Parallelism?

Hot take....I never liked The Neptunes

Always felt like their sound got oversaturated too quickly and as evidenced in the last 10 years: Just because something is popular doesn't make it timeless.

Anyways, I always found their early days with Tammy Lucas to be my absolute favorite. Pure 90s R&B but with ambient, video gamey sounds. The unreleased tracks dated from 1994 to possibly 97/98 are some top notch work imo

Too different from the days of their prime but I think it's possibly the most inventive of their career and sounds eerily similar to the early music of a long running, well known franchise.

Tekken, in fact, this years marks 30 years for the franchise in it's appearance in the U.S. A milestone for it's innovation and impact as one of the first fighters to use 3D. Whether it's the intuitive four button control scheme (one for each limb), the character specific narrative motivations, or gameplay flexibility with combo memorization - the series carved itself a niche that set the stage as one of the greatest fighting game series of all time.

However, there was one aspect that made it stand out from the pack. The music. A reason why many players back in the day went to the arcade machines cause those Tekken Tunes were poppin

Old School Tekken music (1995-2000) had a sense of ambience and elective grooves. A blend of Electronic, Rock, Jazz Fusion, and a little Hip Hop. The themes were character specific that gave personality to the game.

Considering that the Tammy Lucas demos (1994 - 1996/or 1998) correspond to the old school era of Tekken (1995 - 2000). A lot of these guys probably pulled from a similar source via Urban Contemporary music.

Still, it's fascinating how the similarities of their music stretches. Perphaps we can see which songs and tunes compare to one another

Tammy Lucas & The Neptunes - Reach Me

Tekken 3 - King's Theme (Arcade Version)

I have always loved Tammy Lucas's songwriting. It's a rather sweet yet abstract poetry and everytime she says "Why would I let you reach me" it's so dreamy. The production is hard hitting and feels like I'm in a sequence in Space Channel 5 but that is beside the point

It's a drum pattern that harkens to King's Tekken 3 theme. Difference, this is more adrenaline rushed and up tempo. Plus, Kings Stage is literally a steel sky ring in high altitude . But that bridge change up from 1:33-1:58 has a similar backbeat to what you hear in Reach Me. A reachable conclusion to say the least.

(Continued)

Tammy Lucas - B 4 We Kiss Good Night

Tekken 2 - Bruce Theme

I'm Your Worst Nightmare

I find the unreleased track enticing due to that vintage Adventures of Slick Rick (1989) era styled drum kick. Plus, with the trumpet going on in the background and that jaguar roar that's heard throughout the song. The drum keeps pulsating until Tammy breathes out each time.

Bruce's Theme has a lot more going on compared to B4 We Kiss Goodnight simplicity. It also has that jaguar roar too and has times where it's mellow then workout-inducing. Sounds like the man is practicing his jabs, crossings, and kicks rhythmically on a gym bag

Tammy Lucas - Turn Off The Lights

Tekken Tag Tournament - Ogre Theme

Both of these tracks are the jewels of both musical contributions. They are soothing yet haunting. Often have a piano that's skeletal subsiding the scattering percussion.

The main thing that connects the two is that they musically convey a maze room. Weird, yes but it's true. Turn Off The Lights has that in spades as if the timer is running out before they turn off the lights. Darkness equals truth and authenticity.

Ogre's Theme is complex. It mixes electronic production with classical music elements. The heavenly reverb and the detector signal esque bass represent that the God Of Fighting is near the location. The classical elements such as the sorrowful violin and angelic piano showcase the confrontation with Ogre and who he is.

Completely different intentions but the commonality is that the tracks sound like stairways to heaven.

Charlie Wilson - Let’s Talk About It

Tekken 3 - Nina Theme (Arcade Version)

Sexy, classy, and mysterious. If I truly had synesthesia there is one color that matches the feeling of these tracks, and that is.....purple

The color symbolizes luxury and again, mystery.

It's a shame that Charlie Wilson never released this track. His vocals were in rareform on this. It's suspenseful and with the echoing effects communicates a need for release and meeting each other halfway. Has what I like to call, Acid Funk. It’s polyrhythmic but feels subdued, something you hear in a lounge at night with icy black and blue LED lights.

Nina's Arcade Tekken 3 theme is the opposite. It's revealing, like a wolf in sheep's clothing. When you see Nina, you know she coming but often she can come out of nowhere

The bass guitar gets the ball rolling. Leading to the echoing keyboard effect that showcases chic. Plus, that drum pattern at the bridge goes into a stuttering rhythm. All creating a late night, moonlight assassin esque Acid Funk groove.

Joe Stonestreet - Slipped Away

Tekken 2 - Devil/Be In The Mirror

Sadness. Both of these songs have that element between them. Almost as if your soul is entering into the next plane of existence.

Joe Stonestreet, backup singer for Blackstreet is main vocals. He sounds a lot like Donny Hathaway. A reincarnation perhaps but the man is singing his heart out lamentfully. He wished he had her but she just slipped away
I love how the computer generating sounding effects are subtle. The church keyboard playing in the background makes his regret even more confessional.

The first half of Tekken 2's Devil Theme is similar to this without the vocals. However, it's noticeably a tad bit darker. Then you hear a guttural horn interpolation of Kazuya's Tekken 2 Theme and then it leads to a Trip Hop beat, hard as a Late 90s Anime ending credit. Altogether it sounds like the internal war between Kazuya and Devil fighting to claim his sense of self.

Ending Note
The similarities are made not to say that both stole from each other but rather how parallel the musical direction and audio design are. It’s cool to see a connection between black music and video game tunes being more attuned as time goes on. We may never see energy quite like the Tammy Lucas era of the Neptunes and old school Tekken ever again but we can always hope.

Shout out to all ya'll this October. I haven't posted on KTT2 in a while due to work, school, and the ending of my internship. So, I'm free for now

And also I turned 25 today
Officially entering Unc Status for '25 and beyond.

@xxxkiraxxx @Oblivion99 @BIGGWAVE @Sir_Swagalot @Ultimate_Warrior @CliCity @Jbreezyondeck @HavenPB @degenwokemoralist @Brave @knova @2words @Mac_Wit_Da_Cheese @tomonthekeys @Water_Giver @Vox

@Throkaaa @Zoobooks @MikesVeryOwn @Cole2

@browser @Mastiff @Valentine @RVI

@TUNDRAIV @AvenueJones @Beach_kneega

read the title and the only song i knew her from (tribe's 1nce again) started playing in my head and I've always been very fond of her work on that track so I will take the chance you've given me to explore some more. ty. and happy birthday OP, its my cousin's today as well ; more life to you both 🥳. i turned 24 two weeks ago :)

i wish you could bookmark threads on here

same I had no idea she worked with neptunes

reach me sounds incredible omg

Thank you so much I turned 25 today

And happy birthday to your cousin too

And happy belated birthday

I love that one too

yea i knew of her involvement w/ swv's use your heart after the demo surfaced a few years ago but i didn't know that their working relationship was ongoing

will read this later
i love tekken

@lightmagic @gnarlynasty @Ikki14 @Notmyfirst @NoFace @KIR @Adam

@Flaphead @Slapfiendd @BernieX @Mitchell

@twinkletoez @KILLACAM300 @9thWonderful

That Tammy sound YouTube is a goldmind gonna def dig through it - I've heard a few but there's so much I haven't

Funny enough early and then "late" (2010s) Pharrell is actually the P I'm inspired by too - such as my song Identity Theft Me along with Daft Punk and James Blake were the ideals I kept in mind

The era P is most famous for, the middle, I do like but not as much as the beginning and the "end"

And yeah P is/was inspired by games a lot as well (and so am I) and a lot of early 3D games have massive Jungle n DnB influences along with Funk that is massively present in old and late P - even the song drums wise n pattern he did for Mr Morale that has a "tribal" feel kinda harkens to this ethos as well and is one of my favs by both him n Kendrick

S*** is dope that has so much life and groove

Also happy birthday family! I thot u were older lmao but congrats on the 25! I'm in my late 20s and HS class of 2014, but 23/24 to 26/27 years is goated imo 🫡

Also congrats on finishing the internship!!

Happy birthday dude

@yeezydude @thebham @ultima @keep_it_g @rano @faith

@dio @REALTALKMYNIGGA0 @Sloth @dawg

@jjthajuiceman @foreva @Itajime

The composers that Namco has for Tekken are something else.

This simple loop is a character select theme, but I loved it so much that I didn’t wanna select s***. I just left the TV on and did something else with this playing

I’ve always loved ambient, moody music with no words which is probably why I fell in love with vapor wave too

Even the vapor wave music with words was cool because the singer’s vocals would sometimes be slow enough for the brain to not even view what they’re saying as words but as just more instruments

very interesting thread

that slipped away track is insane

@xingu

Thanks bro

One of the dope things about Tekken music is that it sounds like it doesn't come from a video game. Which is what makes it cool as hell.

That select screen is an example. Sounds like a talk show opening or an instructional workout fitness VHS video from the 80s

Yea a lot of great stuff in that channel. It's cool that she helped discover them.

I can definitely hear 2010s Pharrell in your work, now that you mentioned it. He was diverse in that period ngl.

Drum & Bass was definitely an inspiration for his early days. Felt more stripped down which coincidentally I found similar to old school Tekken music.

And thanks for the birthday wishes. Funny that you thought I was older I guess I give off that vibe lol

Thank you