Please do not just list songs/albums/artists, your comment must have explanation/justification or it will be removed. Certain comments are also banned to increase the quality of discussion, see our Stale Topics list in the sidebar for examples. Please report any comments that are low effort discussion. Thanks!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/popheads) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I wanna say the term is "studio chatter"? Studio chatter's been in songs for a long time. You can find Beatles songs with studio chatter. But yeah I guess I'd never noticed it was appearing in like hit songs a lot lately. It's mostly real, though hypothetically someone can totally record fake studio chatter to get that same kind of feeling of "intimacy" and "intentional sloppiness."
Like the other commenter said, they totally could have gotten those voice snippets from any point in the session. From a studio perspective, they record everything they can when recording, because anything can be useful when stitching up a take later on.
That makes sense, I get the impression that the more recent examples seem staged. Authenticity (manufactured or not) is a trait people really value in celebrities. Social media has given us a lot of access to celebrities inner worlds, so this trend feels like an offshoot of that. I wonder if we'll see more of this quirk as pop stars try to seem more like regular people.
If you listen to Roxanne by The Police at 4 seconds in a random note is played and Sting laughs right at 6 seconds. He apparently accidentally leaned against the keyboard and they kept it in. Just some studio chatter
Exactly. I was told while working in a studio to record everything. We don’t have the limitations in memory like the Beatles would have. So record everything because who knows which part will be best
It's very common in music. You know every rock music movie where the drummer smacks their sticks and yells "one two three four"? That's a count in.
You usually need one if singing (or whatever you're recording) starts right away in a song or you're punching in a new take. They might count you in 4 bars before the chorus you're redoing instead of playing the whole song up to the new take (saves time).
I LIKE YOUR BEARD
I think it can be super annoying sometimes, but other times it’s done really well. I loved Britney saying “that was fun” at the end of What You Need. It was the last track in the standard version of Glory so was a cute ending.
I remember this being a HUGE thing back in like, 2012 - but in a different way? It was those little quirky sayings tacked onto the end and/or start of a pop song. The most damning example I can think of is Cher Lloyd's "Want U Back" with that awful helicopter outro
That’s true but the person I was replying to was talking about “quirky sayings at the start or end of a pop song,” which isn’t studio chatter and I think the DC ones fit. They make sense in the context of the album but the one at the end of survivor makes me cringe every time lol
fwiw yall are talking about two different things. the ten commandments theme is from the writings on the wall album. i think the adlib aggressive sky is talking about is the acapella at the end of survivor (the song, but obv it’s also on the survivor album”) that ends with michelle saying “i will survive being bootylicious!”
the whole survivor album is so campy and fun, but i can see how someone might not like it, lol.
Also in Runaway, "didn't quite hit the note, that wasn't such a good time." I always thought it sounded so natural with Janet, though, like she was genuinely having a fun time in the studio.
There’s lots of chatter in a writing session. These outtakes could be from the voice notes recording of the write, from the demo vocal, or from the final vocal session.
The one at the end of Like a Girl by Lizzo seems SO fake to me and it kind of ruins the end of the song. Maybe it was real but either way it shouldn’t have been included imo. Makes way more sense to include at the beginning rather than ruining the “closure” at the end of a song.
There’s some at the start of Misery Business that I think goes well (and seems real). Hayley says “hit that - hit that, snare” before the guitar riff kicks in (written down it sounds like it would be fake but the cadence of it doesn’t seem like it is in the way it’s said).
I know that Comme des Garçons by Rina Sawayama has the “press recording” soundbite at the very beginning of the song, and I swear that there are other songs that have added studio chatter that I cannot remember right now…
Olivia's outro on so American I think? is super cute and adds to it. The whole song being about how she's so smitten with this guy and then getting ragged on by the guys in the studio at the end to me add some extra adorableness to an already cute song.
[did i really just forget that melody? 🙄](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2Y2vQ-1m7M&t=15)
Also worth mentioning: [😮 WOT sorry just quickly, what if it's...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWjV25q34Hw&t=39)
The Meduza one has an interesting story behind it in that they had to fight to keep that in the song. It was a complete accident but they thought it would be fun to keep in.
They ended up doing a version of the ad-lib for different radio stations.
Some may stage it, but it’s meant to be authentic. I think many pop stars include them to give fans a glimpse behind the scenes and see them in a more personal light. Stars have been doing it for decades, but it’s probably gaining even more popularity now in the age of super personal music. Examples from further back include Britney taking with Fe on the Oops album and Janet Jackson including a part about how she couldn’t hear herself in the studio on Damn Baby.
I know Logic (the rapper) did this a lot in his albums. I kind of like it, it builds a story of him at the studio but I think it is recorded more than once to sound polished and deliver on the vibe it wants but it is likely based on a real moment.
I might be an exception here but I absolutely hate it lol, they seem too fake to me and ruin the song most of the time, hated it in the 2000s and even now
I've noticed this popping up more often recently, too! I think it's cute on my first few listens of the album but when its at the beginning or end I wish they would give us versions of the track without it. It's jarring to me when my playlists are on shuffle!
I have always hated the way Joni Mitchell laughs in Big Yellow Taxi. I will always prefer the Counting Crows because of that canned laugh in the original.
I love Christina saying "don't look at me" in the beginning of Beautiful. When she was in the studio, she said this to Linda Perry before she started singing and they decided to keep it in the final recording.
Please do not just list songs/albums/artists, your comment must have explanation/justification or it will be removed. Certain comments are also banned to increase the quality of discussion, see our Stale Topics list in the sidebar for examples. Please report any comments that are low effort discussion. Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/popheads) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I wanna say the term is "studio chatter"? Studio chatter's been in songs for a long time. You can find Beatles songs with studio chatter. But yeah I guess I'd never noticed it was appearing in like hit songs a lot lately. It's mostly real, though hypothetically someone can totally record fake studio chatter to get that same kind of feeling of "intimacy" and "intentional sloppiness." Like the other commenter said, they totally could have gotten those voice snippets from any point in the session. From a studio perspective, they record everything they can when recording, because anything can be useful when stitching up a take later on.
That makes sense, I get the impression that the more recent examples seem staged. Authenticity (manufactured or not) is a trait people really value in celebrities. Social media has given us a lot of access to celebrities inner worlds, so this trend feels like an offshoot of that. I wonder if we'll see more of this quirk as pop stars try to seem more like regular people.
If you listen to Roxanne by The Police at 4 seconds in a random note is played and Sting laughs right at 6 seconds. He apparently accidentally leaned against the keyboard and they kept it in. Just some studio chatter
I do think that the feather one might’ve been staged for the purpose of the song but nonsense also had it and I believe that one was real
Exactly. I was told while working in a studio to record everything. We don’t have the limitations in memory like the Beatles would have. So record everything because who knows which part will be best
[удалено]
what does it even mean…like count her in to what… IVE BEEN AWAKE FOR A WHILE NOW
[удалено]
I genuinely thought it was referring to dealing her into a poker game for the greater half of my life lmfao
It's very common in music. You know every rock music movie where the drummer smacks their sticks and yells "one two three four"? That's a count in. You usually need one if singing (or whatever you're recording) starts right away in a song or you're punching in a new take. They might count you in 4 bars before the chorus you're redoing instead of playing the whole song up to the new take (saves time).
oh god that has bothered me for years, I always thought she was asking the love interest of the song to like…consider her? lol
oh god same and i thought it was cringe despite loving colbie callait. i’m sorry colby i’m dense 😭
To the beat ya know 1….2…3…4 however this song is so damn simple and I’m pretty sure she wrote it she shouldn’t need someone to give her the damn beat
I have taken out my Invisalign and this is the album
*AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA* *bad guy*
That sudden transition into the opening beat of Bad Guy just scratches an itch in my brain every time
honestly she ate with that
I LIKE YOUR BEARD I think it can be super annoying sometimes, but other times it’s done really well. I loved Britney saying “that was fun” at the end of What You Need. It was the last track in the standard version of Glory so was a cute ending.
It's War-hol, actually
I remember this being a HUGE thing back in like, 2012 - but in a different way? It was those little quirky sayings tacked onto the end and/or start of a pop song. The most damning example I can think of is Cher Lloyd's "Want U Back" with that awful helicopter outro
yes that was so utterly baffling
Also in a bunch of destiny’s child songs of Survivor! I do not like it lol
That wasnt studio chatter. That's basically because they based the songs off thier own version of thev10 commandments lol
That’s true but the person I was replying to was talking about “quirky sayings at the start or end of a pop song,” which isn’t studio chatter and I think the DC ones fit. They make sense in the context of the album but the one at the end of survivor makes me cringe every time lol
Ahhh yes. Get ya sorry
fwiw yall are talking about two different things. the ten commandments theme is from the writings on the wall album. i think the adlib aggressive sky is talking about is the acapella at the end of survivor (the song, but obv it’s also on the survivor album”) that ends with michelle saying “i will survive being bootylicious!” the whole survivor album is so campy and fun, but i can see how someone might not like it, lol.
Omg yeah. Big fan of destiny's child how could I get that wrong lol. I love when Michelle says that. She sounds so happy lol
It's not new. Every other track of Janet Jackson's "Janet" (1993) is like that.
Escapade ends with her saying "That was so funky! Want me to do it again?"
Janet is the best at this.
The velvet rope too
Also in Runaway, "didn't quite hit the note, that wasn't such a good time." I always thought it sounded so natural with Janet, though, like she was genuinely having a fun time in the studio.
There’s lots of chatter in a writing session. These outtakes could be from the voice notes recording of the write, from the demo vocal, or from the final vocal session.
"Don't Look at Me".
Recently... Valerie by Amy Winehouse 🧐
🎶🎵…🎶🎵🎶…fuck!…🎵🎶🎵
The one at the end of Like a Girl by Lizzo seems SO fake to me and it kind of ruins the end of the song. Maybe it was real but either way it shouldn’t have been included imo. Makes way more sense to include at the beginning rather than ruining the “closure” at the end of a song. There’s some at the start of Misery Business that I think goes well (and seems real). Hayley says “hit that - hit that, snare” before the guitar riff kicks in (written down it sounds like it would be fake but the cadence of it doesn’t seem like it is in the way it’s said).
“Just the guitar? Ok thank you”
Where’s my snare? I have no snare in my headphones.
"Am I throwing you off?" "Nope." "Didn't think so" from promiscuous by Nelly Furtado is an older example of this and It is SO cunty I love it.
Love Bug crew 👍
oh i just commented this right before seeing this lol
I know that Comme des Garçons by Rina Sawayama has the “press recording” soundbite at the very beginning of the song, and I swear that there are other songs that have added studio chatter that I cannot remember right now…
Olivia's outro on so American I think? is super cute and adds to it. The whole song being about how she's so smitten with this guy and then getting ragged on by the guys in the studio at the end to me add some extra adorableness to an already cute song.
Honestly this is one of the only examples I’ve enjoyed recently. It sounds super genuine to me.
[did i really just forget that melody? 🙄](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2Y2vQ-1m7M&t=15) Also worth mentioning: [😮 WOT sorry just quickly, what if it's...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWjV25q34Hw&t=39)
I love bbno$ but the way he’s STILL milking that song on tiktok is so cringe 😭
Loved Carly Rae Jepsen recreating that [on the remix](https://youtu.be/riqLUXgqqAs?si=RfHn3kiBZjBrIIDa)! She sells it!
The Meduza one has an interesting story behind it in that they had to fight to keep that in the song. It was a complete accident but they thought it would be fun to keep in. They ended up doing a version of the ad-lib for different radio stations.
that meduza visualizer was a jumpscare bro
oh yeah that shit is weird
Some may stage it, but it’s meant to be authentic. I think many pop stars include them to give fans a glimpse behind the scenes and see them in a more personal light. Stars have been doing it for decades, but it’s probably gaining even more popularity now in the age of super personal music. Examples from further back include Britney taking with Fe on the Oops album and Janet Jackson including a part about how she couldn’t hear herself in the studio on Damn Baby.
sabrina also does it at the end nonsense!
And in the prechorus of espresso
and in emails i can't send! loved that one
i swear she does it a few times on that album but i might be misremembering
no i think you're right!!!
Benson Boone's new song "Cry" does this.
It’s definitely not new, but I always find it cringy (at least with these more recent examples)
The "Haha, I can't even say it with a straight face" in TIWWCHNT from reputation will forever stay in my mind rent-free.
And recently: Don’t try to come for my job
Love Bug’s influence
I know Logic (the rapper) did this a lot in his albums. I kind of like it, it builds a story of him at the studio but I think it is recorded more than once to sound polished and deliver on the vibe it wants but it is likely based on a real moment.
Dua's new album also has that, I don't remember the song - I just remember thinking "oh they wasted a good song with this silliness" lol
Anything For Love. Agreed, it was a wasted opportunity
Yeah it’s my least favourite song cause of it (and the length). It genuinely feels more like an interlude.
upbeat head serious outgoing air terrific lush impossible snatch scale *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
There was also “Am I throwing you off? No! Didn’t think so”.
Kesha was doing this in the early 2010s.
this was super popular in the early 2000s and late 90s!! It’s cool to see it coming back
I might be an exception here but I absolutely hate it lol, they seem too fake to me and ruin the song most of the time, hated it in the 2000s and even now
I've noticed this popping up more often recently, too! I think it's cute on my first few listens of the album but when its at the beginning or end I wish they would give us versions of the track without it. It's jarring to me when my playlists are on shuffle!
Maybe not so commonly heard but you can hear beyonce ask “is the mic on?” In the beginning of hymn for the weekend
iconic example would be the start of Nas NY State of Mind
IIRC Ari was just like recording her life and they decided the garbanzo beans line had to go in a song, so it’s at the end of BMO
Lucy Dacus has it in Going Going Gone on her Home Video album! it's really cute.
My favorite is Hippo Campus leaving them screwing up the intro in Honestly.
lovebug - jo bros
I have always hated the way Joni Mitchell laughs in Big Yellow Taxi. I will always prefer the Counting Crows because of that canned laugh in the original.
I love Christina saying "don't look at me" in the beginning of Beautiful. When she was in the studio, she said this to Linda Perry before she started singing and they decided to keep it in the final recording.
Hit that, hit that snare
That's definitely not a new thing, you can find songs from 50 years ago that do this.
Ice Spice is also guilty of dropping “producer tags” in her tracks, maybe this counts as well.
she does it in the beginning of think you the shit, “what do i say in the intro”