Not sure what you're getting at here. No one is criticizing him for not having a live band, they're criticizing him for lip syncing. Pretending to rap while his record plays. I'm consider myself pretty well "educated on perfoming live." I've been doing it for 20 years. I don't think mouthing the words over a vocal track is performing live. If a song is too hard to pull off live, then why even bother with the whole charade of pretending to do it?
Uh.... i just watched it. Where the hell is the lip-sync??? Unless people are talking about the chorus, which is ALWAYS taped in rap. This thread is r****ded....
Thanks to those involved in the rap/music business for your insights into how things work. Looks like it is (regrettably IMO) a common process. I wonder, though, how many in the audience know exactly how little of what they're hearing is live. Just because it's done doesn't make it ideal. If I want something slick and produced, I'll buy the CD. When I see a live performance, that's exactly what I want. I'm prepared to cut them some slack if they don't sound quite as good, or need to build in extra time to catch their breath. After all, it's not the recording studio. I would just like to hear them actually practicing their art (as opposed to the sound and recording engineers doing all the work). The world is full of musical talent. Classical musicians and rock bands, as well as your "local" musicians that play regular clubs in your hometown, are expected to come with an actual performance every time. Singing and playing every note right out there in front of everyone whether it sounds good or not. It makes me sick that the bulk of the money is being made by what are essentially synthetic creations, and that they are discouraged from showing live audiences any real talent that they might have. It makes me want to never buy another major label CD again. And, as for rap... does anyone else miss the old days? When it was an art form out on the streets, lasting for hours and partially improvised on the spot. When the Sugar Hill Gang first condensed it to only 15 minutes' worth of rhymes... There were talent and skills out there then. Seems like someone out there would have the talent to do a little live performance now.
Now days everybody wanna act like they got somethin' to say, but nothin' comes out when they move their lips, just a bunch a gibberish... I'm sorry, Mama. I didn't mean to hurt you... Would the real Slim Shady please stand up? The opportunity comes once in a lifetime.
I've listened again and again...and he is NOT lip syncing. He is basically rapping over the song. There is nothing wrong with that. Most people can't tell if he's rapping or not, but I can. I can hear a difference between his song with him rapping over it and his song without him rapping over it. I can't believe people are making a big deal out of this.
I'm just saying that someone who synchs to a rap song shouldn't be held to the same standard as someone who fake sings. They are different beasts. I mean, a more apropriate comparison would be if someone else was writing Eminem's material, right?
The point is that there should never be vocals coming out unless it's through the artists mic. I know that it has become common practice but that doesn't make it right. And even though it's "normal" in the MTV hype macine world, it's not for the vast majority of the performing world. Can you imagine some young gun getting the chance to have a record deal. What if he goes to an A&R showcase, puts down his boom box, and lip syncs to some demo tape of himself. No way in hell he's given a record deal. Aren't the people with record deals supposed to be the cream of the crop. Why is it OK for people who are supposed to have more talent to lip sync or use vocal aids while "lesser" artists can't or don't. If you can't pull it off live then you shouldn't even have a record deal. If you can't perform it you shouldn't record it. If you have to stop during a performance you shouldn't have a tape of your voice picking up the slack. I've probably played for a live audience around 300 times in rock, blues, R&B, Funk, ska, and jazz settings. Everything has always been live. Sure, things get messed up sometimes, but that's what happens. As an instrumentalist, there would be NO tolerance for me pretending to play my instrument. Ripping off a solo or playing the same one over and over (at least on a jazz gig) is bad enough. Why is it different for a vocalist? He has to take a breath? I'm a wind player, so do I. But I've learned how to develop my breath capacity and control. You know that there are kids out there who listen to Emimen and can recite his lyrics word for word without making a mistake or pausing. It's hard to believe that a "professional" is incapable of performing his own songs without the use of a vocal aid. If he was a REAL artist then he'd just go out there and do his thing. If he flubs a word or drops a line then so what. That's the risk you take as a performing musician. Theater actors don't have the benefit of cue cards or vocal track but they go out there night after night and perform it live. If something goes wrong then somebody picks up the slack and they keep going and usually the audience is none the wiser. Performing LIVE is a risk. Eminem (and anyone else who lip syncs or uses vocal aids) is a wuss who is afraid to fly without a "safety net."
That doesn't necessarily mean that those same kids can actually flow like Eminem does. I know the lyrics to many of his songs, yet to rap it exactly like he does, well that's hard for a lot of people...
The damn difference is people are usually paying alot of money to see a live performance, not celebrity kareoke. If someone can't perform their own music because it takes too much energy and breath to spit out rhymes they have mixed together, then maybe they shouldn't be performing "live" at all. These fake ass b****es deserve every bit of criticism we can dish out. BTW, I've been enjoying rap music since the early 80's and do like Eminem's music, but I think pretty much all rappers suck live. Stick to mixing words and music in the studio and leave the live show to people with real stage talent.
Yeah, what's the point to going to a live show with all of these explanations I'm hearing, just listen to the CD. You know what was cool, that Jay-Z Unplugged thing. Why don't more rappers try using bands or try performing their songs different ways on stage. Ll Cool J unplugged was cool too.
I`m a little older and dont get into alot of these newer groups who lip synch at their live performances but I have been to alot of concerts and I could never imagine seeing my favorite groups lip synch....Could you imagine Geddy Lee lip synching
I hadn't seen the eminem footage until just now. My take is... He lip sync'ed.... poorly. He was off rhythm (and not meaning to be), and TWICE he dropped the mic to his waist while the vocals were playing. And.. the worst part... he did this because he obviously forgot the lyrics. As he "sings" the refrain, twice he does this: "We gonna charge, we gonna stomp, we gonna march through the swamp We gonna mosh through the marsh, take us right [drops mic] through the doors " And it's clear that he's reading off a prompter for these lyrics. So let's summarize: 1) Unintentionally off rhythim 2) Having to read his own lyrics off a prompter 3) Lip-sync'ing (poorly) to a recorded voice 4) drops mic from his mouth at the same point of two refrains while vocals are still heard. He's crap -- droxford
