The New Voice of Hip Hop

Only a handful of rappers can call themselves the king of both New York and the West Coast, but few questioned Kendrick Lamar when he asserted his cross-continental reign in his standout verse on “Control.” Lamar’s  incredible success is understandable based on his unusually deeply personal lyrics and his understated beats. But in spite of these undeniable strengths,  Lamar’s fame is particularly surprising given his characteristically unique and unconventional rapping voice. Of course, every famous rapper—and every vocal artist, for that matter—has his or her own unique voice. However, the recent widespread embrace of Lamar and his different vocal sounds and tones—those that may be off-putting at first—represents and illustrates the greater movement in hip-hop towards artists with slightly bizarre and unusual voices, and an even greater social movement that hip hop is advancing.

Kendrick Lamar is not the only recent hip-hop artist with a unique voice to receive critical and commercial acclaim. But because of his prominence in the rap world, it is particularly important to examine his voice and its role in his success. Not only does Lamar have a uniquely high-pitched, particularly narrow voice—as best demonstrated on the hooks of “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” and “Real”—but he also, through computer effects, digitally manipulates his voice. Lamar develops a wide range of emotions through raising, lowering, fading, and multiplying his vocal tracks in tracks like “m.A.A.d City” and “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst.”

The acceptance of Lamar’s unconventional tone and omnipresent vocal effects not only speaks to his remarkable talent, but also to the bigger movement in hip-hop towards recognizing rappers with all sorts of different vocal tones. Chance The Rapper, who raps with a particularly childish voice, is another hip-hop artist whose meteoric rise illustrates the music community’s acceptance of rappers with different tones. Danny Brown has also received commercial and critical acclaim for his last two albums despite his piercing and shrill voice (and a correspondingly bizarre haircut). And of course we cannot forget Nicki Minaj, whose creative and constantly changing tone is completely unlike any rapper prior, male or female. These rappers voices are highly noticeable and decidedly rougher than the smooth voices of Jay-Z or Tupac. But because of the excitement of its originality, the hip-hop community at large has embraced Lamar and his counterparts.

This tendency of the hip-hop community to embrace change and originality extends beyond vocal stylings. Most notably, rap production—the sound behind the lyrics—has gone through remarkable and rapid changes, particularly within the last decade. In the past 10 years alone, rap production has gone through phases of  pitched-and-sped-up soul samples, lush R&B sounds, and minimalist electronica. Lamar did not only succeed because of  hip-hop’s acceptance of his voice; if the genre didn’t embrace Lamar’s sparse and quirkily mysterious production, he would have never achieved mainstream success.

Apart from its rapidly-changing forms of production, hip-hop frequently embraces new ideas and lyrical content. Lamar has particularly benefited from the acceptance of new ideas; his most recent album was filled with content about his profoundly difficult upbringing in Compton, a subject that has not been developed prominently in other genres. Additionally, hip-hop has recently facilitated previously understated messages of same-sex relationship support. The recent success and acceptance of singing sensation Frank Ocean, who has openly discussed his romantic relationships with men and women[, paired with the radio prominence of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s “Same Love” illustrates  hip-hop’s openness towards new and unusual ideas, particularly if they are executed through music creatively and inspiringly.

Kendrick Lamar’s rise to the top of the hip-hop world both shines light on the increase of unconventional rappers and serves as an example of hip-hop’s capacity for rapid change. Though hip-hop does not always get the best “rap” for creativity and originality, its capacity to accept the irregular and the progressive—whether a unique production sound, message, or voice— is exactly what makes hip-hop the most dynamic and exciting genre of popular music.