Blue Devil rappers shine on SoundCloud

PHOTO: Sophomore Susannah Costello works on her beats in her room.

By Soraya Fattahi,

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Every few weeks, sophomore Susannah Costello will come across a song she likes and decide to make a cover. She looks for the correct key to match her voice, and plays either guitar or ukulele for the song. After practicing the song at least six times, it meets her high standards and she posts it on the SoundCloud app.

The SoundCloud international website and app is changing the way we think about the music industry. Due to its accessibility, almost anyone can become an artist by uploading, sharing and promoting their music.

According to the Forbes magazine, there were 175 million registered users on SoundCloud as of May 2018. The app is now the second largest streaming music service.

“I think that because of the freedom for creativity on SoundCloud, it allows people that wouldn’t have previously been able to get their music out to be heard,” sophomore Eli Yasui said. “Because of the internet, pretty much anyone can become a viral sensation overnight.”

At Davis High, not many people post on the streaming app, but the ones who do stand out.

Senior Louis Alguacil is known as BIG LU on the platform, and has 61 followers.

Alguacil began to post about three months ago with encouragement from his friends. He now makes music with senior Cole Bertrand and junior Daniel Ruiz, who goes by KeyDi J on SoundCloud.

Ruiz makes their beats while Alguacil and Bertrand sing. “Honestly it’s just a fun way to hang out with your friends (…) it really surprises me how easy it’s been to make the music and post it,” Bertrand said.

Another group at Davis High who posts on SoundCloud are The Real G- Boyz. Their main group members are sophomores Nick Haverlock, Alan Favela and Luke Murray.  They began to post about two months ago and do it mostly just for fun and as a joke.

Haverlock makes the beats and occasionally sings, while Favela and Murray are the main singers.

For Haverlock, the whole process takes around an hour. He uses the app Logic Pro X for the beats. He sometimes takes samples from other artists, but most of his songs are completely his own.

He starts with the melody, then adds drums, counter melodies and the singing portion. This is where the other members of the group come and help with the lyrics.

After all of the singing is done, Haverlock puts in effects to make the voices sound better, known as mixing and mastering.

“We all do them kind of together, it takes about three hours to make a song (…) the final production is rewarding,” Haverlock said.

The entertainment platform gives the public the ability to like and comment on songs and follow creators. The app works like social media, where people’s reactions to the songs are public and permanent.

The response these Davis High students get from the SoundCloud community is both positive and negative. “I’m totally fine with negative feedback because that’s just going to make me better at the end of the day,” Alguacil said.

All of the creators are subject to criticism from the public. “I knew that when we started it, [feedback] would be very mixed (…) I do it kind of for myself and for fun,” Bertrand said.

“I was kind of afraid at first but it’s been super positive (…) I was surprised,” Costello said.