Rap - spoken vocals (rap) or other vocals (rap)

MusicBrainz Style
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Rap is a common vocal style. Yet we don’t have a specific choice for it under Vocals.

Is it best to be Spoken Vocals (rap) or Other Vocals (rap)?

I look at some compilation albums and see it swap back and forth between the two.

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I’ve personally used lead vocals (rap), actually. there’s been a ticket about adding rap as a vocal type waiting on merging vocals and instruments into one system

edit: I’d probably favor lead vocals, unless the rap is in the background somehow (haven’t seen any examples of this tho)

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Lead vocals seems best unless it’s not the lead :slight_smile:

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What I am currently working on is a lead vocals example, so the main answers here work well. (Means I’ll need to clean up a number of other editors additions, but I am cool with getting the edits consistent here)

I do have other examples where the rap is background. Or a single verse not by the lead singer. Would that then become “other vocals (rap)”? I feel “spoken” is pointing to a speech / non-musical reading.

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I just use “vocals”…

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Yeah, for rap songs I just use “vocals” anyway, without any specifying that it’s rap (I also don’t specify metal growls, shouts, etc). But if something is specifically credited as “rap” (which it rarely is in rap songs) then I’d probably want to store it, hence my suggestion.

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This was being specifically credited as “Rap written and performed by” which is why I was trying to find a clear way to credit it as per the booklet.

Track 6 and 8 has an opera singer, so I wanted to credit the different vocal styles as printed.

@Lotheric - Using just “vocals” does not allow a “credited as” to be added.

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Rap written by, I’d enter it as: lyrics by for the work
Rap performed by: other vocals [rap]

We definitely need a more proper vocal credit for raps. My idea would be something in the direction of “rhythmic vocals” as it is more generic than just “rap”. There is not a single vocal role that really fits it. There is spoken word, there are various vocal roles for sung vocals, but not a single one for rhythmic and/or rhyming use of the voice.
While it is such a common credit. As long as it’s not added: Other is definitely the best description and allows to define what kind of other vocals we’re dealing with.

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I would never use “spoken vocals”, since it’s more than just speaking (when done properly to a musical meter), unless it was instead spoken word poetry. When I see artists credited with “rap” it’s usually because they’ve contributed a rap verse to another artist’s non-rap song, in which case I think “other vocals [rap]” (or “lead vocals [rap]” if they are a/the lead vocalist) is perfectly accurate.

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