The Secret Birthplace of Trap
During the 90’s, the Hip Hop scene was a battle between the East and West coasts. The two regions fought hard for radio play and sales, constantly starting rivalries. With Boom Bap in the East and G Funk in the West, the coasts dominated the airwaves. Southern rap, on the other hand, was a much more scattered, underground scene.
During this period, rap music was generally looked down upon by the older generations and attacked for its often vulgar language and violent themes. Record labels controlled creativity and censored many artists in attempts to get more radio play and sales. Rap started to become a pronounced genre and have more common themes and traits as the big labels; which forced artists to make radio-friendly songs and ride current trends.
Except in the South, where the artists and scenes were not taken seriously by the music industry. Because of this, most artists released songs and tapes without a label. This gave them full control over their music, allowing for a wide variety of sounds and experimentation. Despite their unique and wide array of rap styles, the South was still the laughing stock of the rap game. They were mocked in the lyrics of the East and West artists, and laughed at by fans of both coasts.
Since this, Southern production and rap themes have completely taken over the current industry. Trap is now bigger than any other sound in the rap game. Booming 808s, rolling hi-hats, and the ever so famous triplet flow can be heard in both the underground and mainstream scenes. While Atlanta is usually credited with being the birthplace of trap rap, there is actually a city whose trap scene predates that of Atlanta or any other city. Memphis, Tennessee.
Memphis itself is an incredibly violent city. In 2005, it was ranked the fourth most dangerous city with a population above 500,000 in the U.S. This violence is shown in the themes and lyrics of early-mid 90’s Memphis Rap, AKA Memphis Horrorcore. The sound is defined by its murky and dark atmospheric beats, lo-fi production, triplet flows, and grimy, violent lyrics. This music was the precursor to modern trap music and inspired many sub genres such as cloud rap and trill wave.
Father of Memphis Rap, DJ Spanish Fly, was the first pioneer to truly use these tropes in his beats, unafraid of trying new things and sampling songs, which was generally looked down upon and seen as lazy in the mainstream scene.
Along with the production of Memphis Rap, the lyrics were also passed down to the modern era. Dark and violent lyrics were fought against by the public, the law, and the record labels. Many artists were under harassment from local police and lawmakers after and during their shows. The attorney general of Florida tried to prosecute rap group 2 Live Crew, for their lyrics being obscene, as well as all explicit albums being forced to have a parental advisory sticker put on the cover, as ruled by the U.S. Senate. Songs were filled with detailed descriptions of murders and gang violence, as well as plenty of explicit words. This carried over into modern trap, with violence being a big theme in many new songs.
While production and lyricism were important, by far the biggest contribution to the modern era was the famous triplet flow. The triplet flow is a way of rhyming your words together when you rap in a complex but satisfying pattern. This flow can be heard in many new songs and used by popular artists such as The Migos, Kanye West, $uicide Boy$, Future, Denzel Curry, and many more. Its influence has surpassed the U.S., being heard in other languages rap songs like Japanese and Spanish Rap.
All of these factors and many more are clear evidence to the conclusion that Memphis is the birthplace of modern rap music. I think that despite its influence, Memphis does not get nearly the amount of recognition that it deserves. So next time you're listening to a trap song with fast, rolling hi-hats, violent lyrics, and a buttery triplet flow, just remember where it all started.