‘One and All’ showcases what is a calmly confident leading vocal performance presenting a series of ideas and issues that clearly mean a lot to the artist behind them. There’s a definite level of emotion coming through in the performance, though as mentioned, the voice is calm and suggestive of unwavering certainty. Volume is not what’s needed when making a particular point or expressing one’s ideals or thoughts on certain issues, and in this case this has been consistently shown to be true. You pay attention to the lyrics because the voice doesn’t loudly demand you to do so. You pay attention because, for the most part, the rap vocal presents the ideas in a somewhat whispered, spoken word fashion – a very accessible flow, easy to listen to, easy to consider.
What also adds to the effect in making you really want to pay attention is the fact that the music surrounding the vocal parts contrasts quite strongly with the mood portrayed by them. At first, the instrumentation opens up as a classic hip-hop meets jazz or world music ambience, and there’s a lightness to the rhythm that brings about a hopeful energy. As things develop, the instrumentation seems to multiply, creating this slightly noisy backdrop that seems a little separate from the rap vocal – not necessarily in a negative way, but actually, drawing your focus to the one thing that runs smoothly and consistently, the leading voice.
Click the audio below to hear the track!
[sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://exposedvocals.com/features/mp3uploads/dedde.mp3″]
The hook section for the song is not the main thing you take away from it, the spoken word and the energy produced from this contrast between musicality and performance leaves a lasting impression and gives the song character, but the melodic moments do offer a welcome break from the succession of lyrics
By Rebecca Cullen
Rebecca is a Musician and writer from Manchester, UK, with an MA in Song Writing
