OFFICIAL JUDGE COMMENTARY - MADHATTEREVALUATION OF YOUR CHALLENGE 1 TRACKThe instrumental: Just in the first few seconds, this type of beat makes the listener ready for someone to come out of the gate swinging. That's exactly what you did, too, so this music was a wise choice for the track. This is one of those "Uh ohhhh" type beats, know what I mean? Like "Uh oh, here comes some SHIT!"
Timing: If everyone here knew just how new you are to this kind of thing, they would all be amazed. I think within a year of practice, your timing will be tight. The double-time speed cadence near the end of the track was only a little off, but sounded a bit forced to make it so. But it was soooo so close. Props on that. I mean, super tiny notice at all. I'm being too picky.
Energy: The energy in the flow is there. God, I can't believe you're so new to all this. I honestly wish I could have been to this level of polish after just a few months in the game.
Emotion: You've got that in-your-face attitude, but I spot a problem. But there's something a tiny bit forced... I think I've put my finger on it. You're awesome, you're a badass, you've already improved amazingly since you started, and you're already past the levels of a rookie. But I think you don't have full confidence in yourself, and I think it's altering the emotion of your raps a bit. I think the only thing that could fix this is to realize you actually are really good at this. If there's even a tiny percentage of your brain holding you back because of a speck of self-abuse, kick that demon's ass. You can do this. Even with this long note, it's only because it seems like your flow is 5% forced. I don't think an average user would even spot it out, honestly. But us artists and audiophiles can sniff it out a bit. Believe in yourself fully, girl. Replace any doubt in yourself with a severe case of perfectionism. You'll still annoy yourself, but it will only better your music, hahaha.
Musicality: The intro sounds really forced and kind of corny at first, I have to admit. But it smoothes out right before the track actually kicks in. Otherwise, you wrap around that beat like crazy afterwards.
Creativeness: Chicks rapping about their bodies / sexuality seems to be what a lot of girls go for, because hey, it's what a lot of dudes do too. I'm kind of a feminist myself, and I think people need to destroy the double standard of females not being allowed to do this on tracks. I don't mean to rant on too much, but it's almost expected of guys, but when girls do it in the Hip Hop community, some people are like "Guh, what a slut," etc. That's idiotic and closed-minded. HOWEVER, the point of this rant is this - it's not like Diabeats came in here describing her anatomy in detail, everything she said is on the more creative edge unlike some dumbass Lil' Kim vulgarity shock shit. What Dia did is flirty without being too much so. But she didn't just focus on being a girl either, which I also respect - She straight up implies this with "that was the beauty, now here's the beast" and then busts out that emcee attitude to talk about how she can rip it up. This felt more like true self-expression rather than over-implication that she has a vagina, which is what I hear a lot of chicks doing in rap nowadays.
Flow variety: Yup, you switch it up all the time, and that's amazing.
Vocal quality: Nice and crisp, great job. However, something's off on your two first singing couplets. (the "object of" and "eyes entrancing" parts) I don't know if it's the effects or lead-in time or what, but it sounds copy-and-pasted in with a super-high attack time... although I know it's not. I noticed this on your track with Loki a few days back as well. Trying to pinpoint it, it just sounds flat, which is weird... because your singing voice is strong and VERY dynamic. This is a mixing issue, not a singing issue. It sounds too dry... Needs to be smoothed out and stretched longer at the ends, maybe. Or perhaps there's just too many overdubs on it, making it sound overdone. I wish I could get my hands on mixing your vocals. God damn it. Haha. Can any of the other judges feel what I'm saying here? The chorus and singing parts near the end are fine, though.
WAIT! NO! I GOT IT! FINALLY! Haha. Sorry, I keep coming back to this section while reviewing. All you need to do is add you rapping over the parts your singing. Like the same tempo, same timing as your singing, but in your rap voice. And quiet, so you can't hear it quite as loud as your rapping on the rest of the track. That's all those sections needed, I think. It's because the singing is so elegant and it is so seperate from your brutal rap voice. And this only really needs done to the first singing couplets. Singing near the end is just fine.
This is just my mixing style, though. No one probably agrees with me, hahaha.
Additional comments: You have so much potential. You need to fully realize that so you can bring that other 10% of confidence to the table. I've wanted to propel a female artist on this label for so long, and you've got what it takes. Can you shine above these other contestants in the following weeks? You've already improved in this short time... It's time to dig in and level up some more, girl!
EVALUATION OF YOUR MUSIC SITE UPDATESFirst impression without having to scroll or click through anything: I don't dig the splash image, I think it's just not that great looking. This is just my personal taste, though. I don't like the ghost imaging and text and the font seems a little too cute and not badass enough for the rest of the graphics. I've seen Cobra's other stuff, and this header image just seems a bit rushed to me. But beyond that, at least I know I'm here to see Diabeats, I can tell I'm in the right place.
Graphical attractiveness: Splash image aside, the rest is real cool. I love the contact table image. Like I said about the header font that scrolls with the background, I wish it was a better font... But I do like how it stays static in the background while you scroll. Unfortunately, it's too bright and has too much contrasat, so I have to strain to read the text on the page. Now I can see that the ghost imaging at the top text-wise was just this lying underneath it. I think the splash would be much better if it was opaque. I probably would have picked a different default pic, one that appealed to more first-time listeners. That's just me. You know the vamps and freaks will be digging it, though. The color scheme is nice, if everything was just more easy to actually read. Some of the effects and colorization on the pictures have went so far over the top that the photo quality has dropped...
Cohesiveness: Everything's on point here. Nothing distracting you from the main reason the viewer is here.
Amount of content: There's plenty here, the profile is completely filled out and you're utilizing MySpace the way it's meant to be done. I think you're definitely ready for a full site. I agree with the others here, take that old stuff off there, that's not you anymore, a phoenix has arrived in you now.
Overall professionalism of the sites: Like I said about, you're utilizing everything here perfectly. I think if there were a few changes listed above, it would be more professional.
Additional comments: This page would look real sharp if it was easier to read.
