Designer, Mumble Rap and Scatting
Scatting :
"Using nonsense syllables and improvised rhyme over language to utilize voice as an instrument."
A style used in the 1800's Jazz age, Scatting allowed sensational musicians to further increase their potential by using their voice not as a tool of communicating language, but to produce nonsense syllables and improvised rhyme in order to turn the voice into a more raw form of instrument. Scatting was never rehearsed or pre-planned, it was an improvisation done in the moment.
Desiigner blew up in the year 2016 when his hit single "Panda" reached number 1 on the billboard charts. Currently having over 230 million views on YouTube, the single popularized a young artist with a fresh take on rap, and more specifically: voice and lyrics. Many attribute Desiigner's large success to supposedly biting the style of Future, and being put on the fast track by Kanye West following verses of Panda being featured on his Platinum album, The Life of Pablo. His true success however comes from his personal delivery and unique style. As Picasso said, "Good artists borrow, great artists steal", and Desiigner's personal twist on Future's codeine ridden and dirty sprite culture inspired slurred bars make an entirely fresh flavor, more than welcome to hip-hop and rap.
Desiigner has put into a category with several huge rappers at the moment called Mumble Rappers. Their slurred delivery makes their lyrics difficult to comprehend at first, which placed them under much criticism. In a world where so much music is produced it is impossible to wade through the masses to search for what you really want, for many mumble Rap seems like a lazy delivery, and is enough to turn them off from the idea completely. Those who stuck around however, caught by flows so smooth and rhythms so consistent, saw more than an unenthusiastic delivery. They saw a way to make a songs lyrics so deeply integrated with the beat that it makes an experience that resonates cleanly with your natural compulsion towards audio with every element used as a tool, the lyrics are flexible and stay on the beat and only ever go off with purpose. The Audience For Mumble Rap is there - 21 Savage, Lil Yachty and Lil Uzi Vert (just to name a few) have all blown up massively in the past few years, becoming some of the biggest names in the Rap Game today, millions and millions of fans all come together of this new form of Rap, and despite all the people who try and put it down, make up one of the largest group of music fans worldwide.
Put simply, the comparisons between Scatting and Mumble Rap are clear, Jazz greats like Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald used Scatting to allow their voices to serve as unique and additional instruments, giving them an opportunity to express themselves, channel the music and say what lyrics can't. It was a conversation between heart and mouth but in a secret language you could only feel. Today's hip hop giants such as Desiigner ,Young Thug and Lil Yachty slur their lyrics to keep a powerful, consistent rhythm and rhyme structure, and while it's not always the case, certain artists (such as Lil Uzi Vert in XO TOUR Llif3) use mumble rap to slip in lyrics that can be delved much deeper into for hardcore fans. Mumble Rap channels Scatting, and compels the younger, fresher and musically progressive audiences of today to a powerful extent.
Image sources :
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