Chemistry between Mike and Chester

Discussion in 'Linkin Park Chat' started by Xodus, Jun 18, 2012.

  1. #21
    Jordan

    Jordan Secret Robot

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    ^Your fanboy is showing. Just listen to the second verse of LITE to see what thesungoesdown talking about. I think his flow works fine for Linkin Park songs, but lyrically he's seriously uninteresting. "Y'all go hard? I go smart. How's it working out for y'all in the back, huh?" real meaningful stuff there. He even tries to be clever in that verse with the line "I can't C-FLAT, it ain't my tone.", which aside from feeling really out of place with the rest of his 'yeah I'm still great even though odds were against me' shit, is also a line that anyone who understands would groan at rather than appreciate for its wit.

    And how is sex not a legitimate topic to write songs about?
     
  2. #22
    OmarAbaza999

    OmarAbaza999 Active Member

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    sex is legit to talk about but many artists overuse it with words like "bitches, whoes, shit, mother fucker" way too much as scapegoats if they dont find words and tend to change topic to sex even if the song is talking about something else. look at this piece from until it breaks, it shows u dont need to say the words above to show your tough and shinoda is the one who delivers it in case you dont know

    I grind tough, sucker, make your mind up.
    Are you in the firing squad or are you in the line-up?
    Bang bang/Little monkey man playing with the big guns -
    will only get you slain I ain't playing.
    I'm just saying you ain't gotta sliver of a chance.
    I get iller I deliver while you quiver in your pants.
     
  3. #23
    Filip

    Filip god break down the door LPA Contributor

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    Personally, I think Mike's rap on this record are awesome, especially in Victimized, However, Chester impressed me much more on this record. This record, as a whole is just awesome, from the first song to the last.
     
  4. #24
    theycallmepraya

    theycallmepraya $w∆gg3r.

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    For all you "Big Hip Hop Heads" that didn't enjoy Mike's rapping:

    My primary music of choice is hip hop/rap as well. I go through the ranks and pretty much listen from anything like Immortal Technique all the way to mainstream stuff like Drake. So I get a pretty well rounded experience of the entire rap/hip hop thing. And I've heard tons and tons of rappers try to spit over heavy rock beats and they can't do it. They don't approach it right and it ends up sounding like garbage. Tech9 tries it, Wayne tried it, Eminem did some Screamo stuff. There's a plethora of hip hop artists that try to do rock heavy tracks and fail. However Mike has made 5 albums worth of that type of material and shitted on those tracks. Every style of Hip Hop is different. Mike has proven he can get lyrical (Dedicated/In the End Demo) but if the track doesn't call for that then why do it? He chose some songs on here (Until It Breaks/Victimized) to really go in on, and then songs like Lost in the Echo he kinda held back lyrically to just bring in the emotion and power. Sure there are some rappers that can do both and do it well, and im not claiming him to be the best. But he's definitely one of the best in terms of bring rap to the rock frontier and I honestly feel like Living Things is just a brick in the wall that stands as proof to that.
     
  5. #25
    Blake

    Blake Leave a Trace LPA Super Member

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    Besides a subliminal diss on Eminem in that paragraph, :ditto:

    Mike's raps are good, and they work. Mike is by no means my favorite rapper. There are rappers out there who rap with better flows, delivery, voice, and lyrics. Mike is not even really a top 10 rapper either. he is good for what he does, he makes it work with rock which most rappers would not be able to do. Imagine Kanye West on an LP song, would it work? Maybe, but more so then not it would not work. Same would go with most rappers. I mean look at that crap Fred Durst does. It does not work. Mike's raps work in Linkin Park songs and his raps are great. His is the best rapper for rap mixed with rock (better than Pharrel, Durst, and any one else who tries to do it).
     
  6. #26
    danielpsoad-09

    danielpsoad-09 Well-Known Member

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    One of the things that I liked the most about Living Thing is precisely the work Mike and Chester did. I've never been a fan of Mike's voice when he sings. Actually, I was a bit reluctant when he had some protagonism during MTM, and then with ATS I somehow changed my mind and thought he did a great job. But now I absolutely loved how well he complements Chester's voice. All the parts where they harmonize are awesome. Mike's also doing some great backing vocals, and of course, when he's being the lead singer he does an excellent job. As someone said, his voice definitely evokes a different type of emotion.
     
  7. #27
    Xodus

    Xodus Well-Known Member

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    Great post.
     
  8. #28
    Jordan

    Jordan Secret Robot

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    Having a problem with rappers over using the words 'bitches', 'hos' would be having a problem with misogynist lyrics rather than lyrics about sex. Any topic can be good or bad depending on how well or how creatively you do it, and considering the user that was being attacked was criticising Mike's lyrics as not being meaningful enough I'm assuming he values decent lyric quality, meaning he wouldn't listen to rappers who write about sex uncreatively. I'm just saying that it's an odd attack.

    I don't really find those lyrics from Until It Breaks that interesting either. I don't think it really says much other than "I'm a great rapper" - the "playing with the big guns" part is pretty vague so I can't see how you drew your conclusion to what the lyrics are about. That said though, I agree with theycallmepraya, Mike does fine, or even better, than most rappers who try to rap over heavier beats and his style and lyrics are a perfect match for what Linkin Park is trying to achieve at the moment. I'm just saying that calling the lyrics "average and mediocre" from a larger perspective isn't that far off from the truth nowadays.
     
  9. #29
    OmarAbaza999

    OmarAbaza999 Active Member

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    i was reffering to the post about "sex is legit topic" and was not attacking the original poster
    i was adding misogyny part in addition and showing how rappers these days tend to change the subject to "i fucked that bitch/hoe"
    this is the way most of the rappers these days talk about sex
    i reffered to mikes stylistic match with rock in my first post if u read it carefully to show the point theycallmepraya was mentioning
    btw iam not attacking you any way but iam actually happy because i never had this "mike is an ok/poor/good rapper" talk with any1 and as u see iam new to the forums :D
     
  10. #30
    arbiter

    arbiter Well-Known Member

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    They are not the greatest band in the world because there is no such thing as 'the greatest band" anyways. But they became my favourite band and attracted my attention back in 2003 exclusively because of that chemistry and interplay between Mike and Chester. It is my favourite tool from their toolbox.:awesome:

    I thought that chemistry was utilized very well on Hybrid Theory, ATS and now Living Things. If it was ever underused, it was on Minutes to Midnight. And now that Mike is singing more, i think it just opens up more room for them to explore. I think that is why i enjoy Victimized so much even though i really don't care for screaming and loud music. :cool:

    Does being a hip-hop head(stupid name to call one's self to start with) make you an automatic authority on rap? Because if it does, then i am an authority on rap. :D Luckily, there is such a thing called a 'preference' or 'taste'. All of which are heavily subjective.:lol:
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2012
  11. #31
    Xodus

    Xodus Well-Known Member

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    I didn't mention being a hip hop head in the quoted post so I'm not sure what you're responding to in regards to that. But yes, I would consider myself a "hip hop head" of sorts (though overall, I probably listen to indie rock more than anything else) and you're free to think calling yourself is dumb if you wish, I really don't give a crap. Furthermore, yes, someone who listens to a lot of hip hop is more knowledgeable about it than someone who doesn't. Just like someone who drinks a lot of wines is more knowledgeable about wine than someone who only drinks white zinfandel. Tastes are subjective but being knowledgeable isn't. I'm not sure what point, if any, you were trying to make.
     
  12. #32
    Louis

    Louis Message me if you need to talk. We love you all. LPA Team

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    I think it's fair to say that the chemistry between Mike and Chester has definitely improved, but if anything I would suggest more so that the dynamic of that chemistry has changed. Someone mentioned earlier that one of the things they fell in love with was that synergy from their earlier records, and I don't think it's right to say that synergy ever went away. I think that synergy had to adapt to their departure from the nu-metal genre. I think they had a harder time finding their footing on Minutes to Midnight for that reason, but it came right back on A Thousand Suns. I mean, I've never heard them collaborate so well until that point. ATS did well to show that the synergy can exist whether Mike is rapping or singing and whether Chester is singing or screaming. It's there no matter what because the two know each other so well and went through that discovery process of "Hey, Chester doesn't have to scream so much" and "Hey, Mike has the voice to sing on more tracks" together.

    One of the few positives, for me, on LIVING THINGS was that you could hear that synergy go through its progression on one album. You can hear that same quick back and forth of rapping to screaming on "VICTIMIZED" and yet you can feel their voices go together so well on "CASTLE OF GLASS" and "ROADS UNTRAVELED." So, from there, I'd say that what we see is not some sort of drastic improvement in the chemistry, but the chemistry being able to take shape and manifest itself in whatever song they decide to write. That's pretty crucial for the band going forward in case they decide to go along the path of heavy experimentation again.
     

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