The T-Painization of Hip Hop

These days, it is impossible to listen to a hip hop radio station for more than five minutes without hearing a half-human, half-computerized voice singing a melody. The voice often has an eerie quality. Transitions between different pitches are synthetically precise, as if one piano key were lifted and another one instantly pressed. Gone are the typical imperfections of the human voice; instead, the voice has a metallic, mathematical quality.

T-Pain is commonly credited – or discredited – with starting this trend, and his megahits “Bartender” and “Buy You a Drank” feature this technique front and center. A handful of artists – Lil Wayne, Akon, and increasingly Kanye West – make their livings with synthesized voices, and virtually every notable MC has at least experimented with the technique. Even Jay-Z tried it. Indeed, the current period of hip hop might best be described as the T-Painization of rap.

Why is this happening? Perhaps the better question is, Why didn’t this happen sooner? Technological innovation has always influenced hip hop. When, in the 1970s, DJs discovered that the turntable could be used not only to replay music but also to create new sounds, the art of scratching forever became part of the hip hop sound. With the increasing prevalence of microchips in the late 80s and 90s, devices such as the SP-1200 and MPC 2000 pushed the art of record sampling front and center in the hip hop world.

Unlike classical music, which sometimes seems to take pride in the anachronistic nature of its instruments, hip hop has always embraced modern technology. The ability to synthesize the human voice has existed for many years. It was only a matter of time before someone in hip hop gave it a shot.

Is T-Painization good for hip hop? The answer here is a bit more nuanced. One of hip hop’s greatest assets is that anyone can make a great hip hop record – or at least try to. You don’t need an orchestra. You don’t need a hunk of stone and a chisel. You don’t need a canvas and paint. All you need is a beat – from a beat-boxer, a trashcan, a turntable, or an MPC 2000 – and a voice. It is truly the art of the common man.

Synthesizing voices further enhances this vision because it gives the common man another tool. Having a good voice is no longer a prerequisite to incorporating melody your song. Just do the best you can, and then fix everything up on your computer.

But at the same time, T-Painization threatens to weaken a quintessential element of hip hop. When the MC speaks directly to the listener, emotional nuances and imperfections come across unfiltered. The listener comes to feel – not without reason – that he genuinely knows the MC. And this rawness, this unadulterated connection between rapper and audience is part of what makes hip hop so intimate and special.

T-Painization threatens to alter this dynamic. The synthesized voice puts an artificial barrier between the MC and the listener. It is as if a face-to-face meeting has been replaced with a phone call. Certainly, if used in moderation, the synthesized voice could be a welcome addition to the hip hop repertoire. But if used too pervasively – as seems increasingly likely – T-Painization threatens to weaken the sacred bond between the MC and his audience.