what are ya'lls oppinions on background ad-libs

[pro404]

This is a phenomenon that has been part of rap music for quite some time.

I believe that diddy/bad boy used to be the king of this. In many bad boy-produced songs, after a rapper completes a line, you can hear diddy's voice saying "yea baby," "bad boy," or one of several other catchphrases.

DMX has basically made a career off of doing this. He has quite a few that he changes between, such as "WHAT!," "COME ON!," and the infamous, "ARF ARF!" He does this in every song that i can think of, sometimes after every single line of his verse.

Tech n9ne (if anybody is familiar with him) is also quite fond of doing this. He uses his own word, which is like a "CHAH!" sound that he puts after many lines in his songs. For example:
you say get a job (chah!), i say hit a knob (chah!)
cause the way you run the world is every bit a fraud (chah!)
In some songs it is more excessive than others, using it more than once per line. It is kind of hard to notice at first because it blends in with the track, but once you start noticing it, you realize just how often he does it.

This is used excessively on mixtape/freestyle type tracks. It has become almost guaranteed that if the rapper has a particularly good line, you will hear somebody in the background go, "whoooooooooowheeeeeeee!"


So my question to you good folks is, what do you think of this? Do you think that it detracts from the music? Do you think it makes it better? Do you think it works for some artists, and not others? Or is it just good if not done in excess? Or do you like it when people do it frequently? Do you think an artist should find a catchphrase (tech n9ne), or do you think they should diversify their ad-libs (DMX)? Do you have any thoughts at all on this topic?

[Fyre]

its all up to the person.. i think now a days its over done to the extreme cause dayum near every rapper does it (including me) but at the same time I like it.... some cats go a lil to far at time (Jim jones comes to mind) lol

[Fieva]

I think it can either add presence to the song, or destroy it completely.

A lot of us use it to emphasize parts we want you to catch. Some of us just do it to copycat. But it all depends on the rapper. If you're good, you can use it and make it work for you, if you're not as good, you're gonna hear about it (and everything else people wanna criticize your music on).


Me personally, I hate it when dudes say "yeah" "uh-huh" or stupid unoriginal shit that has nothing to do with the song all through it. Now if you're being inventive with your adlibs (like putting something funny in there or making your own sound effect to emphasize what you just said) then that's no big deal, it's helping to bring out points and get people to relate to those bars.

It's like being at a rap concert and dudes tellin' the crowd to say "yeah" it doesn't do anything for me. Good adlibs can't highlight weak lyrics.

Fiev

[bknot1]

itd doesn't really matter to me.. if it goes with the song I leave it in there..if I think it sounded like crap I take it out.. Diddy/Bad Boy was mostly a vocie tage to let you know who puttin out the work...

so artist have their adlibs so good its just who they are..and if they didn't adlibs it wouldn't be them... Ie David Banner..(yeaaa!!) if it was in there i would think he put his heart into the song.. and I'm a Banner fan..since Crooked Lettez days (for all that don't know ...well before he was put on the scene)..

you just have to find what works for you or your artist..

[lyricalcharms]

sometimes theres nothin wrong wit a lil trade mark. when you hear that "ayyyeee" automatically u think Jeezy (and well a few others, but most recently jeezey). sometimes i get tired if it and i kno im not the only one.. i balance my self between the minstream world and underground, and yea u will hear it more in mainstream. i know a couple of dudes who will record addlibs and just do random things according to what the verse says... nothing wrong wit bringing sumtin to life like that, but at the same time too much is too much. people are gonna do it, some people handle it just right i guess...

ps...

TECH N9NE ROCKS!