Standing Ovation Offers A New Brand Of Funk

on 01/20/2016 at 3:41 pm

While hip hop has evolved greatly since it was berthed in New York more than 40 years ago, it hasn’t exactly been experimental. That isn’t to say there haven’t been a number of innovators over the years because there have been. But each wave and trend has typically followed the formulaic song structure of intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus. While some of modern hip hop’s luminaries employ complex beat patterns, most songs use tried and true 4×4 drum patterns. This leads many people to believe that hip hop is less conducive to experimentation than rock and electronic music. Well, in their new EP Echo Park, Standing Ovation, also known as SO, prove hip hop can be just as experimental as any genre.

Standing Ovation is a hip hop duo featuring Los Angeles rapper and vocalist, The Character and Virginia-based producer Bronze Baby Shoes. Saying their respective talents align perfectly on Echo Park would be an understatement. SO is anything but constrained by modern popular music’s formulaic sounds and structures. This duo is as challenging as they are complex and creative. Echo Park’s songs and beats are the sort that constantly have you hitting rewind. You’ll think “Did I really hear that?” and “I’ve got to listen to this drum pattern again” as you listen.

This makes Echo Park one of the most listenable and replayable EPs you’ll ever listen to as well. SO manages to pack tons of imagery and emotion in this compact four-song release. Bronze Baby Shoes’ dark production combines with The Character’s versatile flow and unique vocals to evoke a wide range of emotions.

Comparisons for them are hard to pin down as well. Their music does have some similarities to Theophilous London in that both are difficult to assign a specific genre. The first song on the EP, and first single, Freaky, sounds equally inspired by 80s pop, conscious hip hop, horrorcore rap and 90s electronica. While most would typically scoff at such a description, it makes perfect sense once you give them a listen.

“Each night I kneel down and pray to keep the beast down in me/to stop luring kitties in my cave/and stop abusing today/” The Character flows on the first verse. These bars are both evocative and provocative but allow us to attribute our own meaning to them.

There’s a reason Standing Ovation’s music has been described as “full moon funk.” The duo strike a rare, sonically engaging balance between levity and darkness. It’s simultaneously funky, grimey, beautiful and frantic. Supercharged is the duo’s closest flirtation with mainstream sensibilities. Bronze Baby Shoes’ beat, while not made for turning up, is aggressive and The Character matches the energy with braggadocios lyrics and near rapid fire flow.

While I suspect this is an EP that most hip hop heads will either love or hate, I think it’s worthy of a listen from everyone. If for no other reason than the fact that it will challenge your view of what hip hop music can be.