There are few ways to perform a hip hop cover. One involves just trying to nail the cadence of the original rap. However sometimes rappers covering other hip hop songs often will change the lyrics or interpolate lyrics from other raps, or just change the cadence here and there. The other approach is to transpose the song to another genre and sing the raps.
There’s a bit of a tradition, now, of singers covering hip hop songs and singing the raps. And it makes sense. For one thing, most singers can’t rap well. But it can also be disconcerting or feel gimmicky when a singer sings lyrics that were written for the cadence of rap.
Fortunately for Sam Bean of Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses, Kendrick Lamar is that new kind of rapper whose delivery has a sing-song element to it not found in Golden Age hip hop, and who does indeed sing at times. This is particular true on his recent hit with SZA, “Luther,” a fusion of hip hop and R&B that is a tribute to Luther Vandross. “Luther” prominently samples Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s cover of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell‘s “This World Were Mine.” (The video, which is nearly twice as long as the song, features the sample much more prominently.) SZA’s part is, of course, often classic R&B crooning – or the 21st century equivalent – and Kendrick joins in on the chorus, but even Kendrick’s verses often sounds like he’s singing, or nearly singing.
So it’s not like Bean and Bridwell are having to figure out how to sing the rap. It’s already there in the original song. But what they do with it is what makes the cover so fun. Iron & Wine is known for their spared down indie folk sound. Bridwell’s band’s sound is much rockier. But the sound they settle on is country folk, with a prominent acoustic guitar part accompanied by a full band and the classic country instrument, steel guitar.
Bean, who takes lead, sticks pretty faithfully to Kendrick’s delivery, and actually sounds more like he’s rapping at times than Kendrick in the original. But that doesn’t really take you out of the cover. Because it’s clear these two like this song a lot and their enthusiasm is their throughout what is an understated arrangement. (The original is also pretty understated, albeit in a very different way.)
It’s a fun version of the hit:
