Saturday, October 18, 2008

It's Hip Hop Literature Time,Boys and Girls!

Some of you reading my blog may have notice the name Rhymeweaver popping up here and there every once in awhile.For those who do not know, dude's a,in his own words,a struggling rap artist hailing from Malaysia but currently studying in New Zealand (where the milk powder are melamine free) to be an English teacher. I met him in a friendster group for hip hop zealots,and RW, being the experienced rappuh that he is,taught us noobie rappuhs some tricks and shiznit on multiple syllable rhymes,recording techniques and other boring stuff to non-rappuhs.Anyway,I did a little post on his stuff awhile ago,and this will be another 2 cents worth on his new mixtape,The Rhymeweaver Presents THE MIXTAPE SERIES VOL. 1:Music From and Inspired by Classic Literature,or TRPTMSVOMFAIBCL, for short.Which is not exactly short.But I digress.

As the mouthful-of-a-title suggests,the mixtape contains 5 songs that took their sources from famous classic literature (well to some of you anyway),which includes Billy Shakespheare's Macbeth (Ambitions as a Rider),HP Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth (Night of the Deep Ones),and a couple of songs on the Holocaust and Hitler (Maybe RW read Mein Kampf as inspiration besides Maus),and one Persian poem,Layla and Majnun.OK,to be honest,I haven't read some of the original works before,so I cannot bitchfit and wail about how RW should omit or include certain parts of the original works into his songs.But not knowing in detail the classic literature could be a good thing since it won't spoil your experiencing RW's intriguing tales.But of course those who know the original work can easily relate to what RW is talking about.And now I have no idea what I am talking about.Anyways.

I remembered when I first encountered RW,he introduced himself as 'a rappuh that specializes in multis'.And this mixtape is sprinkled with multis all around,which IMHO is no small feat because the songs are basically stories told through rhymes,and every line that follows the previous must have a connection,therefore it is amazing that he can spit lines of multis that makes sense and does not interfere with the flow/plot of the story.With his vivid storytelling,fantasy worlds with eerie creatures,meticulous plans of murder and the horrors of genocide comes to life.

I did notice though that RW likes to end a lot of sentences with 'pair words' (well that's what my teacher calls it anyway)with the conjunction AND in the middle ,such as:
breathing and crying
good and faithful
bruised and painful
pain and hardship
corruption and evil
servants and friends
bitches and wife
spouse and his son
slow and hobbling
oval head and round ears
cold and rigid
etc etc...

I am not sure whether RW purposely use this type of rhyming or he wrote it without realizing it,I for one whore this technique to death when I was writing essays in secondary school,and personally I think pair words are excellent for describing scenarios and ..well all sorts of stuff.But it sounds kinda good on the ears lol.My favorite track off the mixtape is without a doubt Night of the Deep Ones (watup Jin!),where RW describes a creepy encounter between a man and some locals of a small town,which turns out to be bizarre hybrid fish-man creatures. RW told the story with such clarity that you can actually see the whole tale unfolds in your mind's eye.Not really feeling the love story though (The Eye of the World) since I am just a bitter cynical bastard.

For those who like classic literature told with a breath of fresh air,download this mixtape quick, or preview it here.I'm sure you won't regret it.For those who like dumb shit club songs,go download Nelly's new album and give this mixtape a miss.Another reason why you should at least give RW a try is because dude's a hardworking man; he actually included in the mixtape: the 5 songs,the lyrics,cover artwork,notes about the songs,the original works,RW's biography,RW's links, preview of his upcoming mixtape,link to feedback,AND a subscription.ALL FOR FREE. Respect,homie.

3 comments:

Sam said...

dude first off check ur template coz i tried following your blog on Blogger but it said i cant. maybe the script in ur template is messed up.

word the fuck up on the melamine rappuh

ahah shit yea i might've written the pair words unconsciously but ppl dont notice it coz i sprinkle it all over the songs.

thanks for listening dawg, this review means a lot to me. featured it on my blog. spread the word to your friends about the tape too aight

Cheers
The Rhymeweaver

p/s:you doing a track with Jin? Jin Hackman or Jin ex-Ruff Ryders?

chowsingsing said...

no problemo keep makin that dope ish lovecraftian horror man
LOL the chances of me able to record something with jin ex-106 and park is highly unlikely....for now lolwtf
so jeahh its jin muthafreakin hackman supposed to be on his mixtape b4 his real album drops heheh was gonna keep this quiet until everything finalized cos i would look like an ass if at last minute i didnt make the cut knahmean lol

Sam said...

are you? thats awesome mate. mixtape'll be out for free or something? update me bi-arch