Conejo's "Got You in My Rap" samples Karen's "It's Really You"

[Jarred]

I can't say I ever expected to find something like this, but alas, Karen's outtake from her solo album was sampled on a rapper's track from five years ago. WTF?! A good WTF, but a WTF nonetheless. I was watching a video made for her song and some comments mentioned that this song by rapper Conejo brought them here. I was curious who that was or what it could have been, but never thought about a modern, hip rap artist using the beat and vocals of her song to set the rhythm of his own work. And it's not even an obscure Carpenters track, hell, it didn't even make it onto her aborted (forgotten by many) solo album and yet somehow it came to this guys attention. I love the outtake and Karen's vocal so I think it's worthy of being used I just never expected someone to find this tiny gem.

Has anyone else ever heard anything about this? I've never once heard it referenced on any fan page or forum at all in the last few years and it's fascinating that something like this can exist and even big fans are oblivious. Enduring proof that something human in Karen's voice has appeal that spreads across and has the ability to touch all demographics and all of humanity.

 

[CraigGA]

It’s Really You sounds great until the chorus that is way too high. It’s not that just high notes but it’s that they stay up there and go even higher. To me it sounds like an old Lou Christie song when he is in one voice to begin the verse but the chorus is over an octave higher. It is similar to Your Baby Doesn’t Love You Anymore. But the notes jump around better and don’t stay high continuously through the chorus so the average note is lower in the song even though the range is similar. Not to mention we have no idea if those leaked songs are played at the correct speed. Needless to say, I’m happy for the exposure of Karen's songs but not thrilled with its use in this application, but it picked the best part of the song since there is that mission impossible type of suspense expressed in the phrase Ksren is singing along with her vocal clarity and perfect tone.

 

[Must Hear This Album]

Black artists have routinely cited Carpenters as an influence.

Jody Watley’s Carpenters medley:


Tonex has sampled KC a couple of times. Here’s one:


Other Black artists who’ve been inspired by Carpenters: Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick, The 5th Dimension, and Quincy Jones.

And, yes, @Jarred - the hip-hop influence is fascinating. Karen Carpenter - Thug Life. Huh...

 

[Jarred]

Black artists have routinely cited Carpenters as an influence.

Jody Watley’s Carpenters medley:


Tonex has sampled KC a couple of times. Here’s one:


Other Black artists who’ve been inspired by Carpenters: Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick, The 5th Dimension, and Quincy Jones.

And, yes, @Jarred - the hip-hop influence is fascinating. Karen Carpenter - Thug Life. Huh...

I knew of some of those artists that had been influenced by them but never heard those videos where her voice was used, and never collected all those black artists in my mind like that. I wonder what it was about the music and Karen's voice that specifically appealed to them. There's an old thread on here that talked about if Karen's voice was "soulful" or not, and most agreed that it was feeling that came from her soul but not an innately soulful-styled voice in terms of how she belted/phrased the lyrics (though one has to listen to her sing "And When I Die" to know that she could sing with genuine "soul" as well as any other singer, so she had that capability it's just Richard didn't utilize that kind of styling, instead in favor of her more "natural" restrained voice and lower tones - imagine someone sampling that song!). So a voice can be seriously emotive without being styled in what we generally call soulful, though even some of their early hits have hints of power and soul phrasings on Karen's part.

I mention all this because I believe soul music/singing originated in black culture and when it blossomed for black artists it also became a way for white artists (blue-eyed soul) to have their similarly sounding voices find a market. Going back to that old thread, someone compared the Carpenters to an artist like Barbra Streisand in the 70s and noted that the duo had more success (on the charts?) with RnB/soul stations than she did, or maybe they sold better with black people at the time. And this was at a time when Barbra's voice has blossomed into something genuinely soulful, so even with that, Karen's voice touched them in a way that Barbra's maybe didn't somehow.

It reminded me of another story that I read on Facebook I believe even longer ago that a fan remembers driving or walking through the projects of an inner city I believe, back in the 70s - he remembers seeing a group of black people (not sure how old) sitting on a stoop and listening intently to the duo on a radio outside. I thought it was interesting that these sadly underprivileged people openly found enjoyment and likely identification in hearing a rich, white, upper class woman through her sound. I'm not saying that it's shocking that a non-white person found them compelling, but that especially at the time they had/have an image largely associated with social whiteness and all that entails, in the realm of pop culture. It seems, perhaps, that these people found comfort and identification in a human voice filled with a lifetime of pain and sadness, one that reflected their day to day struggles of being a minority in a highly prejudiced world. Her voice likely told them that just because one is rich, white and respected doesn't mean that that it's a life with happiness or emotional contentment and that she could still feel a torment they both shared.

It seems that decades later this kind of appeal is still very much prevelent among black people and artists and they still hear someone that touches them in a way they maybe can't even explain.

 

[GaryAlan]

Boyz2Men covered Merry Christmas Darling:

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Here is a soulful version of Rainy Days And Monday's by Benet. It's pretty nice.

 

[Jarred]

Boyz2Men covered Merry Christmas Darling:

Nice cover. I have heard of B2M love for them in the past but I don't think I've ever actually heard this cover. I should hear some of their stuff to hear the harmonic influence.

 

[Jarred]

It’s Really You sounds great until the chorus that is way too high. It’s not that just high notes but it’s that they stay up there and go even higher. To me it sounds like an old Lou Christie song when he is in one voice to begin the verse but the chorus is over an octave higher. It is similar to Your Baby Doesn’t Love You Anymore. But the notes jump around better and don’t stay high continuously through the chorus so the average note is lower in the song even though the range is similar. Not to mention we have no idea if those leaked songs are played at the correct speed. Needless to say, I’m happy for the exposure of Karen's songs but not thrilled with its use in this application, but it picked the best part of the song since there is that mission impossible type of suspense expressed in the phrase Ksren is singing along with her vocal clarity and perfect tone.

I love the song overall for the feeling she puts into even that too-high chorus, which I agree sounds strained and not comfortable for her. I too am glad a vocal sampling that featured her more resonant tone was used for the song. I think if they finished the arrangement and rearranged the parts that go too high it could have been a hit.