My little brother's debut.

Southwest_Statistic · Mon Mar 07, 2005 12:20 am

My 13 year old little brother wrote/performed 100% of this song right here one of my SWS "Star Wars" sampled beats. He's 13 years old. This is pretty freaking good for 13, then again I might just be a proud big brother.

<a href="http://69.244.191.218:82/media/music/li ... _i_got.mp3" target="_blank">To download "lil_wit_i_got.mp3", Right-Click THIS Link, then Click "Save Target As..." or "Save Link As..."</a>.

deshead · Post by **deshead** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 9:08 am

Southwest_Statistic wrote:My 13 year old little brother wrote/performed 100% of this song

Jeees, 13? I was still waiting for my voice to change ...

Good job, little bro!

Also, only remotely related: I can't read "little brother" without thinking of "lil' brudder". Thanks, Strong Bad

c.layne · Post by **c.layne** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 10:59 am

my voice still isn't that deep.

Southwest_Statistic · Mon Mar 07, 2005 11:04 am

c.layne wrote:my voice still isn't that deep.

There's a bit of a low end eq boost if that makes you feel better. Horns sampled from Darth Vader's imperial march.

Justincombustion · Post by **Justincombustion** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 12:03 pm

That's a great age to get started. I wish I'd known about recording and whatnot back then, who knows how much further ahead I'd be? ("Much" is the answer)

Future Boy · Post by **Future Boy** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 6:03 pm

Please, set this kid straight *right now*. Don't let him continue to make music like this. It's upsetting.

j$ · Post by j$ » Mon Mar 07, 2005 6:35 pm

I wonder how your little brother feels about being relegated to monkey business? As much as I have railed against it in the past, there is a 'listen to my new song' thread over in 'Side fights and Highlights' exactly for this purpose.

Minty lip-pursing out of the way (!j$!)- I listened. Yr brother has a more-than-reasonable rap voice and the double-tracking (?) of the vocals suggests he has a really good natural rhythym. Musically i was crying out for a bit of variation - also I'm not sure that the deep-end EQing doesn't make the vocals a bit mumbly. But solid groove. Well done, SWS Jr.

j$

the Jazz · Post by **the Jazz** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 12:04 am

I blame society. Smack this kid upside the head for me.
(He has skills, sure, but what a waste of them.)

Justincombustion · Post by **Justincombustion** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 9:07 am

No man, you should have him do a collab with the Def Author.

the Jazz · Post by **the Jazz** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 7:35 pm

Somehow I doubt he's rapping about duck hunt guns.

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 9:20 pm

It's like this.

Not bad for a amateur rap and rap production. Given the tools today it must be nice to be able to make this type of thing happen.

Unfortunately I really disdain the whole in your face and covet what I got style rapping of the recent years. It breaks my heart actually.

Decent job, but you might encourage him to do something better.

GlennCase · Post by **GlennCase** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 5:16 am

Having not heard this (and I can't right now, I am heading to work), but having read the reviews thus far, I think it is safe to type this out.

If there is an obsession with guns and gangsta style lyrics within this track, and the person making the lyrics has never seen a gun, much less shot one? There is still hope.

Some of the earliest rap that I did, at about age 14, took on the gangsta style approach of the era. It didn't take me 'too' long to realise that I wasn't being true to who I was. I just asked myself one day "Why on earth am I trying to act tough... when I'm not?!" Thankfully, few recordings exist of these years where I was merely emulating what I had heard, and seeing if I could rap that way too.

Now, on the other hand, if the person who wrote this is a straight up GANGSTA... and they actually have lived what they are writing about? At least it is from the heart.

Honestly, I would have to say that is the key thing with almost any music... if it is coming from the heart? There is a good chance that it is a decent recording, even if it is horrible

ROCK!

Glenn (DR FUNK)

Southwest_Statistic · Post by **Southwest_Statistic** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 7:34 am

GlennCase wrote:Some of the earliest rap that I did, at about age 14, took on the gangsta style approach of the era. It didn't take me 'too' long to realise that I wasn't being true to who I was. I just asked myself one day "Why on earth am I trying to act tough... when I'm not?!" Thankfully, few recordings exist of these years where I was merely emulating what I had heard, and seeing if I could rap that way too.

I think it's worth saying here that my little brother did this song with the goal of being funny and doesn't take his rap seriously at all. He does not listen to rap music, and both of us think that modern rap is retarded. The joke - as is the joke with my 'Gallows Hill' song - is that it sounds somewhat-radio-ready coming from somebody who is less then gangsta.

Leaf · Post by **Leaf** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 9:32 am

I personally like "in joke" music... however, you really can't get away with using that as some kind of excuse, of slap disclaimers on it like "we think it's retarded". Actually, a lot of that music is quite fast, but that's beside the point. Mocking something begets a little irony, because the listener, with no clue, takes it seriously. You might be laughing, but the irony is that others will think YOUR retarded.

Talk amongst yourselves.

Southwest_Statistic · Post by **Southwest_Statistic** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 9:52 am

Leaf wrote:I personally like "in joke" music... however, you really can't get away with using that as some kind of excuse, of slap disclaimers on it like "we think it's retarded". Actually, a lot of that music is quite fast, but that's beside the point. Mocking something begets a little irony, because the listener, with no clue, takes it seriously. You might be laughing, but the irony is that others will think YOUR retarded.

Half the point actually. Most of Songfight! says "I hate it, it's retarded" - what I expect from musicians. Still, for each one who hates it there is another that says "That's awesome". We are laughing at the latter.

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:43 am

Southwest_Statistic wrote:
GlennCase wrote:Some of the earliest rap that I did, at about age 14, took on the gangsta style approach of the era. It didn't take me 'too' long to realise that I wasn't being true to who I was. I just asked myself one day "Why on earth am I trying to act tough... when I'm not?!" Thankfully, few recordings exist of these years where I was merely emulating what I had heard, and seeing if I could rap that way too.
I think it's worth saying here that my little brother did this song with the goal of being funny and doesn't take his rap seriously at all. He does not listen to rap music, and both of us think that modern rap is retarded. The joke - as is the joke with my 'Gallows Hill' song - is that it sounds somewhat-radio-ready coming from somebody who is less then gangsta.

I didn't realize the recording was a parody. It parodies nicely. Thats actually quite refreshing.

Denyer · Post by **Denyer** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 1:51 am

Steven Spielberg never lived in a haunted house, but he wrote Poltergeist. What is he doing writing about fighting ghosts when he's never fought a ghost himself.

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 10:26 am

Denyer wrote:Steven Spielberg never lived in a haunted house, but he wrote Poltergeist. What is he doing writing about fighting ghosts when he's never fought a ghost himself.

That isn't the argument.

Now, if poltergeist was a documentary, then you'd have something.

GlennCase · Post by **GlennCase** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 11:26 am

Denyer wrote:Steven Spielberg never lived in a haunted house, but he wrote Poltergeist. What is he doing writing about fighting ghosts when he's never fought a ghost himself.

We're talking apples and oranges here.

Filming a movie implies that acting will happen. The viewer knows this, and very few people would believe that the events of a big-budget motion picture were actually happening in real time.

So, of course actors are going to be fake. It is their job to be fake. It's their duty to convince the viewer that they really are their character for roughly a couple of hours.

Somehow (with some exceptions) this does not generally seem to apply to music in the same respect. ESPECIALLY rap, where there tends to be a big backlash if the artist turns out to not be what they claim to be.

There is nothing wrong with telling stories, or even with writing lyrics that exaggerate things a bit, or for a recording artist to get into character the way an actor does. (Of course, if you write things knowing that there is potential to offend certain people, you can probably plan on taking flack for it.) The real trouble begins when you try to pass yourself off to the public as something you are not, and then you get caught in the lie. Ask Vanilla Ice or Milli Vanilli about that.

Also, I think the performance has a LOT to do with it also. Just because MC Frontalot has a track about donating both of his lungs to a patient, doesn't mean that I believe he did that. If a performer is good like a good actor, the listener will actually be able to TELL that it is fiction from the voice inflection, and performance. As long as it is written and performed well, story songs can actually be really cool. It's the INTENT of the song that can sneak up and bite you in the ass as an artist.

Call it a double-standard. It probably is.

ROCK!

Glenn (DR FUNK)

sparks · Post by **sparks** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 1:29 pm

This is pretty funny. In a good way, though.

He needs to shamelessly sample that Suzanne Vega song for the chorus. You know the one.

How could anyone not think this was a joke? "I got rims to go on my planes."

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:30 am

sparks wrote: How could anyone not think this was a joke? "I got rims to go on my planes."

Apparently you havn't been listening to rap lately.

Glenn, I agree with what you're saying..but 'some exceptions' isn't fair. I'd argue that most songs written are little 'acts'. Harry Chapin wrote a lot of songs that were stories and were fiction but very realistic. I do it all the time myself and then there are lyrics that are just so mystic that you cant' tell if they are real or not.

It is a double standard..but a lot of rap is sold as first person truths...and that in itself seperates itself from the vast 3 minute scenes presented by the musician class for years.

Southwest_Statistic · Post by **Southwest_Statistic** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:43 am

Hoblit wrote:
sparks wrote: How could anyone not think this was a joke? "I got rims to go on my planes."
Apparently you havn't been listening to rap lately.

For real. Also, a friend of mine suggested that if that song had terrible production quality the joke would have been easier to spot. The serious-sounding-production may have been part of the misunderstanding.

My little brother's debut.

Does it thump da back of da junk in da trunk?

My little brother's debut.

Re: My little brother's debut.