Hardest Song to sing/Score in the World

                      Hardest songs to sing in the world.

When grading the hardest songs to sing in the world, it’s no lie or exaggerations you would find a lot of rock songs amongst, being that Rock, Classical and Jazz have quite a lot of vocal technicality in them.

In the world today we have heard amazing Vocalist that can wow the world with their vocals and make some songs extremely hard to score, exactly the way it was sang, note by note and on the same key, but Vocals and Genre are not the only win factor in a very hard song; sometimes we face the strong diversity and the following of a language unknown, but we would take a look at the hardest songs to sing in the world of all time, and why they are.

First of all let me explain the term ‘hard to sing’ to you. I believe I am speaking about how painful, dangerous or how much struggle it would take to score a particular song exactly the way it was sang. Sometimes the reasons for not being able to sing such songs exactly is due to extreme high note beyond your vocal range, extreme low notes also beyond your vocal range, language diversity and technique (adlibs, vocal fach, and strength or a way of singing).

One of the hardest songs the world is always willing to attempt to sing in recent times is the song by Mariah Carey – Emotions, due to its extreme high notes that only an act above the 6^th octave and with a whistle register can take. The amount of people with such gifts are few, but recently we have seen Ariana Grande, Adam Lopez and a few others score Mariah Carey’s song quite alright. And we seem aware of few Vocalists with a whistle register that could attempt such a high pitched song at their prime, like Mike Patton, who is known to have the widest Vocal range for a musician at the moment, spanning over 6 octaves.

Minnie Ripperton surely did give a very big shot on the song ‘Loving You’ – a 1975 hit. The song is noteworthy due to extreme high pitches that Ripperton reaches during the song, while she also phonates with her whistle register making continuous bird chirping sound. Not a lot of artist in the world right now can do that.

We have a whole lot of amazing legendary acts, like Dolly Parton, Axl Rose, Minnie Ripperton, Elvis Priesly, Mariah Carey, Mike Parton e.t.c, whose songs are sometimes given a tag of ‘hard to sing’, but who has truly sang the hardest song ever to sing? We are checking a whole lot of songs from all over the world, including acts like Ave Mariah, R Kelly, Mumbazo, Kennedy Tareotu, Michael Jackson, Ray charlse, Barenaked Ladies, The Cranberries and a whole lot more acts, both professional and even upcoming acts. Who has ever recorded the hardest song to score/sing?

10. Zombie – The Cranberries.

This Song has an angry grunge sound and aggressive lyrics with heavy rock performance.

  9. Elvis Priesly – Way down

A song recorded in October 1976, popularized for having the lowest note in a song sung by J.D summers when reciting/singing the words ‘Way on down’ at the end of each chorus. This song had the lowest note held before Tim Storms came on board, and this note made the song had to score/sing by other singers’ worldwide.

  8. Hysteria – Muse       

This song is known for its intricate bass line, which was voted the sixth best bass line of all time on MusicRadar.

  7. Mozart –  The Magic Flute

This is an opera in different Acts, which the first performance was at 1937 Salzburg Festival. This Opera performance has the roles of all the voice types which rely on the vocal range. So taking a role in this performance or song would mean you have to have a unique vocal range.

 

6. REM – it’s the End of the World as we know it (And I feel Fine)

This song has 2.49 words a second, quite remembered for his pace, but still far shy away from Eminem’s Rap God.

5. Oliver Neil – Baby girl

This is an African song by Oliver Neil, quite simple at first, but this song happens to have the highest note ever held in an African song, with the female backup singer hitting notes at the end of the 7^th octave.

  4. Eminem – Rap God

This song has the world record for the most words in a hit single. Rap God has 1,560 words into six minutes, three second of it. 15 seconds – 97 words, 6.5 words a second, too fast.

  3. Minnie Riperton – Loving you

Minnie Julia Riperton, born Nov 8^th 1947, died July 12, 1979 at age 31.

She had a coloratura Soprano, with 5 octaves and can sing the whistle register.

This song is note worthy for unusual high head voice pitches that Riperton reaches during the song, but let’s note the chirping songbirds that are heard throughout the song, all Ripperton’s voice. Very hard phonations. Can only be done by high whistle register singers.

  2. Mariah Carey – Emotions

Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1969 or 1970)

This song challenged Carey’s vocal range and is her first song to require the execution of multiple whistle notes…that’s it, ‘Whistle notes’, and with Mariah Carey’s Vocal range spanning more than four octaves on the track to E7.

This song is unarguable one of the hardest songs to sing in the worlds, and can only be attempted by acts with whistle register at the 7^th octave level, such Acts are few.

1. Kennedy Tareotu - Better and Greater

Kennedy Tareotu, also known as the Ghost Act (born on 25, 1992 or 1993). This song is note worth for extreme low notes and extreme high note at the end of the song done by the same act. 

Kannedy Tareotu started this song with a note so low that nearly no woman would actually take it, cancelling all the women out of scoring this song. he then increased little by little until got to a whistle register just at the range of the 6th octave. this track spans over 6 octaves, from zero to the end of the 6th octave.

 

The problem of this song is nearly no one can take it exactly it is, except an act with an octave higher than 6 octaves, which are few. Adam lopez, tim storms, mike patton, axl rose might attempt this song, only men can. But who can sing it?

Adam lopez can’t take the low notes, it is below his range.

Tim storms can’t take the whistle register, it is above his range.

Axl rose – 5 octaves can’t take the low notes, it is below his range.

Mike Patton 6 octave vocal range might not still take few low notes on this song, as his vocal range starts from E1, but he would take the whistle note on this song. So who can take both the low notes and the whistle note on this song at the same time?

Talking about vocal ranges, Kennedy Tareotu has an 8 octaves span, and his known as the only Bass singer with a whistle register in Africa.

Mavin - Adaobi song Review

Mavin – Adaobi (Don Jazzy, Reekado Banks, Korede Bello, Di’ja) a Kennedy Tareotu Review.

INSTRUMENTATION

Taking a vast note on the instrumentation that I would tag Afro-high life, has to stick to a pattern, one that rejuvenates African style and provides great African rhythmic stance.

In this beat we got half of both, half of a great Afro sound springing out from African percussion and a great shallow mixture of high life from the progression of rhythm.  

The drum line and percussion were the great effects on this song, but an acoustic play was significant and a quiet bass that you could hear once in a while. This instrumentation is key to the song success.

SINGING SENSATION

‘Do you understand the formula’, might be the first sentence you hear on this song, but what makes this song extraordinary is the combination of quite some vocalist. But how would I grade them all?

Number 1. Dija was fantastic from the start, giving way for Don Jazzy to play with the song a little with chants I feel that was unnecessary.

Number 2. Don jazzy has never failed with his voice, his emotional quotient is always high and once again I heard that swift steady emotion of a great voice springing in the chorus, making the chorus the best part of the song, from lead to back up.

Number 3.

Do you know…
The way you dancing….Adaobi
The way you shaking your body dey make me go crazy
Do you know….
How you dancing….Adaobi
How you shaking your body dey make me go crazy
Girl I want the formula….Adaobi
Sweety baby ya na na na na….Adaobi
Girl you pass the formula….Adaobi
Olomi ya na na na na….Adaobi
I know you get the formula
Sweety baby ya na na na na….Adaobi
Baby pass the formula
Olomi ya na na na….Adaobi.

This verse was the first, was averagely felt.

You’re looking for the formula
From here down to south africa
You know I got the formula
I know you like the formula
You’re looking for the formula
From here down to south africa
You know I got the formula….Adaobi
I know you like the formula….Adaobi

This bridge by Dija was abit convincing from the start, until it seemed like she was short of words and touch. She couldn’t use her octave properly and could have gone up and change the rhythm when singing exactly the same thing. The word formula came too many times without well presentation, but she was the only female in this song, her voice made way for a brighter and a needed side filled with men, it brought the song a great mixture.

Verse
Almighty formula
Baby girl see I love your formula
Them say Reeky Banks you popular
No be lie you dey burst my medula, my medula….on a regular
I go like to give on a regular
I no mind make I burst your circular
That thing wey dey burst my medula, my medula eh
Quadratic equation ma re o
Baby girl you scatter my brain o
I’m loving the way that you shake o
My lady, my lady
Quadratic equation ma re o
Baby girl you scatter my brain o
Am loving the way that you shake o
My lady o, my lady o

This verse is the best verse in this song, that’s simply because it was totally different from every other verse. It was a rap-sing, with great arrangement of syllables of words and sounds, and he didn’t ever repeat a vocal progression. But let’s take one lyrical issue here. ‘No be lie you dey burst my medulla’. I have over heard this sentence, and I always wondered what it meant, who made the words out. This phrase usually means ‘You make me run crazy, or let me say you burst my brain, make me mad’, unfortunately the Medulla oblongata is a very small part of the brain stem linking the brain and the spinal cord, it cannot burst, but it can get cut or detached, and if it does get pierced or bust or tampered with, it wont get you crazy, t wont turn you to a psycho, because it controls involuntary actions like breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. so let’s assume your medulla was busted, you won’t be able to breath, you aint going crazy that way, you are heading to the grave. So this term might be off point, but we understand what he was trying to say.

Verse
Ada Ada Ada
O sweety Ada….Ada
Omo see me see Ada….Ada
Baby okwu Ada….Ada o
I teach the formula o
Doro fine girl
You are a doro fine girl
You are a ah
Abi be ko o
Ah, be no ni o
Ada fine gan o
Ah, fine no ni o
Abi be ko o
Ah, be no ni o
Ada fine gan o
Ah, fine no ni o

This verse is also a splendid one, it is the next big verse after the last, because it followed the same lane the last did, as he changed progression thrice, making his part not predictable.

This song had good vocalists in it, and I have to commend that the mixture and performances is spectacular even besides each shallow mistakes, but Don Jazzy’s chorus still took the best phase of the song.

Maurice Kirya - Uganda girl Review

Uganda girl (Maurice Kirya) a kennedy Tareotu Review

INSTRUMENTATION

The acoustic guitar gave this song a precised beautiful touch. It gave it a touch of love, a touch of beauty. With solemn drum beat and jazzy notes makes this instrumentation a professional touch of brilliance.

SINGING SENSATION

I feel Maurice is over great in this song.

His voice is light and between the 4^th and 5^th octave and he used it well without screaming.

He was gentle, professional and fixed with passing his message in an enticing way. You could feel him talking closely to a girl just by listening.

He gave his voice to then song, gave his high notes and fixed pattern and yet sounded simple and not loud and heavy.

The composition of this song is fantastic, the singing sensation was beautified at the end of the song with Myko helping out with fantastic partings, complete fantastic partings actually, though I waited for a high soprano which I didn’t get, but the mixture was superb and well arranged.

LYRICAL CONTENT

There is something in the way you carry yourself, your confidence and the way you are.

There is something in the way you move, like a feather gliding the air.

I know you think I got this from a book, no. I believe you were sent from heaven above.

My Uganda girl.

I realize it’s in your eyes, that spark that leads to paradise.

I see my future through your eyes, or I might just mesmerize.

O no, you think I got the from a book, no. I believe you were sent from heaven above…My Uganda girl.

This lyric is quite simple, and made of honesty…wanting to pass a message bluntly, quick and beautifully.

OVERALL REMARK

This song is beautifully made, all the way from Uganda, and it would ease your mind with its instrumentation and make you feel more to love and appreciate a woman with its message.

Great work by Maurice Kirya.

Kennedy Tareotu 'Better and Greater' Review

Kennedy Tareotu 'Better and Greater' Review

The song better and greater is a complex song, when asked what song can we use to rate this song, the first and only song that ran into our minds would be Elvis Presley’s ‘Way down’, the similarities in this song remains slim, but no song in the world can probably fit to this song, not because of the genre, but because of the vocal abilities of the song. Let’s check the similarity between Way down and Better and Greater – Way down has a Genre country rock, blues-rock, rock and roll, Better and greater – Country rock, pop-rock. Elvis Presley recorded this song in his home studio in October 1976, released on June 6, 1977. It was his current single before he died, and the song was a hit.

According to Guinness World Record J.D summer that sang the words ‘way down’ at the end of each chorus, sang hitting a low c, 3 octaves below the middle c, and was recorded as the lowest recorded note ever produced by a human voice. A Song that hit 3 octaves lower than middle c, would happen to be on the first octave, while JD Summers enjoyed the accolades for singing the lowest note in Elvis song, he got a Guinness certificate for that, that’s how great the act on the song was.

The song Better and greater is of the same similarity, except for the fact that Kennedy Tareotu (also known as the Ghost act) went one octave lower than JD Summers did, and his vocal range on the song spanned six octaves up to nearly a 7^th octave…from 0 – few notes above 6.

These attributes remains rare, never have we seen anyone that could sing a song from the zero octave to the sixth octave.

Kennedy Tareotu started as low as the zero octave and kept on going up skipping few octaves till he got to just right at the 6^th octave. He took 0 – 3^rd octave – 5^th octave and a quick start from zero octave to the 6^th octave. This makes it look as if they are three different voices in the song, that’s the reason why Ken took the song in a way for us to know it’s just him, he made the swap quick and little by little so we can see the resemblances in the voices.

Kennedy Tareotu happens to be the only complete bass singer with a whistle register at the moment in Africa, and I believe in the whole world, if there is any maybe few and unknown. Because of his wide vocal range that has been verified to be around 7.5 Octaves, he is classified as a Bass/Baritone singer, no one ever calls him an alto, tenor, and soprano, he rarely shows the attributes of going high until recently.

 So yes, he has the ability to make different voice types in one song, we’ve seen that in a lot of his songs…in Together Nigeria, in Empire Rise. He has admitted to always taking his back up when no one is available because of his large or wide vocal range, he could sound differently.

This song is ranked amongst the top three hardest song to sing or score of all time in the world, fighting it out with Mariah Carey ‘Emotions’, and Minnie  Riperton ‘Loving You’. The song is also known as the song with the lowest note taken in Africa, and the musician that took the lowest note in a song in the world. While Kennedy Tareotu can’t tackle Tim Storm’s world record of lowest note taken by a human, Kennedy Tareotu (21/22) is believed to be able to take half of anything Tim Storm takes, if not more and he is so young.

 INSTRUMENTATION

PRODUCER: KENNEDY TAREOTU

A sharp quick bass striking itself to give a four note progression, and a rocky style of play from other acoustic sound. This is pop rock instrumentation, with the bass line the key figure in the instrumentation, with a good drumming and an electric guitar that makes you want to nod your head.

SINGING SENSATION

SINGER: KENNEDY TAREOTU

The first vocal sound of this song is so low, within the zero and the first octave of the piano. The singer gave quite a steady professional singing, which didn’t have a reason to be too loud. From the end of the Piano the act took it a little higher to the 3^rd octave, before moving to the 5^th octave and taken a quick scale from the first octave to the 6^th.

The singer showed us much of a vocal range, with this song having up to 6 octaves in it all in head voice, hitting low notes, and hitting a whistle register.

LYRICAL CONTENT

‘Who told you should walk above the grave of your man?’

‘Who told you there is nothing greater than the walls of hell?’

‘You thought the world is bringing you down, but you are nothing than belt’

‘Cause you’ve tied yourself to the ground yet you’ve never known death’

‘You are better; you are greater you don’t know that’

‘Who said the dust and the waters do not ever relate?’

‘Who said hell and heaven are two places far from themselves?’

‘Who told you superstitions that make you hold yourself down?’

‘The greatest problem you have is the belt you’ve become’

‘You are better; you are greater you don’t know that.’

One of the attributes of Kennedy Tareotu is he knows how to write songs outside the African style, and write very complex lyrical standard. He is a song writer, and as said to write his songs in poetry before singing. He likes passing a message, rather than just sing, and in this song he passed an unclear message I guess. Let’s break it down.

1.       Who told you that you should walk above the grave of your man?

Meaning : Who told you there is no such thing called ghost, so you could walk or have romantic escapade in the cemetery or on the grave of a person?

2.       Who told you there is nothing greater than the walls of hell?

Meaning: Who told you if you die now, hell is all you might face?

3.       You thought the world is bringing you down but you are nothing than belt.

Meaning: You thought your enemies fight you and brings you down, but you yourself is a sit belt that holds you down.

4.       Cause you’ve tied yourself to the ground, yet you’ve never seen death.

Meaning: You’ve tied yourself to the ground like a dead man yet you are still alive.

You are better and greater than what you are, you don’t know that.

5.       Who told you dust and water do not relate, or heaven and hell are places far from themselves?

Meaning:  Who told you the difference between good and bad, or the black and white is large, so why the segregation, fight and bad mouthing?

(Note: Dust is the closest color to a black man’s skin. Dust means black man, water means white man. Heaven means good, hell means bad).

Who told you superstitions that makes you hold yourself down, for the greatest problem you have is the strong sit belt you’ve become. You are better, you are greater than that, you don’t know that.

I believe this is an hidden message to the whole world, and trust me I didn’t decode the lyrics myself. I sent Kennedy Tareotu an email to decode it himself, assuming he didn’t, I wouldn’t have known the exact thing he was talking about in this song. At the end of the day the message is simple, ‘Do not do things that hinders you and me, the difference between everyone, both the rich and poor and the white and black aint large….so no segregation, no fights. We are better and greater than that’.

I have never seen any African act that knows how to write like this, he did this in ‘Let it rain’, he did it in ‘Would we be forever’; he is always writing a superb message in a complex lyrics that looks simple.

This song is one of the greatest songs to come out from the African soil.