Rap Cover Music

                I don’t like rap music...... I guess I shouldn’t be that harsh, but it’s definitely not my favorite genre. I do enjoy some artists such as J. Cole and songs like “Let Me Clear My Throat” by DJ Kool and Biz Markie. But for the most part I find rap to be hard to connect with, and as you will see, much someone singing with conviction. I’m not taking away from rap artists talents, it’s just not for me. With all this information I assume you can guess my feelings on Drake, not a huge fan. I never find his beats to be anything to write home about and his lyrics are too repetitive for my liking. So I have never much cared to listen to any of his songs. That is until I was reintroduced to them. That’s the beauty of a good cover, it can bring a whole new life to a song that you previously didn’t like at all.

                As I stated in my first blog, I wanted to show all you folks some talent that is right here at UNI. So with my second post I’ll be doing just that. Meet Andrew Sladky.

Andrew is a 19 year old biology major from Burlington, Iowa. In high school he was a great swimmer, but believe it or not was not a part of the show choir! I have had the pleasure of meeting Andrew through the Student Admissions Ambassadors organization here at UNI. The first time I actually ever heard his name was when this video was brought up in a meeting. I obviously went home right away and looked it up, I was shocked that it wasn’t rap at all and at his voice and conviction. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I was very pleasantly surprised. 

The 5 Reasons I love this cover medley:

1. The fact that he’s wearing a Drake sweatshirt while singing a Drake cover, I see what you did there Andrew, very clever.

2. So smooth. Upon further interactions with Andrew I realize that his personality is just like his voice. If you know him at all, you have probably realized how smooth he is in everything he does. It’s fantastic when people can display themselves through the power of their voice, and Andrew does just that with his smooth singing.

3. The ease. Andrew’s voice is very smooth yes, but that is not my favorite part. I love hearing people sing that don’t try to over-do it, but just let it come to them easily. The ease with which he sings shows that he is a truly talented guy.

4. The creativity. Being a guy who has no musical talent, I can’t say for sure how hard making a medley like this is. But I can certainly say I would have never thought of doing Drake on piano like this, and the rendition kills it.

5. Opened my ears. I have never listened to much Drake, cause like I said I don’t much care for him. But this medley opened me up to listen to some of his songs and compare. Although I like this better, I realized that Drake isn’t as bad as I originally thought.

And that folks is the power of a high quality cover song, it can open new musical horizons that you never thought of exploring.

Celebrity Spotlight:

                When doing my weekly spotlight of a celebrity, I try to connect it with my other weekly artist. When thinking of a celebrity that is a smooth singer that doesn’t over-do it, I immediately thought of Kina Grannis. She is an artist who is extremely easy to listen to and she just puts me at a sense of relaxation. She is a new celebrity who made it through Youtube, she has been posting songs for quite some time now and even made a few of her own CD’s. She has covered songs from “Cruise” by Florida Georgia Line all the way to this cover of “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio.

This is another song that I would never thought of covering in this way. That’s why I’m thankful for people with the ability to think of singing a song in this fashion and pulling it off fantastically. I hope you all are too. Stay tuned with my twitter HERE to hear more songs from the one and only, Kina Grannis.