Music Review: Rababa-Eh by The Gratitude
When you think of such vocabularies as choir, chorister – for some reason – the first thing that pops up in one’s mind is not Hip Hip music. This is not to say we have not witnessed choir groups pulled this off; but to pull it off with such finesse, without taking out the elements of what makes up a choir is simply mind blowing!
“Rababa-Eh“ by the Gratitude is such a fine song not just because it is a great Hip Hop track but also because it combines the elements of the new school Hip Hip into the traditional elements of choir group. Both extremes fit perfectly that non of the sides feel like it’s been etched in forcibly… Guess the term “blend-in” is the appropriate lexeme here.
The choral chant at the beginning of the song and its harmonization, the verses blended in melodious rap and the rephrase, are bold modifications that amplify salient Hip Hop elements which could have gone unnoticed but now emphasized due to the medium of delivery – the choir.
Having made the point, it must be emphasized that the Gratitude is more of a musical group than it is a choir. It is an offshoot of the Avalanche (The Official Choir of the COZA) formed deliberately by the leadership of COZA (with the help of Tim Godfrey and Tye Tribbett) to improve the quality and manner in which the gospel is presented.
One must also not leave out the role the chorus/hook of “Rababa-Eh” played in the huge success of the song. Most Gospel Rap song; it’s been observed, place emphasis on the verses due to the importance of the message of the song. The rapper has at least 3 16-bars to express the thematic preoccupation of the song, so more time is spent perfecting the verses with the hook/chorus left at the mercy of whatever he can conjure having perfected the verses. But the Gratitude were able to summarize the thematic preoccupation in 4-bars and not only that, the rhyming end-words add spice to the fun!
Timi Dakolo once said at a music seminar that the excellence of a music writer is not in the fact that he writes lots of songs but that he can summarize his story with the most minimal use of words which his audience can relate to (Paraphrased). The Gratitude told a beautiful story of the power of the Holy Ghost in the life of a believer and they could as well blab through the verses, we would have gotten the message still! Okay, that’s an exaggeration but you get the message, don’t you? Lol.
Talking about the verses, the lady on the second verse and the guy on the 3rd are simply amaze-balls!
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amazing critique to a great song.
the song is just a class