#Rhett & Link's Buddy System Season 2

[lnevada]

R&L’s Music Career

    I, like many Mythical Beasts, have watched and enjoyed Rhett and Link’s YouTube Red original comedy series Buddy System.  I specifically have greatly enjoyed the music that has been produced along with the show and now listen to the albums regularly.  While listening to S2′s new songs, I can’t help but marvel at the growth both Rhett and Link have shown, not just since they started the show, but even between its two seasons.

         Let me explain: Though a majority of their time on YouTube has been spent making vlog or skit style videos, anyone who has followed the duo for any length of time knows they have a history of dabbling in music.  And though they have a very interesting and unique process when creating their comedic style of music, they’ve always followed a specific format when writing their songs.  

    Buddy System seems to be the perfect opportunity for these two wonderful Internetainer to not only develop their acting skills (in which their acting has been marvelous in both seasons), but they also seem to be using it to hone their musical abilities and possibly establish some new ones along the way.

    I’ve always considered Rhett to be the bass voice as evident by his roles in such hits as “So Dang Dark”amp;; and “Sleep Tight”.  Even when fooling around on GMM, Link has always seemed to have the larger vocal range and covered the highest octaves of the songs while Rhett’s range stays relatively moderate and he provides the foundation (or bass) for their music (specifically referencing S12, E85.1 of GMM Christmas Song Challenge ft. Jack Black).  However, in season 1 of BS there’s a specific song in which they virtually switch and deviate from their normal vocal roles.  In “If I Had Another Me”, Rhett stretches his vocal cords and starts to approach the higher (bordering alto or soprano; the highest) octaves and Link provides the bass (there’s actually a point in the song where Rhett goes from carrying the bass to having Link cover it and Rhett switches to cover the upper octave).  I just find this little tidbit impressive on both of their parts. 

    Pre-BS in any song the boys have released they have always shared an equal number of lines and each song seems to be very evenly divided between them.  If Rhett has a standalone verse, then it’s almost assured that Link will cover the next one.  This format can easily be observed in any of their rap tracks (”Just Being Honest”, “I’m on Vacation”, or “Epic Rap Battle of Manliness” just to name a few).  And they normally share the background sounds/vocals and any choruses that are featured.  (I believe in either an interview or one of their pocast episodes they have discussed that this format is very purposeful, but I could be mistaken.)  Regardless, they’ve always shared a very even work load, even in season 1 of BS.

    However, in season 2 this trend is broken.  Both Rhett and Link have songs in which they are the main vocalist while the other purely sings backups.  Link, who is the superior (or at least the better-known rapper of the two because he regularly consumes more rap music) does a wonderful job covering the very lyrical styling in “Naked” all on his own while Rhett is jumping around in the background (both visually and audibly).  This song is the perfect example of Link’s control over his voice and ability to switch between music genres.  Rhett has his own solo moment on the album as well.  He is shown front and center, or at least in the front seat of a car in the music video, where “Family Man” takes place.  Coming back to his moderate and low vocal range, he has some intense sustained notes in this song.  Both songs show that the they are each capable of holding a melody on their own. 

    Whether I’m reading a little too into their musical process or they genuinely put this much thought and effort into the structure of the albums (which considering the project is scripted I’m sure that they do), I’m very impressed with their collective work.  And yes, perhaps while GMM is on hiatus, I just wanted to take a moment to brag about my talented boys a little bit.  

    I hope to see a S3 of BS in the future and I’m interested to see how they will continue to challenge themselves and each other.  I’m very excited to see their projects this year!

    (P.S this is the first post I’ve written up on desktop.  It took some editing, but overall I think it turned out okay.  Let me know your favorite R&L song or any of your favorite musical moments in BS that I missed and maybe I can add them to this post!)