Slate tackles why 50 Cent, besides topping the Billboard charts, also happens to be the most downloaded artist when it comes to cellphone ringtones. Looking beyond the most obvious cause for this – that white suburban kids think it’s street to have “In Da Club” as their ringtone – Rob Walker identifies another reason: that hip hop tracks translate into ringtones better than other music.
Consider, for example, “London Calling,” by the Clash. That’d be an impressive thing to have snarling out of your phone, right? Well, take a listen to the ring tone version, via Zingy. Sounds sort of like your little brother performing on a long-discontinued Casio model, doesn’t it? Or try “Sweet Child O Mine,” the Guns N’ Roses song, by way of RingtoneDJ. This is almost acceptable if you answer quickly enough, but after about 15 seconds this rendition sounds like the dance music on a cut-rate cruise ship. Swearing off anything involving guitars, I tried Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You,” from Zingy—and was reminded of the music at the county fair when I was a kid in Texas. Worst of all was Norah Jones’ “Nightingale” (via Yahoo); I’d rather be summoned to the phone by the Emergency Broadcast System. By comparison, much of the hip-hop stuff I sampled seemed to translate fairly well…”In Da Club” may not sound like the real thing, but it’s at least recognizable, and there’s something appealing about the frantic bass tones with the sharp melody points jabbing in and out. I also like the ominous-sounding “Rollout (My Business),” by Ludacris.
Don’t even ask what we’ve got as ringtone, you really don’t want to know.
