Tag: hip-hop

  • Learning to Scratch with “This Is America”

    Learning to Scratch with “This Is America”

    + Learn to create and arrange original, instrumental hip-hop music from sampling pioneer RJD2 himself in his new course on Soundfly, RJD2: From Samples to Songs. This article originally appeared on Ethan Hein’s blog. One of my projects for this summer is to realize my decades-old ambition to learn how to scratch. I borrowed a Korg Kaoss DJ controller from a…

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  • L’Rain on Making ‘Not Jazz’ and Being in a ‘Dead Marriage’ with Music

    L’Rain on Making ‘Not Jazz’ and Being in a ‘Dead Marriage’ with Music

    Welcome back to our interview series, Incorrect Music, curated by guitarist, singer, and composer Lora-Faye Åshuvud (of the band Arthur Moon). In this series, we present intimate conversations with artists who are striving to push the boundaries of their process and craft. Join our weekly email newsletter to get more insights like this into how professional artists are making music, and…

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  • How I Made a Trap Song About the Food Chain for 2 Chainz

    How I Made a Trap Song About the Food Chain for 2 Chainz

    It had been two hours of staring at a screen, writer’s block was setting in. And then it hit us… A trap song about marine biology. The rest is history.

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  • 25 Times Accountants Appear in Rap Songs

    25 Times Accountants Appear in Rap Songs

    Here are 25 of our favorite hip-hop songs that feature raps about accountants. Because music and money look and sound so good together!

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  • How Adam Yauch Became Rap’s Fun-Loving Social Change Advocate

    Anyway you slice it, Adam “MCA” Yauch of the Beastie Boys was as “cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce,” even when his conversation changed from silly lyrics and dropping beats to deep social commentary and dropping thought bombs. The hip-hop pioneer, who would’ve turned 54 yesterday had life not been cut short…

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  • How Rap Ushered the Piano Into Its Next Developmental Phase

    How Rap Ushered the Piano Into Its Next Developmental Phase

    Hip-hop is officially pop music. With Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar’s sweep of the Grammy Awards earlier this year, it’s evident that hip-hop has officially shed its status as “that controversial music genre” that prompted the Grammys’ organizers to refuse to air any rap categories back in 1989, which subsequently prompted some to boycott the event.…

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  • 11 Naija Pop Tracks that Capture the New Sound of West Africa’s “Afrobeats”

    11 Naija Pop Tracks that Capture the New Sound of West Africa’s “Afrobeats”

    By Noah Cebuliak “Afrobeats” is pop music originating in West Africa, where currently, the scene is being driven primarily by artists from Nigeria and Ghana. In Nigeria, this music is infused with a culture of youthful excitement and resistance, as well as a sense of positive national pride — all of which can be summed…

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  • J. Hoard of Sonnymoon on Why Singers Should Strive to Be Like Water

    J. Hoard of Sonnymoon on Why Singers Should Strive to Be Like Water

    Welcome back to Soundfly’s monthly interview series, Incorrect Music, curated by guitarist, singer, and composer Lora-Faye Åshuvud (of the band Arthur Moon). In this series, we present intimate conversations with artists who are striving to push the boundaries of their process and craft.  Jonathan Hoard is more than just a vocalist. The singer-songwriter has written, composed, and arranged music for…

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  • Is Janelle Monáe’s “Dirty Computer” the New “Purple Rain” or Something Else Entirely?

    Is Janelle Monáe’s “Dirty Computer” the New “Purple Rain” or Something Else Entirely?

    Welcome to Soundfly Slacks Off, a published team discussion. The following conversation took place among Soundfly team members on May 4, 2018 and has been edited to provide maximum interesting stuff and minimal snoody gibberish (but we kept some of that in there too). Want to nerd out with us on musical topics or get…

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  • The Cleansing: “Dirty Computer” Ushers in a New Era of Janelle Monáe

    The Cleansing: “Dirty Computer” Ushers in a New Era of Janelle Monáe

    In the era of Cardi B, Beyoncé, Lena Waithe, Laverne Cox, Tiffany Haddish, and many others, we bask in the glory of Black womxn. No longer are we afraid to show our thick thighs, curvy curls, and infectious attitudes. And why should we be? Black womxn have been told to sit down and shut up,…

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