Rap has been slowly heading in a more pop-focused direction pretty much since its inception, and will continue to do so until it is completely dead. Mumble rap is the perfect amalgamation of these two things. Mainstream audiences want something poppy, and they want something that bangs. Mumble rap is the natural progression of trap music, and it will, more than likely, continue to move in this direction. So why is mumble rap here to stay? Well, to put it simply, the sound has been evolving since at least 2007, and you could argue that it began even earlier than that with artists like Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane. He mainly raps about partying, and his voice has a unique Atlanta inflection to it. Lil Yachty’s sound mainly finds its foundations in southern rap. His vocal delivery is whiny and melodramatic, but in a good way, much like the artists he draws inspiration from. Uzi, on the other hand, is more influenced by early 2000s alternative rock and pop punk, stylistically as well as aesthetically. Carti pulls a lot of influence from Chicago drill music, his delivery is reminiscent of early Chief Keef and his lyrics mainly focus on selling drugs, doing drugs, and wearing expensive clothing. Each of the three artists mentioned above bring their own personal flavour to the mumble rap movement. Even Isaiah Rashad toyed with the sound on a couple tracks off of The Sun’s Tirade. Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, and Lil Yachty are all widely praised artists who have mastered the style. It wasn’t exactly received well at the time, but that’s because it was so ahead of the game. He combined early 2000s pop punk-esque melodies with hard hitting trap production.
He succeeded in areas where Soulja failed and he elevated the sub-genre to its current incarnation. Chief Keef was like, second generation mumble rap. Without Soulja Boy (and also Gucci Mane, but mostly Soulja), Chief Keef wouldn’t exist. I know it probably sounds weird, but it’s true. He was highly successful, and had quite a few hits, but his biggest accomplishment wasn’t his singles or his albums, it was inspiring Chief Keef to rap. He focused more on sound and feeling and less on lyrics and technicality. Soulja Boy was the original mainstream “mumble rapper”, for lack of a better term. But when people say the same thing about Uzi and Yachty, I can’t help but feel like that’s not the case. Listeners said he was trash, and that he wouldn’t stand the test of time. However, none of that is gonna stop me from ranting about old heads hating on the new generation.īack in 2007, when Soulja Boy first started popping off, he experienced the same kind of backlash that artists like Lil Uzi Vert and Lil Yachty face today. It’ll never change, it’ll never go away, and it’ll probably only get more prevalent as newer hip hop becomes increasingly more detached from the music that came before it. Old heads hating on the new generation is a tradition as old as hip hop itself.
0 kommentar(er)
