![]() ![]() 2016 is merely an extension of hip-hop’s storied relationship with words. But the greatest torchbearer was Future, who graduated from Atlanta’s Dungeon Family in his early days and ultimately left his lyrical coherence with them. When Young Thug hit the scene in 2013 with his breakout hit “Stoner,” his verse on Rich Gang’s “Lifestyle” became viral video fodder by poking fun at his indecipherable wailing of words. Lil Uzi Vert has since carried that torch as well. During Chicago’s drill movement, Chief Keef amassed a considerable amount of suspicious success for murmuring his bars on a track. The predicament of simple comprehension in hip-hop is the same, yet the reaction is now different. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony were a quintet of indescribability when it came to their lyrics, eliciting more cassette rewinds and scribbling words down on paper over shunning them. Wu-Tang Clan’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard had ostensibly garbled lyrics, but his spot as hip-hop’s drunk uncle shielded him from any harsh ridicule. Jay Z’s initial high-speed rhyming style - adopted from his earliest mentor Jaz-O - made him not only hard to understand but was read for filth during an archival dig around Reasonable Doubt’s era (the album was released in 1996) and the years that followed. Fans have been flashing decoder rings over rappers’ lyrics for decades and vacillating in their preferences. “Personally ion like his type of music either,” Yachty later replied over Twitter, referring to Pete Rock as an “old head.”ġ1 Times New Rappers & Veteran MCs Butted Heads Over Hip-Hop in 2016Įven bigger than the cyclical back-and-forth in hip-hop, though, are acts now hailed as legends but were once shunned in their earlier days. Yachty’s charge was more about inability, not subject matter. In the summer, Rock also entangled himself in a short beef with Young Dolph over cocaine references in his music. Pete Rock came for Lil Yachty over Instagram in September, with jabs like Yachty “sucks mud on a rainy day” for not being able to freestyle and challenging his breed of rapping altogether. Not all of hip-hop’s vanguard welcomed the new regime with open arms. ![]() After much deliberation, the conclusion was drawn that they were rappers but no one knew what the hell they were saying despite it being perceived as a backhanded compliment. It’s cool for now it’s going to evolve.” He punctuated that sentiment by explaining that if they wanted longevity, they’d have to find another way to rhyme eventually. “It ain’t no disrespect to the lil homies, they don’t want to rap. “We call it mumble rap,” Wiz explained of the newer generation’s lyrical style. This is “only” the beginning.The phrase du jour became “mumble rap,” first coined by Wiz Khalifa in June during an interview with Hot 97’s morning show Ebro in the Morning. Finally, I call for a reconsideration of Hip Hop’s commitment to situated analyses, a particularly opportune conversation as 2023 is the 30th anniversary of Hip Hop Studies and the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop. Enjoy and stay tuned. Third, I examine Mumble Rap on its own terms, especially the ways it challenges dominant narratives about Hip Hop masculinity and mumble rappers’ attention to mental and emotional health. Second, I examine habitus, situating Mumble Rap as southern and examining social media the institutional, commercial, and transnational contours of Hip Hop and Black politics. I also problematize real Hip Hop norms for engaging with its origins and “old heads” demonstrate the ways most mumble rappers practice citational and collaborative politics congruent with real Hip Hop and the ways Mumble Rap is conversant with other, oft-ignored, Hip Hop cornerstones and take a comprehensive approach to examining the Mumble Rap sound. First, I do so by recovering longstanding debates about what Hip Hop has been, is, and should be. On May 20, 2021, I chopped it up with DJ Drama to discuss my single-authored manuscript-in-progress, “Make Rappers Rap Again!: Interrogating the Mumble Rap ‘Crisis.’” In it, I contend with the subjugation of mumble rappers, arguing Mumble Rap, which has galvanized the genre for over a decade, is real Hip Hop. ![]()
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