#chamillionare

important question

Happy 13th anniversary to #Chamillionare 2nd album #UltimateVictory. #MystaCyric https://www.instagram.com/p/CFR5-lxB6tB/?igshid=3usu29ugd6nt

Chamillionaire Presents Convoz | Upfront Summit 2018

A few days ago I heard these songs nearly back-to-back and I noticed that the backing tracks have a similar use of strings. They use little staccato accented double hits. The other thing these songs have in common is that they each share a spot in my mind because of these string hits. Ridin’ Dirty because I believe it to be one of the last major pop hits to use what’s known as the “Orchestral Hit” (AKA Orch Hit, AKA Orchestral Stab). For Ridin’ Dirty this was likely a call back to early hip-hop which used (or even over used) the effect. However, the effect was also heavily used in pop music, especially in the late 90s and early 00s. As one of the last major radio hits to use the effect, I’ve always felt Ridin’ Dirty bridged the new Hip-hop-as-pop era that was already massively popular. For Carly Rae, I’ve always noticed and loved the strings on Call Me Maybe but never really knew why. After hearing Ridin’ Dirty again, I realized, Carly is essentially using a thinned out Orch Hit effect (well, it’s a string hit, which is an effect on its own. Dissonant versions are popular in horror movies.) Now, thanks to Chamillionare, I can properly articulate my adoration for those strings. Without being too on the nose about it, CRJ triggers our memory of a nostalgic synth effect (it’s worth noting in the music video a guy is playing that “string “ line on a synth), without actually using that exact effect. I would have never  noticed this if it wasn’t for Chamillionare using a similar effect as reference to the hip-hop music where the effect originated.

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