Trap Bumps But Leaves Little for Lyricism

Kanye West’s recent G.O.O.D. music signee, Desiigner, has leapt from 19-year-old Brooklyn native with zero previous projects to the number one spot on the Billboard charts. He recently earned a spot on the XXL Magazine Freshman Class cover. There is no doubt about it that the song “Panda” bumps, but if it were up to me Desiigner would have been signed to Sesame Street. He would have had a spot right next to Oscar the Grouch because lyrically the dude is garbage.

Desiigner’s XXL  “Timmy Turner” freestyle broke the Internet. It had people doing one of two things: either scratching their heads as to what the hell they just watched or bobbing along and snapping to his barely understandable lyrics. Desiigner has also been recently attacked for biting Future’s style. Not just biting, but basically cloning himself as a Brooklyn-based trap artist.

Future has claimed the throne as king of Atlanta. His auto-tuned mumbling intertwines with the hard-hitting beats from producers like Metro Boomin and Zaytoven. His avid drug use, whether it being Xanax, Percocet or his dearest devotion for lean, the elixir of codeine/promethazine cough syrup and Sprite, are a common. Whether he is driving foreign sports cars or having Ménage à trois with foreign models, the beat will always rattle the bass in your car.

The gothic synths, bumping 808’s and rolling hi hats that Atlanta trap music coined as its sound has reigned supreme over the last two years following the mainstream success of artists like Future, Young Thug and Migos. Although these rappers have moved from selling cocaine out of the trap house in Atlanta to sipping champagne in a penthouse in Los Angeles, the credit falls primarily on the production they rap over.

Why you may ask? People do not care about the lyrics anymore. Guarantee you ask any girl from age 15-25 if they listen to the lyrics in rap songs and 95 percent of them will say no. How do I know this? I’ve asked. The only people I know that listen to Young Thug’s third grade level rhymes are druggies and hype beasts (people who wear extremely overpriced street wear.)

During the 90’s what some hip-hop heads called the “Golden Age of Hip-Hop,” producers ran the show. There would be no Wu-Tang without Rza. There would be no N.W.A without Dr. Dre. There would be no Gang Starr without DJ Premier.

In today’s era of rap, within the first 30 seconds of a song you will know who the producer is:

“If Young Metro don’t trust you I’m gon’ shoot you,”

“No Drama…Mike-Will-Made-It,”

“La Musica de Harry Fraud.”

Whether it’s a rapper shouting out his go-to producer or a girl in a sexy voice, the list of name drops goes on and on.

Traditionally producers have provided the canvas for rap artists to “paint” their story for audiences. With the lack of lyricism and more focus on the beat, producers have almost become their own painters keeping their art as their own.

Most recently ,DJ Esco, Future’s go to DJ, released his “E.T.: Esco Terrestrial” mixtape available free online last week. It was produced entirely by DJ Esco with the help of notable Atlanta producers and featured Future on 14 of the 16 songs.

In the history of rap culture and the braggadocio that follows if an artist is on album almost 90 percent of the time wouldn’t you think that it would be their project and not the producers?

This is not the same as rappers who can produce and vice-versa.

Dr. Dre, Kanye West, J Cole and Big Krit are all producers who can successfully pull double-duty: produce and rap. Recent stand out rappers like Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty and Kodak Black are artists who rap/sing over banging beats where the production lounges in first class while the lyrics are pushed back into coach.

Some of you are probably wondering “What about popular lyricists like J Cole and Kendrick Lamar?” Well as hard as the newest generations of lyrical dynamites are working, the Internet and mainstream media continuously push these trendy, disposable artists to the forefront.

Let’s be honest here, do we all think Drake hopped onto the Migos’ “Versace Remix” or had a mixtape with Future just because? The answer there is a solid “no.” Drake was playing it smart. He kept his ear to what mainstream loved, and he took it, ran with it and skyrocketed trap music into an arena it has never seen before.

Even with the lyrical giants like Pro Era, The Underachievers, Action Bronson, Roc Marciano and the entire “Beast Coast” movement coming out of New York, it won’t be enough for the flashy production of trap rappers.

While lyrical greats from the late 90’s and early 00’s like Jay Z, Eminem, Redman and Method Man are still around rappers still have some say in the music. Once the new generation of non intellectual, recycled rappers makes it to the captain’s chair, producers will once again run the show.