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The Creative Complex ‘26

Forged from steel and blood an epic team from the future to bring sounds unlike anything else!

RANK #18

DISPLAY SCORE 6.99 / 10

Perfect 10 — Challenge from Mark Cooper · Richie Branson
Full Package audio + art + lyrics + both writeups

TOTAL REACH — 22 plays rank 19 / 21

VPC SITE 22

TOTAL LIKES — 3 rank 18 / 21

VPC SITE 3

"Pop!"

Vocalist's challenge writeup

After hearing the beat, I got a flash of the Pack from 2005. So I thought Id try to make a club hit from the bay area without going full Base God. The melody was just playful and chaotic enough that I knew I could really mess around with my flow styles. I wanted to make a song that seemed general enough, but the more you listened, the more specific it got. Initially I wanted to fill the lyrics with parenthesis to connect everything, but Y'all are smart, you'll get it. This whole song was fun to write, but I'm most proud of the 1st bar. It really set the tone for everything else.

Producer's challenge writeup

I made it With a lot of trial and error and some amazing feedback from Ronin I decided to go bare bones with this track It’s essentially a simple beat with some synth played over it but Ronin was able to make it shine with some amazing bars!!

Lyrics

The heels go clique
cuz we too sweet
whole town got loud
spillin loose leaf
Old king pin(/ned) down
Fill a new seat
East side 
Gon ride
Off the tootsies


Curl up and die
Don't fuck with the league
It's lulla bye


Used to look down 
When they came to see us
But come correct now
You can di-ta-beatus


Yeah we do it for the Pop
Yeah we gotta do it for the pop
Yeah we really going through it
But you know we gotta do it
Gotta do it for the (2x)


Yee we really start poppin off
Gon pop these seeds
And start to Pop and lock
 
2 step
Hit that switch 
That shit goes on and off


The guild gonna build
running with an 
Entourage 


Whole stab Running wild
Out here fuckin up the 
Ethos


Oz fled the country 
He got caught up in a rico


Sis
Got washed by a bucket
But that could never be me tho


Comin up the line
Lookin fine for the Migos


Ugh
Original recipe 
Not the power puff


Leave the chem x alone
That shit is sour stuff


Imma give you til 3
Now your hours up


You gon lickety split
Now That's that coward stuff 


Ricky stanicky 
We run that joy ranch 
Should been
coulda been sticky 
You broke that olly branch
Represent 
Etiquette 
Benefit
Off that laundry tag. 


Keep biting on the lollipop 
You suckin on that lolli-gag


Yeah we do it for the Pop
Yeah we gotta do it for the pop
Yeah we really going through it
But you know we gotta do it
Gotta do it for the (2x)




She Prayed for the “building” to stop
But it's the right time 
Next in line 
for guild to Pop

JUDGES' BREAKDOWN

LEX the Lexicon Artist
7.67/10 score rank #18 of 21

VOCALS 8

PRODUCTION 7

CHALLENGE 8

This was one of my fav. Creative Complex tracks (the other one was Bodies). You guys shine when you get simple. Love the hyphy vibes here. Ronin really sells that shit, his energy and delivery here are off the charts. Myk - I think as usual there is a slight mixing/balance issue between vox and the beat, and I could have used a bit more complexity, but you really got the hyphy feel right. I'm not sure there were enough arrangement choices and "drops" to grant full points on the challenge, but I'd say you got pretty close to this being a certified club banger.
Ben Tarkus
6.67/10 score rank #20 of 21

VOCALS 7

PRODUCTION 7

CHALLENGE 6

I think taking the simple route for executing a song works in every challenge but this. I don't mind a simple and direct hook, but I would have liked to see stronger development in the club aspect and the overall vibe of the beat. The "ayyy"s definitely carried the song through the club element, but I would have liked more from the other facets of the challenge.
Richie Branson
9.00/10 score rank #8 of 21

VOCALS 9

PRODUCTION 8

CHALLENGE 10

I was hoping someone gave me that Drakeo The Ruler energy to this… and I’m also hearing a lil E-40 too. The beat is good, though I wish the melody went a different direction. The drums are great. Vocal energy is great. This is how you execute that off-beat cadence in a way that works on a club track.
Mark Cooper
8.00/10 score rank #11 of 21

VOCALS 7

PRODUCTION 7

CHALLENGE 10

Very melodic! Really dig the hook. verses are solid as well. I feel this is your best round submission this competition and I'm Happy to see it! Vocals are just a tad too loud but its clear. Careful with adlibs clashing with the main vocals. Production was solid. Ambience is always great but neailed the challenge in reference and production.
Klopfenpop
8.67/10 score rank #8 of 21

VOCALS 9

PRODUCTION 8

CHALLENGE 9

This is fantastic. I really love how hype your bars are. You're switching the flow all over the place and it feels great. Crowd hype for sure. Ayyyyyy! My arms are already in the air. Mike really brought it this round too! OnlyOneRonin's vocals sound way cleaner and more balanced than in past rounds. The beat feel good as well. I'd love to hear a little more dynamic rise and fall with the energy of the vocal performance. I would encourage you to try out a technique I like for cleaning up vocal plosives (like when the little P has a big low end puff with it). If you open an EQ plugin that shows you the audio your playing on the chart and see where that plosive lands. create a little dip at that spot, then set and shape it to mirror the plosive's bump. Then set the gain to 0, and open up the automation for the gain on that band. Then you can go right to the waveform where the plosive happens and pull the gain down like -5 to -13 dB only while that plosive is puffing. If you take the time to perform that "surgery" on each pop, you will have a WAY cleaner vocal. Unless the pops where part of the song concept, of course...

AUDIENCE SCORE

3.95 / 10

Aggregated from 82 ballots cast by the public.

AUDIENCE RANK

19 / 21

Out of 21 teams competing this round.

25 voters ranked them in their top 10
6 voters had them in their top 5
0 voters picked them as their #1 favorite

FINAL BLEND

The final score was a 6.99. The song received an average voter score of 3.95 from the community, and an average judge score of 8.00.

The display score blends the audience and judges' contributions at 25%/75%. Here's how The Creative Complex ‘26's 6.99 broke down:

0.99 from audience

6.00 from judges

(3.95 × 25%) + (8.00 × 75%) = 6.99

YOUR SEASON SO FAR

Round 1 6.30 / 10 rank #16
Round 2 5.71 / 10 rank #20
Round 3 6.68 / 10 rank #19
Round 4 6.99 / 10 rank #18
Round 5 7.75 / 10 rank #13 PERSONAL BEST

TOTAL REACH — 22 plays · rank 19 / 21

TOTAL LIKES — 3 · rank 18 / 21