Until The Dead Has Risen

Dr. Dre featuring Kendrick Lamar, Marsha Ambrosius, and Candice Pillay “Genocide”

“Genocide” is only four and a half minutes, but there’s enough ideas and odd sonic textures in Dem Jointz’s track to pad out half an album. What’s going on in this song?

• An odd, digitally distorted two-note sample that’s being used like a snare hit, so the end of some measures sound as though it’s being pushed ahead by some mechanical device.

• A shuddering turntable sample that works like a drum fill, but feels like rumbling tectonic plates beneath the song.

• A descending bass part that sounds as if each note is a little dot, which is offset by a similar high-pitched set of ascending dot-notes.

• Synth washes that are so subtle that it’s almost perceptible, but are actually crucial in creating a rising sensation on the chorus.

• A totally unexpected a cappella doo-wop bridge, but the lowest voice is doing some kind of dubstep wubby thing.

• A chorus by R&B singer Marsha Ambrosius that strips all the warmth and femininity from her voice, but leaves in a lot of dread and despair.

• A sung verse by Candice Pillay that continues a tradition of using dancehall voices in rap tracks to signify impending doom.

• A verse from Dr. Dre that I didn’t even immediately recognize as him, since his voice is a bit higher pitched than usual, and he’s doing some singsongy bits that I don’t remember ever being a part of his style.

• A verse from Kendrick Lamar that swings from fairly chill to utterly ferocious, and shows off a skill for vivid lyrical detail, off-kilter meters and cadences, and varied vocal textures that no other rapper of his generation can match.

Buy it from iTunes.