{"id":148155776,"date":"2024-09-04T12:31:10","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T12:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/?p=148155776"},"modified":"2024-09-04T12:31:10","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T12:31:10","slug":"shoutout-to-drummers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/?p=148155776","title":{"rendered":"Shoutout To Drummers"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Who doing the drums? Man, put that [homie] on the drums, man! Yep, all day, &#8216;Mortal Man&#8217; and &#8216;Kunta.&#8217; Aight from the top.&#8221; &#8211; Kendrick Lamar, &#8220;untitled 2 | 06.23.2014&#8221;<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The drums make the genre. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The drums make or break the song. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The drummer makes or breaks the band. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We (the entire music-loving world) are overdue for a celebration of these hardworking and under-appreciated geniuses. There are so many local bands I wish I had video of to include here, but we\u2019re just gonna have to make do with what\u2019s on YouTube. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My drumming is not very good and I\u2019m sure it\u2019s gotten worse. It won\u2019t surprise you, then, to learn I was the drummer in my Youth Group\u2019s praise band. Anyway\u2014I <em>think<\/em> about drums <em>so much<\/em> in the songwriting process. Drums are a band\u2019s rudder, wheel, and sails at the same time. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>JD Beck (DOMi &amp; JD BECK Nord Live Sessions)<\/strong><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nord Live Sessions: DOMi &amp; JD Beck - Bathroom\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Qu1Z1Tlzz0E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two-piece bands are tricky because you\u2019re usually doing without a pretty important element. When you don\u2019t have bass, the whole sound is sonically empty. When you\u2019re just bass and drums\u2014I mean I know that\u2019s a whole genre, but. Crucially, Domi is great at playing bass with her left hand without sacrificing melody or chords. But everything JD does here is so consequential. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The twitchy get-up-and-go as the song intros\u2014he\u2019s excited about the song, and you, the audience member, should be too. The driving, crisp beat behind the main riff. Switching to ride cymbal before the beat gets worn out. The buildup-y rim playing when Domi goes into that sneaky part at :53. All the times he\u2019s filling in gaps she leaves for him\u2014he plays drums the way <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=atpZXLfbbss\">Dwyane Wade does off-ball cuts<\/a>.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most importantly, he does it with a tiny kit. The correct number of toms is two. The correct number of cymbals is four. JD Beck does his thing with half that. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Rico Nichols (Kendrick Lamar Live on <\/strong><em><strong>The Tonight Show<\/strong><\/em><strong>)<\/strong><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Kendrick Lamar - Untitled 8\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cziv-WGRLcE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ve talked about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cracked.com\/article_29930_6-shallow-songs-that-are-surprisingly-smartly-put-together.html\">my love for this performance<\/a> twice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cracked.com\/article_35303_15-brilliant-uses-of-jazz-in-hip-hop.html\">on <\/a><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cracked.com\/article_35303_15-brilliant-uses-of-jazz-in-hip-hop.html\">Cracked<\/a> <\/em>(once errantly saying it was The Roots as the backing band\u2014we uh, <em>did not<\/em> have fact checkers at <em>Cracked<\/em> when I was on my four-lists-and-one-column-per-week contract). Let me reiterate here how amazing it is. Kendrick\u2019s <em>untitled unmastered.<\/em> is an incredible collection, but it\u2019s a bummer he\u2019s never done a studio version of the live version of this song. The music is so so so good. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is not about Rico Nichols being the absolute wildest, most technical drummer. It\u2019s about the intricacies of the arrangement. That song has roughly 7000 feel changes, and Rico is your shepherd through all of them. He\u2019s tight, controlled, dynamic, pushing forward and pulling back. Even at the end, when all hell is breaking loose? He\u2019s completely in control, holding a groove <em>while<\/em> avalanching down the toms. If anything, he\u2019s <em>supporting<\/em> the bass and guitar players on their runs. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A perfect song. A perfect drummer. AND HE\u2019S FROM CHICAGO. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(Also\u2014Many years later, as Kendrick put another rapper on life support, do you think Drake was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice?)<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Larnell Lewis (Hears Metallica For The First Time)<\/strong><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Larnell Lewis Hears &quot;Enter Sandman&quot; For The First Time\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Zd_UcjMusUA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That halftime\u2019ll get you. Every time. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Man I love this video. I\u2019m not even a big Metallica fan. Put it this way: I\u2019ve never heard a Metallica song I didn\u2019t like, but I\u2019ve also never heard a Metallica song that made me want to listen to another Metallica song. One of these days I\u2019ll deep dive a couple albums, but I got a lotta tables, you know? <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Something I am aware of: there is Discourse about whether or not Lars is a good drummer. From what I can tell, he\u2019s at least a <em>distinctive<\/em> drummer, and that\u2019s important. He put his stamp on that band and that era of metal without overshadowing the other members of the band, and that\u2019s noteworthy. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Watching Larnell active listen is a revelation, even if I already know that\u2019s what drummers do. It\u2019s interesting to me, for instance, that he doesn\u2019t reference the chord change when the halftime comes in. Love that part where he\u2019s like, \u201cthere\u2019s a cue there, and it might be on me.\u201d Makes me think of Smags, and how many <a href=\"https:\/\/solipse.bandcamp.com\/album\/division-street\">Solipse<\/a> practices I would be hanging on to everything he was doing to inform where my bass was going. What Larnell does here is basic session player stuff, but that doesn\u2019t make it any less impressive, and really showcases what a special talent Drummers Who Give A Shit have. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let\u2019s let Larnell carry us out:<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026understand that you don\u2019t have to put yourself in a box. You can learn about all the different styles and genres of music that exist in the world. At the end of the day, it\u2019s about respecting the music, and respecting the culture of that music as well.\u201d<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not a drummer-specific statement, but a great one to end on. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For all artists. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Go read some poetry. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sorry you got an email, <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chris<\/p><div class=\"subscription-widget-wrap-editor\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/shipwreckedsailor.substack.com\/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}\" data-component-name=\"SubscribeWidgetToDOM\"><div class=\"subscription-widget show-subscribe\"><div class=\"preamble\"><p class=\"cta-caption\">Thanks for reading shipwrecked sailor! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.<\/p><\/div><form class=\"subscription-widget-subscribe\"><input type=\"email\" class=\"email-input\" name=\"email\" placeholder=\"Type your email\u2026\" tabindex=\"-1\"\/><input type=\"submit\" class=\"button primary\" value=\"Subscribe\"\/><div class=\"fake-input-wrapper\"><div class=\"fake-input\"\/><div class=\"fake-button\"\/><\/div><\/form><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Who doing the drums? Man, put that [homie] on the drums, man! Yep, all day, &#8216;Mortal Man&#8217; and &#8216;Kunta.&#8217; Aight from the top.&#8221; &#8211; Kendrick Lamar, &#8220;untitled 2 | 06.23.2014&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148155776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148155776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=148155776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148155776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=148155776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=148155776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=148155776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}