The special guest performer on an episode of Chappelle's Show a few days ago was a rapper called "Fat Joe". He was very fat. His act consisted of a lot of people performing vocal and musical repeating phrases while he hollered what! uh! and chimed in off key to the chorus from time to time. Why is this person famous? Why are so many like him the toast of the hip hop world? Are they the same sorts of people that keep putting Marion Barry in office?
Watching and listening to his act it was easy to see several things:
1. The performers were replicating what machines created in the recording studio.
2. Having to watch Fat Joe holler his exclamations in front of a beatbox with a taped track playing would be boring and pointless, but probably more like how it really is.
3. The singers performing the vocal loop had more talent than the featured performer.
4. Quilted fabric is a mistake for the "festively plump".
Then I thought, "Maybe I"m wrong about Fat Joe and those like Fat Joe." Perhaps the whole composition was his brainchild. Could he be like Mozart or Bach, leading others in the performance of a work that was solely his creation? Did he listen to old school jams over and over to find the right hook? Did he slave away over his lyrics notebook, first inspired then despondent that the words would never flow then elated to pen the lines that perfectly fit the mood of the piece? My suspicion is that a truly talented producer is using the charisma and appeal of this front man to advance his own interests.
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