Long Live the 1 Bar Chorus AKA “The Saga Continues Wu-Tang Wu-Tang”
The 1 bar chorus is a fantastic thing. I think it is basically a rap phenomenon and it is largely a wu-phenomenon in my opinion. It’s a symptom of having 9 rappers most of whom run about 38 bars a verse, so it’s a good look. I’m struggling to think of anyone outside of the Wu who I’ve heard do it. There are certainly some groups who have used some of the benefits. Hi-Tek with “Where it Started At” basically took an 8 bar chorus and dropped an extra measure of found singing to make every single jump into the verse just dramatic as all get out.
This band from St. Paul called Heiruspecs took an 8 bar loop and dropped an extra measure turnaround to try to get the same effect and called it Small Steps. They released the record 9 years and 11 months ago.
But now I just heard a student from McNally Smith named Niels Troedsson tear a 1 measure chorus in a beautiful song about Circle Pines, MN. It carried fantastic references and spectacular energy. And it featured a great 1 bar chorus. So, let’s hail the king of 1 bar choruses. Check out our man ODB jumping in for a bar between Cappadonna and Golden Arms (go to 2:43 to check it out). “The saga continues wu-tang, wu-tang”.
Okay, back to work. I also think that Defari had a sick 1 bar chorus I tried to get Martin Devaney to sample on his first record but he wouldn’t do it. Huge mistake. Think where’d we be!
