The key with most of the tracks I get is to make the vocal have a bit of fidelity. The majority of my hip hop clients are home studio recordist with Rode NT-2’s, AKG 414’s or even Shure SM58's straight into a Digi 001 mic pre. (Not the greatest sound on earth) I always find that after basic dynamics are smoothed out, excitement is often needed. If this is the case I’ll do the old Dolby A encoded trick followed by one of my favorite compressors for rap vocals, a blackface 1176 @ 20:1. I love this compressor on drums as is most rap vocals are very percussive. If I really need aggression I’m not afraid to add a little saturation via a sansamp and make sure that it’s not too essy with a deesser. (I like the Waves plug in) As far as mix balance, my kicks are always on top of everything and the vocal and snare usually share the same space. In some cases the snare will be ducked by the lead vocal via clean plug in compressor, making sure the attack remains, but the level just barely sinks. You always hear all the vocals and have no problem knowing how to bob ya head. This usually makes people that come to me happy, seeing as though most of their tracks suck, the least I could do for them is make the vocal something that people would want to listen to.
