- Round Winner
- Most Audience #1 Picks 22 voters' #1 pick
- Highest Audience Score 7.26 / 10
- Perfect 10 — Vocals from Mark Cooper · Richie Branson
- Perfect 10 — Production from Ben Tarkus · Mark Cooper
- Perfect 10 — Challenge from LEX the Lexicon Artist · Mark Cooper · Richie Branson
- Vocal Standout 9.2 / 10 avg across judges
- Production Powerhouse 9.2 / 10 avg across judges
- Challenge Champion 9.4 / 10 avg across judges
- Perfect Card 30/30 from Mark Cooper
- Wide Appeal no judge ranked you in their bottom third
- Crowd Surfer on 57/74 ballots (77%)
- Most Plays 44 total plays across all platforms
- Local Hero top 3 in VPC-site hearts with 19 likes
- Full Package audio + art + lyrics + both writeups
TOTAL REACH — 44 plays rank 1 / 24
- VPC SITE 44
TOTAL LIKES — 19 rank 1 / 23
- VPC SITE 19
GOD DAMN (Zillionaire Entrance Theme)
Vocalist's challenge writeup
[Werner Herzog voice] The life of the ZIllionaire has been one of both glamour and shame. With unmistakable style and swagger, he rose to fame, but crypto investment schemes were but the harbinger of his downfall. He now lives a life of quiet desperation, masquerading as a shadow of his former self.
Producer's challenge writeup
For this challenge, it's been many years since I've watched wrestling, but when I was much younger, I used to watch WCW pretty religiously. I had the idea to do an homage to Flash Funk and I built something funky for us to throw down on. It all started with the bassline. The bassline is the core of the song and can be heard throughout each Chorus and for the guitar solo at the end of verse 3. It really brings that funky feeling to the song. All of my wrestling knowledge is like 30 years old at this point, but I feel like I captured the real essence of a funk entrance theme for Zillionaire. For the vocal sound, went for that 70s type of tape delay to give it that more authentic sound.
Lyrics
[spoken] HEY! Who here got a little money to spend? Take out your hundos and throw 'em in the air Rikkaari, show 'em what we're goonin' about Gimme a good god damn! Gimme a big ol sheesh I'mma take you to church, make ya' drop to your knees Yeah I'll make you believe mm mm Gimme a good god damn! Gimme a big ol sheesh I'mma take you to church, make ya' drop to your knees Yeah I'll make you believe I got a bone to pick These motherfuckers all think they're slick You're talkin' lots of shit But that reality check's a real kick in the dick He rock the leopard print It got the feather trim He got the leather brim They never seen another white boy do it like him Gimme a good god damn! Gimme a big ol sheesh I'mma take you to church, make ya' drop to your knees Yeah I'll make you believe Gimme a good god damn! Gimme a big ol sheesh I'mma take you to church, make ya' drop to your knees Yeah I'll make you believe uh! Young boy one song to sing He wanna make a little money make you shake ya thing Big style, a bigger dream And the sexiest smile you seen No he couldn't sweep the leg (no sir!) Couldn't run that fast (no ma'am) Couldn't drop the kick Couldn't throw a punch But he could throw that ass (god damn!) Shake that thing in the ring And the flag would fly He got moves so sick, make the medicine cry Win that match Stack the cash You know that at the top rope baby He's the top of the class From a poor man drinkin' jack deweys and gin Now he poppin' 0-5 chateau d'yquem But his gravy train ran outta steam He got a little deep into crypto schemes Gimme a good god damn! Gimme a big ol sheesh I'mma take you to church, make ya' drop to your knees Yeah I'll make you believe Gimme a good god damn! Gimme a big ol sheesh I'mma take you to church, make ya' drop to your knees Yeah I'll make you believe uh! You wanna make a little, spend a little You wanna make a little, spend a little You wanna make a little, spend a little Livin large and livin fine You wanna make a little, spend a little You wanna make a little, spend a little You wanna make a little, spend a little Livin large and livin fine He makin' dollars cents! He barely pay that rent! So weak he can't cut the check! So broke, can't afford the sweat now! Had sell his shiny pants Lost it all in a game of chance See the Zillionaire! See a broke man shiver! The cat's in the bag, but his bag's in the river [spoken] ooh, i like that song i like that funky bassline ooh, he play it nice and FUNKY Gimme a good god damn! Gimme a big ol sheesh I'mma take you to church, make ya' drop to your knees Yeah I'll make you believe Gimme a good god damn! Gimme a big ol sheesh I'mma take you to church, make ya' drop to your knees Yeah I'll make you believe did you know you can get any refill that you want at the burger king, and it's free? it's a wonderful restaurant gonna get a little funky god damn!
JUDGES' BREAKDOWN
Richie Branson
9.67/10 score rank #2 of 24VOCALS 10PRODUCTION 9CHALLENGE 10Entrance theme gives me 70’s pimp wrestler vibes, lol. Where the ho train at? Song feels good, Bruno Mars-esque, which works. Production is tight (love the little 8-bit synth flourishes). I think the scratches during the hook could be dialed back some, but that’s a very particular gripe in an otherwise amazing song.
Klopfenpop
8.33/10 score rank #6 of 24VOCALS 8PRODUCTION 9CHALLENGE 8This is maybe the coolest way a promo was incorporated. It sounds like y'all might have also dealt with your team vocalist using a secondary recording setup. Y'all went for a more lo-fi almost megaphone filter vocal vibe and I think it works with the throwback funk style. The synth that comes in at 2:18 sounds like it's supposed to be a vocoder, but that I can't quite make out what's it saying. I would have loved if that was actually a little vocoder or talkbox break. The guitar work is solid, though the bluesy pentatonic solo doesn't feel like it is lending additional throwback funk vibes like I would hope from a guitar solo on a throwback funk track. The playing sounds great, though. Especially all the accompaniment parts! Really nice beat overall.
LEX the Lexicon Artist
9.00/10 score rank #4 of 24VOCALS 9PRODUCTION 8CHALLENGE 10Super fun and enjoyable track! Love Zilla's character work and huge range of vocal styles. Rikkari's 70's funky sounds - synth brass, bass line, scratches, etc. fit really well with the character they created. Love the outfit and big personality from the promo video! My only feedback is that the many elements of the beat, combined with the tape delay effect on the vox, makes it sound too busy at times. It sounds like too much is going on, some parts are swung and others not as much, making it hard to focus on an audial "centerpiece" which should usually be Zilla's vocals.
Ben Tarkus
9.33/10 score rank #2 of 24VOCALS 9PRODUCTION 10CHALLENGE 9Every round I come expecting a lot from you after that heater from R1, and this is certainly no disappointment. I think it's a very strong entry, but just shy of a perfect entry. The challenge was met here and I love the personality put into the character across the song, but I was looking for a little more depth in the song there as well as the vocal delivery. Still going to go back and add this to my regular listens because this is so funky it hurts. Sheesh!
Mark Cooper
10.00/10 score rank #1 of 24VOCALS 10PRODUCTION 10CHALLENGE 10This give a great WCW late 80's early 90's vibe and I'm all for it. From the energy from the vocals to the vibey riffs throughout the song. I know for a fact both of you have a great time creating this song. I feel that either 2 cold Scorpio, million dollar man, or disco inferno would have definitely walked out to this! great job!
Audience score and rank
AUDIENCE SCORE
Aggregated from 74 ballots cast by the public.
AUDIENCE RANK
Out of 24 teams competing this round.
- 57 voters ranked them in their top 10
- 45 voters had them in their top 5
- 22 voters picked them as their #1 favorite
FINAL BLEND
The final score was a 8.76. The song received an average voter score of 7.26 from the community, and an average judge score of 9.27.
The display score blends the audience and judges' contributions at 25%/75%. Here's how Crab Rangoons's 8.76 broke down:
(7.26 × 25%) + (9.27 × 75%) = 8.76
YOUR SEASON SO FAR
- Round 1 7.95 / 10 rank #1
- Round 2 8.26 / 10 rank #2
- Round 3 8.76 / 10 rank #1 PERSONAL BEST
- Round 4 8.07 / 10 rank #7
- Round 5 8.52 / 10 rank #3