Speak (artist)

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.

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. Speak aslo worked as a stunt double for jaws in bond move 'the world is not enough'^[5] His only acting role besides performances in theatre has been on the popular daily prime time soap-drama "Jóban, rosszban" on Hungary's TV2.^[6] Speaks fisrt musical indevour was a boney m tribute act, the band shortly split up due to financial trouble, and rumours that Tamás was involved in a money laundering operation, this rumour was swiftly dismissed by him riding a motorcyle through brussels with a sign on the back saying 'stop the war, finish the rumors, BUSINESS.' 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.^[7]

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^[8]. The video features Tamás Takáts, Miklós Varga, Bebe (Dániel Abebe), and Naszi (Tamás Naszvagyi) as backup singers^[9]. 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 ^{[10] [11]}. 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. As the singers proclaim that they "don't know what it's [the war] for", Speak emphasizes the role of "bizness" 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.

Viral video

Due to the fact that the video is rife with broken English and misused 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. Although the song was intended to be serious, its subject matter and presentation is unintentionally humorous. Shortly after being posted on Youtube, it was also submitted to and made the front page of the video section on Digg^[12], exposing it to a considerably large audience. It currently has over 1,237,911 views on Youtube ^[13]. Comments on message boards regarding Speak's single "Sometimes" 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.

Political Philosophy

Though Speak has given no independent confirmation of his political philosophy, "Sometimes" conveys a number of political themes. "September 11th, I'll never forget you" is one example of Post-9/11 philosophy ^[14], while the line "We have so many places. World is big; A place enough" expresses an optimistic philosophy^[15]. Most importantly, the repeated calls to "stop your business" express Speak's Marxist leanings ^[16].

Future

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 FAFTV Ltd., who produced the show, and is returning to the UK in 2008 for a series of further appearances.

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.

External links

• http://www.speakmusic.hu/ Speak's Official Site
• The Unofficial Speak Fansite
• Sing along with Speak!