Honky Rap, Part 2: Baby Dayliner

Baby Dayliner is the other artist I’ve been listening to lately who makes rap music as if restructured by whitey (see Honky Rap, Part 1). What differentiates Baby D from The Fiery Furnaces, and from the average hip-hop artist, though, is really just his taste.

When he sings, he doesn’t find enough notes to really qualify as singing, not that he’s missing any notes. He kinda talks with a bit of melody, which is why I call it rap, and yet he also kinda croons. On “Whodunit?” he concludes the bridge with whoa whoa shoobadoo-badoo/yeah yeah shoobadoo-ba hey/whu’ whu’. CD Baby refers to him as a 21st century Sinatra. But he may just as well be an early 20th century Jay-Z.

Listen to the music: there’s a drum machine, some bass — okay that’s like hip-hop — but then he throws in some violin action, a few keyboard loops, and a whole bunch of synth-pop effects from “Bizarre Love Triangle”. Wha tha fa?

Many hip-hop artists grew up listening to Diana Ross, Grandmaster Flash, and Kurtis Blow. The Friedburgers grew up listening to John Cale, carousel music, and the score to Willy Wonka. Baby Dayliner grew up listening to New Order, Salt ‘n Pepa, and maybe even Morrissey (it’s not just in his pompadour; listen to “Silent Halls”). The result is that Baby Dayliner’s got a wholly original sound that really shouldn’t work. At first listen, I thought, okay, it’s sorta like Har Mar. But the songs are much more polished and really catchy. Critics Pass Away is one of the few albums that my wife (who loves herself some hip-hop) and I can appreciate together. And it actually may prove to be one of my favorite albums of the year.

• Listen to “At Least” from Critics Pass Away
• Listen to “Whodunit?” (in OGG format) from Critics Pass Away