Tag: loud

Falling Asleep at the Wheel? Freestyle Rap to Yourself

Corey ScheinerLeave a comment

My job requires obscure hours. Most of my shifts are 8:00pm – 4:00am. I have a very manageable, traffic-free, 40-minute commute home, but sometimes I do feel on the verge of dozing.

Drinking coffee cures the issue, but prevents me from sleeping once I arrive home. I’ve tried to put the windows down and blast some uptempo music, but that only works with varied success.

To stay awake at the wheel, I freestyle rap to myself. When alone, it works better than any other method I’ve tried.

I don’t mean shuffle The Eminem Show. Listen to an instrumental rap song and make your own verse. Trying to create rhymes before the end of the beat forces your brain to stay active and alert. The minute I rap I feel re-energized.

I’m a terrible rapper. I don’t think I’m good, nor do I care to be. But the premise is to stay safe and save lives.

Rap about anything. Usually I just rap about what I see.
“That green sign there says a mile to exit 12,
In the right lane – I’m just rapping to myself”

The raps are terrible, and I would never dare record one. But again, it gets me home safely.

Other rap topics:
How was your day? Anything interesting happen? SSDD?
What are you wearing right now?
What did you eat today?
Did that cute girl/guy at work do anything funny today?

I understand the generalities and stereotypes of rap: It’s not real music, it promotes bigotry and violence, etc. I’m not saying those are true or untrue, but don’t neglect this potential life-saving advice simply on the basis of a prejudice toward rap. I know people who would refuse this advice on that premise.

Below are three instrumental rap songs to download – no lyrics, just the beat. The next time you feel on the verge of dozing at the wheel, play one, drop a line, and let’s see your terrible rap skills. If you’re worse than I am, then all the power to ya because I’m not sure if that’s possible.

Who knows, maybe you’ll discover a new talent.

House, Dubstep, EDM – Why Krewella is Ready to Explode

Corey ScheinerLeave a comment

Of the eight house artists that performed at last September’s Glowfest in West Virginia, Krewella took my personal first prize. Consisting of two girls and a fella, the girl and guy mix on the table while the final female brings a strong, appropriate voice coupled with her high-energy stage presence.

Out of Chicago, Krewella’s most popular single is Alive (listen here) off their debut EP Play Hard. I can best describe their style as comfortable house music with a nice kick of energy. As for Alive, I ask you to listen from 1:00-2:15. If you can get through the drop without at least bobbing your head, dismiss this post and enjoy the rest of your day.

Krewella has the “it” factor. For those familiar with this blog, you’ll know music isn’t my area of expertise, so unfortunately this band review will come chock full of subjectives and take-my-word-for-its, but something about this trio gets me more pumped than any other artist the genre. In my life there are four bands/artists who, no matter how rainy the day, that can temporarily make me forget about anything – Eminem, Blink-182, Incubus, and Krewella.

Any other Incubus fans out there? I’m drawn to them in part due to their unique versatility. Compare their ’99 hit single Drive (listen here) to their ’97 hard, distorted song A Certain Shade of Green (listen here).

To a lesser extent, that’s what Krewella offers with the extremes of dubstep and house. Compare Alive with Krewella’s dubstep song Fire Hive with Knife Party (listen here). If Alive is a martini double, Fire Hive is a whiskey triple. So *WARNING*, Fire Hive is hard, but it will wake you up.

Again, I don’t know why, but something tells me Krewella is set to explode. They come at a perfect transitional period where the moral-lacking, shallow world of Hip-Hop music is dying out of the mainstream replaced with this modern techno headed by those like Swedish House Mafia, David Guetta, Avicii, and others.

*I’m not hating on hip-hop. A lot of people are quick to criticize the genre but there is talent in hip-hop, I just feel it has been poorly represented since the turn of the millennium*

So get ready to hear the Chicago natives on radio stations. If they do get get big, we can all say we were there first.

Krewella will be playing at The Pool at Harrah’s in Atlantic City this Wednesday, the 20th.  Tickets are only $15 as the $10 ones have sold out. Damn right I’ll be there. Love ya to join me. It’s gonna be crazy.