2B - Thursday, November 14, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com A history lesson on hip- hop's hype men SPOTIFINDS Daily Arts Writers dig through recent Spotify releases to find the tracks worth revisiting or discovering. f you've ever been to a hip- hop show, you've probably noticed that guy jumping around next to your favorite rapper, barking out the last few words of every lyric and pumping up the crowd with the usual "wave your hands side to side" or "somebody JACKSON scream!" HOWARD This guy, the hype man, has been an integral part of hip hop since its inception in the late 1970s. The concept of a hype man makes perfect sense for rap culture, as freestyling and battle-rapping - two of the most basic forms of hip hop - are as dependent on the cheering of the crowds as they are on the indi- vidual lyricist's ability. Flavor Flav for Public Enemy, Spliff Star for Busta Rhymes, Tony Yayo for 50 Cent and Mem- phis Bleek for Jay-Z are just some examples of hype men who have played important roles in rap- per's performances. For Wu-Tang Clan, every member doubles as both a rapper and a hype man, while producers such as Swizz Beatz, Jermaine Dupri, Lil Jon and Diddy all play hype man- like roles on the stage and in the studio. On the other hand, hype men can get boring and annoying. I've been to countless rap shows, and it's always refreshing when a rap-. per performs without his hype man or DJ yelling every other word. Today, rappers continue to use hype men on stage. In the booth, however, it's a different story, as hype men have never had the same presence in the stu- dio as they have on stage. Instead, it's on the artists to pump them- selves with double-layered vocals and, most importantly, random, shouted ad-libs. Many popular rappers use their own catch phrases as momentum trampolines for their own rhymes. Jeezyuses a plethora of cryptic, smoker's lung-sounding shouts after his verses, while Rick Ross's guttural unghhhh and barks of "BAWSE" can be expected on almost every song. Waka Flocka deserves recognition for his insane use of "WAKA," "BOW BOW BOW" and repeated self-made gun sounds, while Gucci Mane will forever be known for his trade- mark "BURRRR" and "Yeahhhh- hhh." Ad-libs like these, such as Big Sean's "Oh Gawd" and French Montana/Kanye's "Hannnnnnh," give artists signature identifiers and provide more emphasis to each verse. Southern rappers in particular - Jeezy, Ross, Gucci Mane, etc. - have a particularknack fornot only creating repeated ad-libs, but also for shouting outhilarious and threatening back-up vocals that pertain specificallyto the lyrical content itself, not just a random El Itotook half a seasonto doit, but "Masters of Sex" moved past awkward foreplay and finally got down to business in Sunday night's "All Together Now."Things really are OfSex coming "All Together together for ow" the fledgling drama: The Showtime fabulous Alli- son Janney is involved in a multi-episode affair, there are two established love triangles forming around Virginia, Jane can spell anes- thesiaand, oh yeah, Masters and Johnson have started having sex (scientific sex, of course, butsex nonetheless). For the first time, the second- aryplots lineup with the main plot to make apoint. Every character is trying to figure out her or his ownsex life, whether word. Especially in the last three or four years, Atlanta artists such as Future, Rich Homie Quan and Migos have released hit songs in which the backingvocals are just as important as the lead. Most renowned is former Three 6 Mafia member Juicy J, who, coming from Memphis, shares a similar cultural background as the aforementioned Southern up-and- comers. Many rappers simply repeat their last word for emphasis, but a select few have mastered the art of explanatory and absurd ad- libbing. Because I find this trend hysterical but also quite fascinat- ing in the cyclical evolution of hip "Drowning in compliments, pool in the backyard that look like Metropolis," Drake raps at the beginning. Migos follows with "Metropolis?" and it's not really clear whether he's genuinely per- plexed as to what Metropolis is or if he's just egging Drake on. My other favorite comes when, after Drake spits, "I do not fuck with your new shit, my nigga, don't ask for take on it," Migos shouts out, "Don't ask for my opinion," warding off potential questioners in case Drake's mes- sage wasn't clear enough. Juicy J 0 0 hop, I'v favorite years. G son unli "Typ Fromn tellingv (ain't n "That c feel son ho!)," R master one's ov his ad-li the star "When she ma! look lik just a cr ing nibb Tyson b field's e Rich H for look lutely k can't he "Vers The so ridic inspire Migos i from A' their tr caught on the: born. D first mi song, a: own ad to do th resulte Ad Vi I Y Thou ping, M backgr entirely also she e come up with a few of my Juicy J is, right now, the ad-libs from the past few undisputed king of ad-libbing. In et ready for an English les- addition to his signature shouts ike any you've ever had. of "Yeah, ho!" "Bitch!" "Yessir!" "MMHMM!" "You know it!" e of Way"- Rich Homie "Strippers!" and, of course, "We Quan Trippy Mane," Juicy is a master of creative and vulgar back- the second line, "Ain't no grounds. what he'll do for the paper Take "Durr She Go," a track o telling!)," to the chorus, featuring Travis Porter off his ustom Breitling make you mixtape Rubba Band Business 2. e type of way (I'm shining "What's yo name, nigga?" back- ich Homie has certainly ground Juicy shouts, leading real ed the art of becoming Juicy to rap, "They call me Juicy wn hype man. However, J, I'm in the getting-high busi- ib magnum opus comes at ness." Talking about a certain t of his first verse, singing, stripper he had relations with, I get to biting on her ear Juicy raps, "And I've done shown ke that Tyson face (don't everybody cell phone pictures e that!)" First off, this is (naked!)," adding naked just to 'azy line, and connect- make sure you truly understand. bling on a woman's ear to My favorite mixtape of his, biting off Evander Holy- Blue Dream and Lean, overflows ar is genius. Just imagining with ad-lib gems. "Errbody omie yelling at his woman Wave" has a great selection, ing like Mike Tyson abso- including my personal choice: ills me; I mean, what if she "And they reaching in your pock- lp it? ets for them Franklins (that's mine!)" In this line, background ace" - Migos featuring Juicy really places you at the Drake scene of this robbery, and it's easy to imagine him smackingsome ad-libs in this song are guy for some money and shout- ulous that they basically ing, "That's mine!" d me to write this article. Juicy clearly loves adding more s a group of three rappers description to his lines through tlanta who blew up when his ad-libs. On "Get Higher" he ap anthem about Versace rhymes, "I'm so fucked up play- Drake's ear. He hopped ing PS3 (my favorite!)," while on remix, and a banger was "Lucky Charm" he raps, "She rake's verse takes up the short and red, remind me of nute and a half of the a dynamite (she hot!)." "Been nd instead of doing his Gettin Money" is funny even -libs, he enlisted Migos for Juicy: "I gotbad bitches iem for him. Perfection walking round me, tan perfect d. (white hoes!)." I'm not really sure whether he's complimentingthe white girls around him for being -libs serve a tan, or what this means, but the fact that he shouts out "white tal purpose hoes!" is worth mentioning. Ad-libs like these, as stupid as n modern they seem, serve vital purposes in pumpingup listeners and rap music, making certain lines more mem- orable. They also give artists their own recognizable identi- ties. "You know it!" Juicy shouts ugh Drake is the one rap- on "Geeked Up Off Them Bars" igos's overly enthusiastic after rapping, "Juicy J one crazy ounds give the song an high ass nigga," the perfect com- 'new dimension while pliment to just another line of owcasing Migos's hilarious plane insanity. 0 ARTPOP - Lady Gaga The tracklist alone for ARTPOP seems like a work of bizarre Gaga performance art in and of itself. "G.U.Y."? "MANiCURE"? "Fashion!"? What is this album? After a first listen-through, you won't have many answers. ARTPOP has moments of classic Gaga pop and moments of ... something entirely different, including a confusingly trappy track featuring T.I., Too $hort and Twista. Though it lacks cohesion, ARTPOP on the whole outshines its Top-40-ready lead single, "Applause." Feel free to skip that one during your full-album listen. WARNER BROS "Perfume" - Britney Spears Whereas the heavily EDM-influenced "Work Bitch" shows off Britney's bad side, "Perfume" is a stripped-down Britney ballad that's more "Lucky" than "Toxic." The lyrics are admittedly simplistic and schmaltzy, but there's an emo- tional vulnerability to "Perfume" that makes it clear why Britney herself said releasing the song feels like she's sharing a piece of her heart. If nothing else, "Perfume" at least seems to be the perfect material for alate-night karaoke session fueled by alcohol and feels. S' 0 WARNER BRoS "All Bad" - Justin Bieber In his latest Music Mondays gift, J.Biebz goes on the defensive, most likely in response to the tabloid troubles the teen has faced lately. Regard- less of whether his apologetic words are true or not, it's a catchy track, a slice of post-R&B moodiness that marks a departure from his more bubblegummy Believe hoppers. Airy instrumen- tals and whispery vocals lend to the bleak angst Bieber is really driving home with his most recent work. Hey, it's really not so bad. PARAMOUNT "A World Alone" - Lorde Every time you start feeling bad about your- self, just think about the fact that Lorde is 17 years old and probably more talented than you'll ever be. With a stark guitar line and breath- taking vocals, "A World Alone" is the perfect closer for her debut studio album, Pure Heroine. The teenaged art pop princess croons, "You're my best friend and we're dancing in the world alone," perfectly capturing the introspective tone of the whole album. personality. Almost every ad-lib here is golden, and it's impos- sible to pick the best one, but I have a few that are real favorites: Howard is searching for a hype man. To apply, e-mail jackhow@umich.edu. 4 4 6 0