200 Reasons to Love A Cappella: Hip Hop Performances

By Mike Chin on May 12, 2010 in 200 Reasons To Love A Cappella, Featured

For the uninitiated, it can be difficult to understand why people love a cappella. Heck, even for those of us who do actively enjoy it, it can be difficult to put into words why we enjoy this art form so. While we’ll never have a truly comprehensive list of everything cool about a cappella, 200 Reasons to Love A Cappella is our best attempt at assembling a list of what makes it great.

Reason #7: Hip Hop Performances

Ask the average joe about his perception of a cappella and you’ll probably a description of an a cappella choir, or a barbershop quartet. Best case scenario, the person will have some semblance of an understanding of a contemporary a cappella, and have a vision of some singers an arc, singing “The Longest Time” or “Stand By Me.”

This is a part of what makes a cappella hip hop so cool. A hip hop performance takes traditionalist audience expectations and turns them on their heads, instead, turning in a performance that is fast, fun, cool and maybe even sexy. Whether it’s UNC Clef Hanger and American Idol alum Anoop Desai breaking down the solo on “Kiss-Kiss,” Glee’s Acafellas raising eyebrows with “Poison,” The University of Michigan GMen performing “Thank You” (as shown below) or any of the hundreds of other seemingly goody-two-shoe, white bread musicians busting out with such tunes each year, this spectacle never fails to entertain.

I love it!

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