic" as a term better than shakey does -- as a shorthand for melodically complex, which is how plenty of people use it. When a band sez they're going for a more "melodic" sound it doesn't meant that they'll start using notes while they had prior not used notes. It means that they're looking to focus more on trad-songcraft values.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 8 March 2003 04:07 (twenty-three years ago)

So for example Cole Porter is more melodic than Irving Berlin.

(Tho i'd reccomend to geir that he use "melodically complex" instead wherever possible because he'd suddenly seem much more comprehensible to a certain portion of the world)

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 8 March 2003 04:08 (twenty-three years ago)

ACEYALONE

i can't believe no one mentioned him (oops came pretty close)

― JasonD (JasonD), Saturday, 8 March 2003 04:23 (twenty-three years ago)

got damn it / is this turning into another thread about what melody is / holy shit you people are driving me fukin mad do you hear me MAD

Everyone in Pharcyde had melodic flow on first record, Labcabincalifornia was boring though and I sold it
Erick Sermon in EPMD
Keith Murray
Fresh Prince (I know he's annoying now but those early singles were really quite great)
Flavor Flav
Melle Mel
yeah Bone Thugs nice call schnell
MC Lyte
Monie Love
Jungle Brothers

― Neudonym, Saturday, 8 March 2003 04:30 (twenty-three years ago)

(haha neudonym much better it turn into another thread where people just list things)

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 8 March 2003 04:34 (twenty-three years ago)

okay then Sterling y'all go ahead on then, I'm not much for music theory

― Neudonym, Saturday, 8 March 2003 04:38 (twenty-three years ago)

You want melody? search Flamin' Groovies. You wanna throw yr hands in the air and wave 'em like you just don't kizz-are, then stop looking for melody in hip hop music. It's like looking for baco bits in apple sauce. It ain't about the melody it's about the grooooooove peoples - didn't Parliament teach yall NUTHIN??!?

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Saturday, 8 March 2003 04:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Parliament never said anything like that, roger. They had plenty melody.

― Neudonym, Saturday, 8 March 2003 04:43 (twenty-three years ago)

eric copeland of black dice

― schnell schnell, Saturday, 8 March 2003 22:34 (twenty-three years ago)

big youth does that charming half laughing/singing thing

― schnell schnell, Saturday, 8 March 2003 22:35 (twenty-three years ago)

So for example Cole Porter is more melodic than Irving Berlin.

I would say both were very melodic, but Cole Porter had a lot more quality.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 8 March 2003 23:12 (twenty-three years ago)

True. But, again, that's how the term "melodic" is usually used.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 8 March 2003 23:13 (twenty-three years ago)

The composer is the only true musician anyway. Singers and instrumentalists are overrated.

I would hope that you understand that a great number of rappers-who-also-sing ALSO compose their material as well as produce it themselves AND play instruments on it (playing instruments = something Eminem DOES NOT do, btw). Wyclef Jean, Michael Franti of Spearhead, Lauryn Hill, Cee-Lo Green, Lyrics Born, Mos Def, Princess Superstar, Mike Ladd...these are just a small few rappers-who-sing-who-write-their-songs-who-play-instruments (guitar, keyboard, bass for the most part)...many of whom did so for YEARS before Eminem's first album was released.

I mean, you can go on ignoring THE FACTS if you wish, just please don't make big broad blanket statements about things you are ill-informed in regards to, please. Thanks.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 10 March 2003 16:19 (twenty-three years ago)

having perused your learned opinions i would have to say... minna otm

― zemko (bob), Monday, 10 March 2003 17:22 (twenty-three years ago)

Divine Styler forever

― scott m (mcd), Monday, 10 March 2003 18:25 (twenty-three years ago)

Grand Puba forever and ever!

― oops (Oops), Monday, 10 March 2003 20:00 (twenty-three years ago)

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