Two idol videos for your viewing pleasure

[jlh]

I know a lot of you are a bit dubious about American Idol, but just do me a favor and watch this video of Blake Lewis and Doug E Fresh. The kid in the red jacket was this year's runner-up.

I cannot wait to hear this kid's record. I have faith that Simon will find him a producer that will keep him from his worst excesses, which is better than having to find someone to actually give him some style.

Behind the cut: So that moment of Rymon staring at 1:44 in Wednesday night's show?

Do yourself a favor and don't listen to the audio. The Rymon stare is at 2:40 (which on this countdown clock is about 1:10) and happens very fast, but you know how I said in HD we'd be able to see Simon? I was so right! Damn that cameraman that passes through the shot.

Comments

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Have you watched the video? Because it's much easier to explain in terms of that video I embedded, what with the difficulty of writing about sounds and all. Beatboxing is making the noises of a backing track or a turntable. Which isn't the same as rapping—it's really replacing the DJ, rather than replacing the MC.

Basically, they're not rapping at all, except at the very very beginning on the platform behind the judges. After they say, "This is the Show" they move onto the main stage and do a bit of get your hands up business and then at -1:40 in the video they both start making noises with their mouths. That beat you hear? That's Fresh, making the noise with his mouth—you can see that he's doing it in the close up at -1:38. All of the sound of a record scratching with the occasional "Oh my god" is Blake, doing that with his voice, as you can see in his close up right after Fresh. Everything except those horn blasts is coming from either Fresh or Blake. That's beatboxing.

If you watch his performance of "You Give Love a Bad Name" here (http://youtube.com/watch?v=C4IGm9E4W9g) it's easier to tell because you're more familiar with the original record and you can hear where he's making these noises that imply that a record is being scratched, that he has a DJ in the band, but he doesn't; he's making those noises with his mouth. At 1:14 he goes into a 16-bar break with the drummer; he's making those noises with his mouth, as you can see, then the drummer goes, then he goes, then the drummer again, and then he starts doing vocal effects that sound like his own record is being scratched, and then he kicks back into the song. That's all beatboxing.

Justin Timberlake does it, too; at the end of Rock Your Body he does an extended beatbox break, when all the music sort of stops? He's making those noises with his mouth, too.

Slate did an article on beatboxing recently (http://www.slate.com/id/2166757/) that comes complete with youtube links so you can hear what they're talking about.