The Canon: Invention

The Canon is a Neo Classical theory that takes into consideration: the invention, arrangement, style, delivery and memory. We will be taking a look at the invention, how Dermot comes up with his songs, and how he found his sound. Dermot Kennedy falls into the singer- songwriter that pulls inspiration from rap and hip hop music. In interviews, he is often asked about his hip-hop influences, which most people would not usually ask an Irish guy who is holding a guitar. He never claims to be a hip hop artist, he’s just an admirer of the genre. In an interview with iheart Radio he says, “I think what has always appealed to me in singers, songwriters and poets, and is super potent in rap, is it’s just storytelling. If there is any influence on the record it’s just a production thing” (iheart radio, 2019). He talks about being influenced by hip hop and rap and those influences are heard in his sound. A lot of his music has R&B beats and bass drops which are common in the hip hop and rap world. One thing that distinguishes a hip hop beat from other types of music is in the beats per minute. Hip Hop has a range of 60-100 beats per minute (Tempo and genre). Some of his songs fall into this category. Though his lyrics are not as influenced by rap, he uses machine drums and beats that create a hip/hop sound.

A great example of a song that showcases his hip hop influences is His song,  Power Over Me. The song Power Over Me is about the stage in a relationship where two people are obsessed with each other, completely taken by the other person. In an interview with KISS 92.5,  he stated that when creating the song they started with the line, “You’ve got this power over me”, (KISS 92.5, 2019) and then wrote the song around that verse and idea. Though his creative process varies for each song, he does sometimes start with a single line or concept and then build the rest of the song around it. The song begins with him humming while a piano plays in the background. When he starts singing, a hip hop drum beat drops. This song shows even though he is a singer-songwriter, he does not limit himself to playing just acoustically or solely with a piano. He pulls inspiration from different genres that give him a sound that merges his singer songwriter roots with his love for hip hop music.

Until obsessively watching interviews with Dermot Kennedy, I never picked up on his hip-hop influences.  I do now see how he is inspired by this genre. He also claims to listen to rap music daily. If something is so heavily on your playlist as a musician, it would be hard for it to not find its way into your personal works. Singer-songwriters and rap artists have strong ties in the way that they connect to their songs and write from personal experience. Artists from both genres are storytellers, they use experiences from their personal lives when writing and inventing their songs. 

Iheart radio. (2019, July 17). Iheart radio.

KISS 92.5. (2019, February 20). KISS 92.5

Tempo and genre. (n.d.). Retrieved from 

https://learningmusic.ableton.com/make-beats/tempo-and-genre.html