Satire

“Mumble Rap” is the Greatest Subgenre of all Time

By: Ben Goldberg

(555/600 words)

In recent years, mainstream hip-hop has been infiltrated by trap, a style of hip-hop that relies heavily on emphasized hi-hats and kick drums, as well as other iconic sounds from the legendary Roland TR-808. And in even more recent years, a variation of trap music, dubbed “mumble rap”, has also emerged in the mainstream. Mumble rap is exactly what it sounds like. Men in their early twenties make trap songs but mumble the lyrics to the point where you can barely hear them. Many hip-hop purists however, complain that the subgenre is lazy and strays too far away from the roots of hip-hop. I would disagree and even go so far as to say, that due to its radical progression and artistic craft, mumble rap is the greatest subgenre of all time.

One of mumble rap’s best qualities is its overall simplicity and ease in its creative process. In the digital era, making rap music has been more accessible than ever. Production equipment is frequently offered in cheaper introductory level models and software has been streamlined to fulfill the needs of novice artists. This has resulted in millions of insecure young men worldwide, making rap music. Personally, I think this movement has been great for this demographic. Making a quick beat on GarageBand then rapping about cars or narcotics or something can be a huge ego booster. It’s almost a way of roleplaying as some of your favorite rappers, without having to be good at rap. Every day I see more and more SoundCloud links in people’s Instagram bios and I always rush to click on them. It’s always an awesome experience when someone that you’re slightly acquainted with guilt trips you into checking out their mixtape. And because mumble rap lacks more nuance than the average rap song, there will be an even greater influx in amateur rappers. Although this demographic are currently expanding at a rapid rate, the world will never have too many of these brave men.

Another area where mumble rap excels is simply in its writing and aesthetics. Listening to the sounds of grown men speaking incoherently over wonky trap beats is a very soothing feeling. The lilting and muffled vocals are guaranteed to remind you of the nostalgic and non-anecdotal sounds of those nights where you could just barely hear your dad yelling at your mom from within the walls of the kitchen. What words you can hear, however, are generally eloquent and sure to resonate with any listener. Just shy of two months ago for instance, renowned rapper, Future released “Mask Off”, a track which peaked comfortably at number five on the Billboard Top 100. The track, which falls into the mumble rap category, features slurred lyrics with the most audible line being “percocet, molly percocet.” For those who may have forgotten that molly and percocet exist, this lyric is a great reminder of that.

Akademiks Yachty

All in all, mumble rap’s ascension into the mainstream is history in the making. The subgenre has jaw dropping and innovative features which have never been seen before. It serves as almost a safe haven for artistically pure music which is rarely found today, surely having the potential to progress rap culture. It is giving hyper-macho millennials yet another medium to express themselves through, while simultaneously inspiring us with its meticulously incoherent vocals.  

1. Intro: what is mumble rap
1. Trap music becoming popular
1. Mumble rap=form of trap
2. What it encompasses
1. Rapping in mumbles
2. Often deep voice
3. RUDIMENTARY
3. Rhyme schemes/flows
1. Rapping in triplets
2. AABB rhyme scheme
2. Reason 1: ease
1. Very easy because of simplicity
1. =more mumble rap songs
2. More ordinary people can make rap songs
1. We need more amateur rappers
2. Soundcloud links
3. Everyone is really good at it
3. Reason 2: coherence
1. You can really hear what they’re saying

Music  Remastered : Cultural Appropriation in Pop Music Ends Now

Janel Anicette

Word Count : ( 651/600)

Welcome to 2017, a joyous time in which the plethora of social media platforms and modes of entertainment remain readily available to the public. In light of Katy Perry’s new singles from her upcoming album Witness it is demonstrative  of the constant use of African American musicality and style for profit. In America, a phenomenon that has occurred since the genesis of the nation has manifested itself into our culture and still persist as a threat to African Americans and their culture. The culture of African Americans is being appropriated and profited off of by the white man. Due to the fact that the oppressive nature of this phenomenon is covert, it  is often hard to immediately notice the trend. However, the similarities between traditional African American style of dress, vernacular and demeanor with the style compared to the vernacular and demeanor of famous pop stars such as Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry exemplify the re occurrence of blaxploitation.

Source:Huffington Post

Source: Huffington Post

African American are victims of a music industry that steals their image and eradicates them from pop culture. This is very easy to do when the “producer class”(almost synonymous with the planter class) is overwhelming white and views the majority of black artist as unimportant. Slaving away for years to make an identity, developing new sounds and adopting eclectic looks is what defines African American culture.  Cavorting and copying the essence of black artists is dehumanizing and undermining. It invalidates the efforts as African Americans as creatives and allows the people that didn’t do any of the work take all of the credit.

A simple example that is relevant to what is popular among today’s social media is the stealing of dances. Dances such as twerking and sexy walking, which are inspired by traditional African steps have been used as tools to gain popularity from the youth. Dances such as Hit the Quan and The Whip have made it to prime time TV and is displayed as pop culture. These dances always become sensationalized by the public, especially when they are  done by famous white people. Enslaved in a system where the creativity is stolen and marketed, it is an unfair practice that continues to marginalize people of African American descent. These dances are often done publicly on platforms like daytime television and at award shows because it is easy to broadcast and generally an acceptable practice. However, the creators of these numerous and ever-changing dancing trends rarely ever receive credit for making the new dance move.

It is also apparent that under the guise of fashion, anything goes.

Source:Mashable

In addition to the stealing of dance movements from social media,  white pop singers who often autonomously  choose their identity typically  adopt a “hip-hop persona” for a short period within their career to demonstrate a coming of age era. To separate themselves from the European persona and retreat from their inherent innocence and purity, they quickly gravitate towards being explicitly sexy and even raunchy. They purposely incorporate Calypso beats and utilize R&B influences to create a “new-sound”. The often collaborate with a popular rap artists to solidify their newfound personality as legitimate and ride the wave until acting black isn’t profitable for them anymore.

Source: Rap Up/ (Via American Music Awards)

Shortly after their stint in the realm of hip-hop the producer class may view that leaving is a better option from a financial viewpoint.. The money hungry producers eventually demand an “image-restoration process” which as a result gives negative connotations with styles of music that are traditionally done by black artists. The only viable solution is to omit all black artists from the world of creating music. With the absence of these oppressed creatives the artistic individuality of white pop singers can blossom and cultural appropriation would no longer be a systemic problem in America.