Babatunde Akinboboye, “Non più andrai”/“Truth Hurts”

Classics from Two Different Periods Mashed in One

by Valeriia Honchar | April 12, 2021

A combination of two different sources that blend in and overlap each other is defined as a mashup. In the modern world, mashups most frequently combine melodic compositions that are categorized in the same or similar genre. But what elements need to be considered into the mashup of the similarly structured pieces? Is it harmony, rhythm, rhyme of lyrics, emphasis on certain vowels or sounds? These little things matter in a longer run production of the mashup. But in the project where two different pieces fall under different categories in genre and history, what elements need to be considered to make a mashup? How can a musician form the combination of pieces to not lose the value of both genres and their important elements in music? An aria “Non piu andrai” will take a turn back in history to the classical genre of music, when “Truth Hurts” will dive into modern, popular elements of music.

Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is a four-act comic opera (opera buffa). Its premiere happened in Vienna in 1786. It is considered one of the most frequent performed operas on our modern stage. Actions are taking in Count Almaviva’s palace. Figaro wants to marry his love Susanna who is the countess’s maid. The Count has a wife Rosina but has a tendency to look at other women. The Count’s wish is to make Susanna sleep with him on her wedding night. Figaro, Susana and Rosina figured out the Count’s plan and decided to trick him. This is where the storyline begins to unroll. Le Nozze di Figaro is one of the most known and common operas that is being performed on stage in the present day. In its sphere the storyline as well as arias are commonly known by many operatic singers. One of the famous arias is “Non piu andrai”.

Babatunde Akinboboye takes a new turn of interpretation of this opera. His stylistic genre Hip Hopera brings a new look towards one of the arias “Non piu andrai”, in a casual performance in a vehicle with a background beat of “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo. Melissa Viviane Jefferson who is carrying the stage name Lizzo is an American rapper and singer. Beyond her skills in rap and singing, she also features her skills in playing the flute. “Truth Hurts” is one of her singles of 2017 that reached number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. At the 2019 BET Awards, Lizzo included her skills as a flutist in the performance of “Truth Hurts”. High pitched elements of the flute added a compelling decoration to the piece. The use of two different styles creates a new perspective on both of the styles. In Babatunde’s performance important features of each style such as rhythm, phrasing, and melody are present.

In the musical analysis of a mashup, it would be very hard to scrutinize all the elements. The performer himself did deep analytical work to mash up the two different genres. Analyzing the basic harmonic structure of “Truth Hurts” as well as “Non piu andrai”, both compositions build on the key of C major. Introduction of “Truth Hurts” is a variation of two chords C major as I (C and G) and A minor as vi (A and E). In “Non piu andrai” it has a similar chord progression I moving to V. “Truth Hurts” provides a strong bass line that allows the singer to perform the melody line on top of it, and strong bass chords give support to all of the moving notes. Mashing up these pieces was successful due to the basic form of the bass line.

The rhyming and rhythm of lyrics fall perfectly with the downbeats of the strong melodic bass support. Both compositions were composed in a 4/4 time, providing an easier blend of both pieces as the value of notes are equivalent. Performing this piece in its original form allows singer to show off their voice by making everything legato and longer notes, so the audience gets a chance to see the full potential power of the voice. As was introduced earlier, Lizzo is a flutist with a classically trained background. Her improvised live performance with the flute, provided a rich, confided, classical element in the modern genre. It was done with a taste, and her decision where to place the flute melody was done grammatically correct that well corresponded with the rest of harmonic loop in her piece. Her stylistic elements of rap included a classical recitative as well as a loop feeling in melody as well as rhythm. The speed of sung-spoken words was done in the pace that was well heard and understood. When Babatunde did the mashup, he encountered the idea of both styles. The repetitive form of rhythm gave the feeling, motion of rap. The melody of an aria features levels of power of the voice as well as it carries a melodic line. His singing sounded like rap due to faster rhythm, but he was dedicated to the correct performance as was notated in music of an original score. Although he did not perform the entire aria, in his combination of different pieces of the aria, he fully showed both styles in a respectful manner. The sections that he has chosen were done in this order: mm. 1-26, mm. 44-57 (at mm. 56-57 he added a decorative element, which is allowed in Mozart’s compositions), mm. 1-13, mm. 61- 68, mm. 97-100. Some improvised elements, such as sounds that are commonly heard in a rap genre were added. This decorative component was done in the section with a repetitive note motion. An example of such element would be found in the set of m:61-68, as he adds a sound “yee, yee, yee, yee”. It plays along with the text very well as it echoes the last vowel “i”(Italian pronunciation) in the word “sollioni”. In the rap genre it is just a decorative element.

This melodic example uses simple rhyming style. It allows the listener clearly to hear the phrase when it starts and where it ends. Punctuation adds more meaning to the words. With punctuation, the pitch of the voice changes, the length of the word is longer or shorter. But the performer has a right to choose some accented elements in their performance, depends on their feelings and emotions. Sometimes it is the downbeats of important words or accented vowels. In this composition, the performer chose a more relaxed and catchy vibe accented elements. That can be clearly seen in mm. 61–68. The constant phrase with no rests allowed the performer to accent certain words. In the original performance of an aria, it would not have been done in a manner that the mashup composition was done in.

There are many mashups, many covers done to original tracks. Each interpretation is different because of all these reasons listed above. No one will interpret something identically to someone else. In this interpretation of the piece Babatunde brought forward a modern element “hype”. He caught the “hype” of the music with his heart. It was very relaxed, casual performance while driving a car. He provided a well-suited character that was fitting in his environment. Inclusion of the main elements of both genres was a respectful treatment of such neat details. It helped him in the overall project of formulating a new composition, which consisted with a combination of two, very different genres.