The artists we never expected to use Auto-Tune
RnB/Hip Hop |
Wednesday 21st August 2013 | Ben
Auto-tune is a divisive tool that has attracted a lot of criticism from music fans, nevertheless more and more artists continue to experiment with the technique. Here are the artists we never expected to use Auto-tune but did anyway.
Redman
Redman has been progressively trading in his rough and rugged style for smoother, more dance orientated sounds in recent years. On his last album ‘Reggie’ which the rapper explained was the work of his alter ego [or real persona?] Reggie Noble, and wouldn’t be a Redman album. What this really meant was that the album would be essentially a club record, with dance inspired production and heavy use of auto-tune, Redman proved he could still cut it with the lyrics, but the verses were noticeably shorter to fit with the new sound. He managed to make the overall feel of the record fun and lively, a great departure in mood from some of his earlier works with lead single ‘Def Jammable’ being a fairly catchy, bouncy track.
Limp Bizkit
In a bizarre turn of events, Fred Durst decided to muck around with auto-tune on the latest Limp Bizkit record ‘Gold Cobra’, proving that he just does not care what people think. The results are better than expected, although obviously the song is heavily tongue in cheek, with an infectious melody and distorted crushing guitars merging surprisingly well with Durst’s pitch altered vocals.
Sticky Fingaz
It was strange to listen to Sticky Fingaz using auto-tune, if there was ever one artist that seemed completely unlikely to touch auto-tune, it was Sticky Fingaz. Onyx has been repeatedly black balled by the media, the music industry and just about everyone, but this has only driven them on their determination to prove themselves. For Sticky Fingaz’s track ‘Debo the Game’, the hardcore MC lays down an auto-tuned chorus that presented a bizarre contrast with the vicious, thuggish lyrics and aggressive beats. The song sees Kirk Jones lashing out at the industry and the video sees the rapper robbing a wealthy couple before shooting them.
By Ben Lawrence