Speak (artist)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Speak
Birth name	Tamás Deák (Tom Deak^[1])
Also known as	Speak
Born	May 31, 1976 (1976-05-31) (age 32) Budapest, Hungary
Origin	Hungary
Genre(s)	Hip hop, Rap
Occupation(s)	Rapper, Actor, Model, Caterer, Activist
Years active	Unknown

Tamás Deák (born May 31, 1976^[2]), better known by his stage name Speak, is a rap artist, model and actor based in Hungary. He gained considerable fame when the video for his 2003 anti-war song, "Stop the War"^[3], became popularized through video sharing websites, propelling him to internet sensation. His singing style appears to be derived from spoken word and he is known to make use of backing singers. It is known from his lyrics that Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Sean Combs, and 2pac have had an influential effect on his music. He often uses the phrase "come on" in his tunes.

1 History
2 Stop the war
3 Viral video
4 Themes and Ideology
5 Future
6 Trivia
7 Notes
8 External links

[edit] History

Tamás Deák worked many odd jobs, among them he spent time as a building contractor, taxidermist, medicinal masseur, and as a model, before deciding to become an actor^[4]. He learned to speak English by working in hotels in Hungary and other countries. His only acting role besides performances in theatre has been on the popular daily prime time soap-drama "Jóban, rosszban" on Hungary's TV2.^[5] Speak's first musical endeavour was a boney m tribute act, the band shortly split up due to financial trouble.In 2003, Deák financed an anti-war rap music video "Stop the War" out of his own pocket. The video featured veteran Hungarian actor and singer Miklós Varga.^[6]

[edit] Stop the war

Speak's claim to fame is his 2003 single "Stop the War", even though it did not have the commercial success that he had hoped for^[7]. The video features Tamás Takáts, Miklós Varga, Bebe (Dániel Abebe), Torvald Hightower, and Naszi (Tamás Naszvagyi) as backup singers^[8]. Miklós is a minor celebrity in his own right, having starred in a number of movies based on Hungarian history during the late 1980s, when he was a major player in the pre-communist collapse Hungarian music scene, and in the 1990s as well as other music related media ^[9] ^[10].

The video for "Stop the War" begins with close-up shots of a Porsche 911 being driven around. Speak walks amongst tombstones in a military graveyard, rapping about his dislike for war. Shots of him sitting on the Porsche are interspersed throughout, as well as scenes of war and people dying. His singing leads into an emotional chorus with four backup singers. As Speak walks across the graveyard, images display people from the war scenes mourning around tombstones. He eventually joins the four other singers as they enter into a second, more emotional chorus. The vocalists deliver a moving melody that reminds us that "Sometimes, people make a war". As the singers proclaim that they "don't know what it's [the war] for", Speak emphasizes the role of "business" as a causal factor. During this sequence Miklós Varga elevates into a coloratura soprano vocal performance, as his voice becomes much higher, lighter and more emotional than the other backup singers. The video ends with Speak sitting under a cross holding a pigeon. As the pigeon is released, Speak ends the song by saying "peace", underlining the core message of the song.

[edit] Viral video

Due to the fact that the video contrasts poetic English with rap catch phrases, such as "That's right", "Yeah, come on" and "Check", it eventually found a global audience on the internet as a viral video after being passed around as a joke in some sections of Eastern Europe, especially among English speakers. Shortly after being posted on Youtube, it was also submitted to and made the front page of the video section on Digg^[11], exposing it to a considerably large audience. It currently has over 3.2 million views on Youtube ^[12].

Comments on message boards regarding Speak's single "Stop the war" often deal with the characteristics of the backup singers that sing the chorus in the video. Their vocal styles and looks are unique. The first backup singer (Tamás Takács) is dressed in a California surfer style, and his voice has been likened to that of Neil Diamond. The second in appearance is a shorter darker-skinned man (Bebe) with a raspy voice. The third singer (Nal C) is a tall, lanky pale man, with odd spiky hair. His complexion has been described by some as vampire-like in appearance. The final singer (Miklós Varga) appears to be in the intermediate stages of balding and was in his late forties during filming, leading some to note that he appears completely out of place in the context of the video, since he is much older than the other singers and the average age of an active rapper. He also possess a striking resemblance to British musician Chris De Burgh.

[edit] Themes and Ideology

His first single, "Stop the War", was explicitly political. In it, Speak weaves a complex tapestry of political philosophy. Lines such as "Stop your plan Bin Laden, thank Allah" have caused great controversy among the public. His own assessment, that "this is an anti-war song, at that time, after September 11, this was just timely", may underestimate the the song's subtleties.^[13] This ignores the internal evolution present in "Stop the War": Speak takes us on a philosophical journey through extremist Wahhabism, Marxism, and finally optimistic Post-9/11 philosophy.^[14] In spite of his modesty, political bloggers have praised the stirring, unorthodox singer, anointing him as "the face of the anti-war movement"^[15].

Spurned by the failure of the American anti-war movement, Speak turns inward in his latest single, "Hold On."^[16]. "Hold On" speaks to our alienation and search for meaning in an uncertain world. As the angel reaches out to Speak, we see the dissolution of a destructive pessimism that pervades the international discourse.^[17] A note of uncertainty remains, however, in Speak's questioning: 'was it dream or real? I can't decide; I can't'.

[edit] Future

This article does not cite any references or sources. (March 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Speak is currently living in his home city Budapest.

Speak appeared at Leicester University in a pilot show shot for a large student broadcasting company. He was brought to the UK by OnCampus UK, who produced the show, and is returning to the UK in 2008 for a series of further appearances. In December 2007, Speak released his latest hit 'Hold On' on popular video sharing site YouTube. He is expected to receive the NME godlike genius award in next 10 years.

[edit] Trivia

His zodiac sign is gemini; his ascendant is cancer.
The video for "Stop the War" was shown on British Comedy programme 8 out of 10 Cats, when one of the topics was regarding war. Presenter Jimmy Carr mocked the video by pretending to cry.