I produced, and mixed it myself! Tell me what you think, it helps me better myself! https://soundcloud.com/cequence/twisted-youth-prod-by-cequence-remixed
I dont rap and i dont produce, ill be honest though i didnt like the song, im all about clever lines and a nice melody, this song has no "flow"
It's not bad man. You got a pretty good flow. I actually listened to the whole song, which is something I can't say about 99% of the songs I check out on here. Don't quit. Keep doin it man.
Lyrically it seems conflicted. I respect the grind about going your own way, and a lot of the time you're speaking it as the way things are rather than just some fronting braggadocio but you still fall back on the paper chase crutch now and then that all those lameass mainstream rappers go to and i think you'd do something a whole lot better if you just stuck to the things that are true to your heart rather than the things that sell because its clear you at least notice them. But i'm telling you dude, buying into the whole popularity contest thing will singlehandedly ruin your music. As far as the beat goes you got a lot of improvement on the mixing and producing, the vocals are fighting with the instrumentals and the drums and nothing fits the way it should, or would if it were just mixed better, but the whole reverberant trip hoppy vibe seems pretty cool and one you get your filters down and learn a few tricks the mix can really pull together. You have a lot of reverb but its part of the reason your mix is conflicted. Sidechaining the compression reverb to your kick drums or using one of the sends to apply a gate to it will help to make it less muddy and tighten it up a bit. A good song to study for this kind of atmosphere is teardrop by massive attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7K72X4eo_s Also try pulling back your reverb quite a bit and mix it with some filtered delays, or chorus, or spreaders, part of the trick to a really amazing atmosphere is a ton of little effects here and there rather than one big one thats super noticeable.
Tbh braggadocio is what's true to my heart, just rapping about what I live, which is good because that's what sells................. and I'm trying to sell. XD And thanks for the advice, I'll to learn to actually mix lol, and I'll check out that video.
i don't think its true to anyones heart. braggadocio is all a front. in the words of lao tzu, those who know don't tell, and those who tell don't know. And in the words of the ghetto boys, real ass ni**as don't flex nuts cause real ass ni**as know they got em. Word for the wise, if you're hard, be hard, if you're the shit, be the shit, but don't talk yourself up unless you seriously wanna look like a pansy. Legends never brag, they don't need to. And i know its tough to see straight when everyone is telling you thats what sells, but i assure you, it doesn't sell shit. What sells is the reassurance that it sells. Braggadocio has done nothing on its own. It rode off of payola and clever marketing, it wasn't the arrogance itself that sold but the fact that they convinced people it did. Its the emperors new clothes, if they can put out a press release saying kanye's new piece of shit record just sold a million before the thing even drops, stupid people are going to buy it, and it might actually sell a million. On the other hand, if you're dead set on going this route, it may be wise to educate yourself on the new face of internet payola: http://5chicago.com/features/how-to-become-a-fake-soundcloud-superstar/ Though i must warn you, should you choose to go this way, you will be contributing to the giant shitshow that is mainstream music and i and many others will resent you purely on principle. You will try to convince yourself that myself and the others who disapprove of your methods are simply "haters" jealous of your success and fame (whether or not you actually achieve it) but the biting truth of the matter is that people just won't like you as a person, or your corrupted choices. And in the end you may end up just as much of a pariah as justin beiber. Yes, these are the exact same methods used by justin beiber and look what happened to him. Sure, it doesn't matter that all his followers were fake in the beginning now that he actually has real ones, but it hasn't exactly earned him anything but leper status and a million people petitioning to deport him.
There's literally nothing wrong with mainstream music, nothing wrong with underground music, nothing wrong with any type of music, what you need to realize is music is a form of expression. What you are getting at is you want music that pleases you, that talks about stuff that you want to hear.. You can change a persons personality because you don't want to hear it. Legends never brag? Has this one heard of Jay-Z? And heard his new album? Every rapper has a braggy side, some more than others, some are douches with it, but still all artist have that side. Trust me coming from an artist, it's true to the heart. Braggadocio is just basically optimism in your life, that's what a lot of backpackers don't want to hear now a days, they don't wanna hear what you like, or what makes you happy, they want to hear about the sad parts of the world, they want to hear what makes you mad, or sad, and they feel like that's what rap should be, and that's the only way to express yourself. " You will try to convince yourself that myself and the others who disapprove of your methods are simply "haters" jealous of your success and fame (whether or not you actually achieve it) but the biting truth of the matter is that people just won't like you as a person, or your corrupted choices. " For one they are haters, basically they are hating on the road you are choosing, and also there's no such thing as a truth, or a right way to make music. The way you feel is all opinionated.
@[member="Flightspace"] And also that thing about Justin Bieber is a load of bullshit, do you really think they will deport him? How would we look as a country if we deport someone just because we don't like them? Just because we dislike their music? Just because they're famous? There's kids all across America doing the same things as JB, but they aren't hated on just because they aren't famous, it's called living life. Also do you realize how well Justin Bieber can sing? How well his vocal range is, and the technical things about his voice that makes him surprisingly better than a lot? Or are you just one of the people who hate on him because of his success, and the stuff he does outside of his music? Celebs are humans too.
There are plenty of genres of music i don't like, or don't listen to, but it all holds artistic merit; EXCEPT mainstream. What you're trying to do is shit people would've never had the nerve to try and justify back in the 90s. Back then they called it being a poser. Now don't get me wrong, theres a way to express pride and even vanity through an artistic medium, look at andy warhol for instance. Now, the difference between him and someone like Jay Z, who, yes, i have a huge problem with, is that Warhol didn't give a crap, he was honest about his whole deal. He's even quoted saying he loves hollywood because everyone is plastic, he wants to be plastic, etc. Everyone knew he was vain and arrogant but that was ok because he did it with a nonchalant attitude, being up front about his motives, and even giving it a signature flair that hadn't been done before. Still andy was criticized, some people loved it, some people said he brought about the death of painting. But at the end of the day he wasn't a liar, he made ART, and he expressed himself. Jay Z on the other hand is always spouting off how he's the realest motherfucker ever, accusing everyone else of jacking his style, meanwhile he jacks whatever style is trendy and profitable. While at one point (and i have to go back even a decade just to find that point) i may have respected him or seen what he did as ART, what he is doing now is nothing of the like. Still he's not even nearly as bad as kanye, who goes on these ridiculous rants about being oppressed because he's black while wearing a diamond vanity mask and then rapping delusions of grandeur, he literally has a song called i am god, its to the point where you can't even parody him because theres no possible way to exaggerate it further. Both of their collective discographies consist of nothing more than ego stroking vanity projects and narcissism, a public masturbation to their own false reflections and nothing more. Their instrumentals are ripped off of, or bought, from artists with actual talent, who get little or often no recognition at all, and receive a fraction of the pay. These assholes have entire teams built around them solely for the purpose of making them not such a gigantic piece of shit, they don't write their own lyrics, they can't sing without a fucking vocoder, they make raps that don't even rhyme, you can't find a single fucking song that isn't specifically about drugs, money, or tits, the absolute lowest common denominator for anyone fucking ever. And it never transcends that, the pinnacle of their artistic achievement is another fucking metaphor about how much better they think they are then you, and thats with good reason. The second they transcend the lowest common denominator they make the risk of actually saying something meaningful, which in this day and age is something that people take offense to, sure, rapping about shooting someone you never shot, throwing money in the air and doing blow in the club is all fine and dandy but the second you make it about changing the world you lose customers. Its polluted the very essence of what we consider reality, turned everything upside down so suddenly arrogance or swagger is a good thing, instead of that thing douchebags do when they walk like they've got a gigantic insecurity complex. It doesn't take a fucking genius to know when someone is expressing their own fucking insecurities through self aggrandizement, and the fucking nerve of you to point the finger at me like i'm the one projecting myself onto them just because i have a problem with it. Just because everyone is entitled to their free speech DOES NOT mean every kind of speech is created equal, equally truthful, or equally benign. Just because someone hates you doesn't mean your actions and words aren't fucking worthless, it probably means they have a damn good reason to hate you. It probably means you or someone like you has done something to piss them off time and time again. Maybe they're sick of hearing your bullshit. Maybe your egotism is like nails on a chalkboard to their ears. Maybe they just dont agree that you're the baddest, illest motherfucker around and they're willing to call your bluff by beating you to a bloody fucking pulp because you made a dis rap saying you were going to shoot them when really you don't even have the stones to throw down. Being a hater isn't a fucking personality trait. Its a fucking reaction. Its not an embodiment of who I AM, its an embodiment of who YOU are, and how little that means to me. You want my love and respect? Do something meaningful. Spit in the faces of everyone with your egotistical bullshit, and hate is all you deserve.
This is absolutely, 100%, about you. And it also perfectly retorts your excuses for justin beiber. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odlAGksL9eU You would be the kind of person frank shoots.
The beat goes hard in the intro but falls flat. Your flow sounds a little like Cudi's / Kendrick's , needs more confidence though. Come hard with those lines. If you want to fit in with popular kids, sound angry , dont sound sad.
But that was the theme of the song XD, it wasn't meant to sound angry, it would have ruined the vibe... It's more a darkish sad song..
I kinda got that vibe, the outsider lookin in. It wasn't bad actually. A lot of blades post their music on here and your song was one of the better one's ive heard recently.