- Wide Appeal no judge ranked you in their bottom third
- Sleeper Hit on 39 of 74 ballots — broadly liked, few #1 picks
- 100 Club 128 plays on SoundCloud
- SoundCloud Rapper top 3 on SoundCloud with 9 likes
- Full Package audio + art + lyrics + both writeups
TOTAL REACH — 172 plays rank 7 / 23
- SOUNDCLOUD 128
- YOUTUBE 37
- VPC SITE 7
TOTAL LIKES — 9 rank 7 / 23
- SOUNDCLOUD 9
- YOUTUBE 0
KAYFABE
Vocalist's challenge writeup
Kayfabe is a practice popularized by professional wrestling in which fantastical or fictional characteristics and actions are treated as reality. Wrestlers were often expected to remain in character in all situations and never let tha mask drop. This song is about gender.
Producer's challenge writeup
Using video shot at a local promo event I turned the wrestler Sykawtics 4-5 chant into a vocoder vocal synth.
Lyrics
Kayfabe [Hook] We are tha actors, we are tha stage We are tha pen and tha sage and tha page Flesh full of scars, heart full of rage We are tha art and aesthetic of an age Real men never cry, real gs never change Real warriors never die, real peace never came It never came, cuz back in my hayday We never broke, we never broke Kayfabe [Verse 1] Warrior mind, I want tha smoke, beast in cage, when unprovoked They look at me like I'm a god, I look at them like they a joke I'll body slam that heavy bitch, around tha ring on every inch They must not known that I'm tha man, like mothafuckin Becky Lynch I can feel tha rage down in my soul, sometimes just can't stand it So I raise hell like Stone Cold and kill angels like Kidd Bandit Lock em up and make em squeal, don't give a fuck bout face and heel I'm in tha ring just posted up, you runnin up, you tastin steel Let me talk my shit, ain't nobody fuckin wit me Ain't never been in a ring wit me, your middle name is luckily Fuck I look like, Naruto? I ain't got no fuckin rival Don't talk shit, won't get hit, this my house, that's my title I'm belted up like Batman, I'll power slam a fat man Until they need a CAT scan, tha whole crowd like gat dam Follow up with a finisher, my whole aura sinister Department of tha DDT, I'm tha mothafuckin minister [Verse 2] You good, cuzz? You actin out of character I seen you grit your teeth when you slammed into that barrier Used to be Io Shirai, flyin like a harrier Now you laid out, with a stretcher as your carrier That persona all performance, tha illusion has been broken Tha truth is being spoken, you're exposed and in tha open We can see you, and no swagger or slogan Is gonna put that Lovecraftian beast back in tha ocean You're a fake, a phony, a shit showered sham A mockery of a man, ain't adherin to tha plan Ayo fuck you, you can't tell me who I am Bitch, I am you, I command you understand Command this dick, hoe, had me flippin scripts, hoe Since tha moment I was born into this fuckin shitshow I'm a flip tha script, doe, got my guns akimbo Give a foot they'll take a mile so I'm standin ten toes I know all bout fear and doubt, cried more times than I can count But we can really get it ratchet if you wantin to go that route Your only bond wit me, it stems from an common enemy Ain't nothing wrong wit me so I do not need a remedy They don't see my identity but they see my energy So why I even care if tha sins of tha past dimish me Or if I'm playin into tha whims of some mad divinity Or livin up to your image of masculinity
JUDGES' BREAKDOWN
Klopfenpop
8.00/10 score rank #6 of 23VOCALS 8PRODUCTION 7CHALLENGE 9This is a solid song. I love the sample work. The vocoder approach is a cool way to flip samples into musical elements. I would have loved to hear a variety of techniques, but this sounds cool and the source is super on theme for the song. The breaks and dynamics feel good. I feel like there is room for some more compelling, maybe more ear-catching transitions. These bars go hard. I love a good gender metaphor. The scheme are compelling in ways that specifically highlight your core concepts and that provides a certain power to your lyrics. A lot of teams could take notes from how your structure your bars to prioritize both the overall cadence and flow feel but also how the lyrics land rhythmically and what words are musically emphasized. Also with how much life you breathe into your lyrics in the delivery. I can tell you are not reading your lyrics into the mic out loud for the first time. Pre-recording practice is such a valuable investment for a song. I appreciate all the wrestling references and vocab sprinkled throughout. It really helps the track smell like wrestling before the listener is even able to process full bars worth of lyrics.
LEX the Lexicon Artist
6.67/10 score rank #14 of 23VOCALS 7PRODUCTION 7CHALLENGE 6Thing 1 compared to Thing 2 Speaker = Wrestler I will accept this as meeting the challenge, because it functions in the same way as Mechanical Peasants, in that the vocalist is comparing himself to someone he’s not (a wrestler). But using wrestling as a conduit for braggadocious fuck you bars isn’t very original. There’s a lot of visual imagery about wrestling and of course references to famous wrestlers, which I commend. But I think there could be way more cleverness going on. “Lock em up and make em squeal, don't give a fuck bout face and heel” - why not a double entendre like “Fuck with me I’ll put my heel in your face”? More double meanings, there is so much gold to draw from wrestling. I see honest attempts made at this, e.g. “you runnin up, you tastin steel” - tastin’ steel referring to getting hit in the face with a chair, AND getting a gun shoved in your mouth. GOOD. More of this. Not just “I’m badass, here’s a wrestling reference.” I think Ishida is a very skilled vocalist, one of the best in the comp in terms of presence, flow, and swagger, but the writing always leaves something to be desired. This chorus also isn’t hooky enough. It’s too long - 8 bars with no melody just doesn’t hook. Suggest vocalist to incorporate some type of melody, or if not, to try more concise, shorter, repetitive hooks The production is perfectly serviceable, polished and radio-ready, maybe a little sterile, and I don’t know if the vocal sample actually works on the chorus. But i like how the noise sample is incorporated.
Ben Tarkus
6.67/10 score rank #11 of 23VOCALS 7PRODUCTION 7CHALLENGE 6Layers upon layers here. I think there can be too much of a good thing and eventually it works against you by the end of the song. Overall, I did enjoy the beat and delivery of the vocals!
Mark Cooper
7.67/10 score rank #13 of 23VOCALS 8PRODUCTION 8CHALLENGE 7● Good flow and lyrics. I enjoy wrestling references and lyrics but I'm just a little confused of the metaphor you are trying to deliver. I feel it's a character of the wrestler versus off the mat as a person but I'm not sure. Good song, just wish the metaphor was more clear. ● production - hard beat and the vocoder vocal was a nice touch. Not a lot of notes here but good work!
Richie Branson
7.33/10 score rank #6 of 23VOCALS 7PRODUCTION 7CHALLENGE 8Power slam a fat man made me chuckle. Verses dope, felt like the vox on the hook could use a bit more energy, esp at the end. Beat is dope. My kind of production. Felt like the sample is fighting with the hook vox. Could use a switch up or drop every now and then thru the verses to change pace.
Audience score and rank
AUDIENCE SCORE
Aggregated from 74 ballots cast by the public.
AUDIENCE RANK
Out of 23 teams competing this round.
- 39 voters ranked them in their top 10
- 23 voters had them in their top 5
- 2 voters picked them as their #1 favorite
FINAL BLEND
The final score was a 6.79. The song received an average voter score of 5.37 from the community, and an average judge score of 7.27.
The display score blends the audience and judges' contributions at 25%/75%. Here's how Tha Go Hamurai's 6.79 broke down:
(5.37 × 25%) + (7.27 × 75%) = 6.79
YOUR SEASON SO FAR
- Round 1 6.79 / 10 rank #13 PERSONAL BEST
- Round 2 6.67 / 10 rank #15