Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang
Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang (Gucci gang!)
Spend ten racks on a new chain
My bitch love do cocaine, ooh
I fuck a bitch, I forgot her name
I can't buy a bitch no wedding ring
Rather go and buy Balmains
Lil Pump- Gucci Gang
Shakespeare himself couldn't be so eloquent...Over the past couple years, and especially in 2018, a plethora of new "artists" have emerged from the depths of Soundcloud, and Instagram. It's a new form of hip hop that doesn't focus on lyrics, but they claim it focuses on melody, and most importantly, "the vibe". Rappers such as Lil Yachty, Lil Pump, Lil Xan, and dozens and dozens more have made a name for themselves independently by posting their tracks on Soundcloud, and by keeping themselves ever relevant by saying and doing crazy shit on instagram. To be initiated into this club, you have to first get at least one tattoo on your face, then indulge in so much Xanex and cough syrup that you can no longer articulate yourself, and you lose 90% of your vocabulary. After this you just need a couple hundred bucks to buy a beat from a producer, some heavy auto-tune and a few prop guns to wave around in your video. Once you stir up some drama on Instagram by talking shit to other mumble rappers, then the youtube money will start rollin in. If you're not familiar with this new music craze here's an example.
I stumbled upon this community because i was curious as to what was influencing my teenage niece to become so narcissistic, and i was wondering about the noises coming out of her speakers that I thought were recordings of some large mammal dying. So I dove into this culture that has seemed to captivate our youth. I never wanted to be that guy criticizing the culture and trends of the youth as damaging, and lacking substance. I grew up listening to punk, and metal, I know what it's like to receive those criticisms, and to enjoy music others can't understand, and regard as satanic. I love hip hop as well. I go to several shows every year, and I'm constantly looking for new music to blast. But regardless, here I am bitching away. I'm not the only one, this new wave of music has sparked a heated debate between "lyrical rapppers" and the new "mumble rappers".
To be honest, I don't hate the music, and I for sure don't hate the artists. Most of the kids are 16-21 years old, and we're all pretty dumb at that age. I don't mind that they make the tracks, have fun, and make money off it either. I'm a capitalist, I applaud any productive creation of wealth. Even the lyrics I wouldn't fully condemn. Glorifying drugs, and violence is nothing new to pop culture, and I hope most take it for what it is, an act for entertainment. In fact a lot of these songs remind me of things my fellow band mates and myself would make for fun when we were having a few drinks after practice, messing around on Fruity Loops. We'd spend an hour making some beat, then take turns rapping funny bars, or just making funny noises into the mic while we were half drunk. This is my point. It reminds me of what me and my drunk friends would make in a very short, very drunk hour on a weekend. It's fun, it's funny, but it takes almost no skill whatsoever.
Back when i was 10 years old and I started playing guitar, I would look up at my favorite artists and say "if I work really hard, and practice a ton maybe someday I can be as good as them and do what they do" I assume rappers had the same experience. Looking up at the greats for inspiration, then cracking open the notebook to hone, and develop the craft of writing poetry that can be performed with music to create something truly amazing, that only someone highly skilled could create. That's not the case with this new form of hip hop. In fact, the drama you start on Instagram has more effect on the success of their careers more than the music ever could. Even some of these artists will admit as much, only a few though. The rest claim that yes the lyrics aren't all that, and are incredibly repetitive, but the genius is in the melodies. Which if this was true would be fine, but it's not. Listening to artists like "Trippie Red" you notice that yes he's singing melodies, but there's nothing genius about them. In fact they are closer in composition to a nursery rhyme. Incredible simple and repetitive. To make things worse, he can't even perform these melodies, it's all generated digitally with auto tune and other effects. Here's pone of his hit singles with a billion views.
Simple Mind = Simple Music
What bothers me isn't that they make the song, and teenagers listen to it and think it's fun. What bothers me is that millions of our youth are obsessed with this music, and think it's the pinnacle of human creativity, and spend hours and hours listening to this drug induced, digitized garbage. A lot can be learned from music. A lot can be expressed through music. In the past it has started anti-war movements, it's brought thousands together peacefully, and it gave people a reason to work hard at perfecting a craft. That's all lost with this new wave. There is no substance to it. No meaning, no expression. Nothing to be learned, or to grow from. Just simple beats, with simple repetitive, narcissistic lyrics that take almost no time to create. It makes it even worse that these artist are promoting horrible drugs like xanex and cough syrup to their millions of social media follower. It's teaching our kids that you don't need to work hard to hone a craft, you just need to be popular and look cool. It's another means to dumb down the masses.
It says a lot that just a few generations ago, our grandparents would get home from the factory, or come in from the fields, and listen to Mozart, and read Hemingway, and now our kids get their entertainment from this shit. Just think about that a while. What effect will this have on society? I can tell you right now my nieces life goals are to be a youtuber, and Instagram model, and she thinks the way she does this is by spending 10-16 hours a day on social media. I can't even tell her it's impossible because that is exactly what a lot of people are doing. But it's certainly not fulfilling. My nephew wants to be a pro video game streamer, which apparently is a booming business right now, so he is diligently preparing for his career all day every day. I really hope it works out for them, but i have a feeling it's not going to.
I'm not trying to be a hater, but just bring up some concerns I have. Ten years ago I thought the internet would liberate the masses, bring us knowledge for free, and expose the corruption of government. Which a lot of that has happened, but not to the extent I believed. I'm genuinely afraid of what social media is creating, and I'm not the only one. The creators of these platforms seem to agree. Music is one of my greatest passions. I spent most of my adult life pursuing a music career, but unfortunately I let drug addiction take that from me as well as many other things. I think it's the best time to be a music fan. There is something out there for everyone, and musicians are pushing the boundaries of what can be done. I am blown away at the composition skills of some of these progressive metal, and jazz musicians out there, but they get no recognition. A part of me thinks mumble rap isn't as popular as it appears, it's just that teenagers have a lot of time to waste online, and give these guys tons of clicks, attention, and ultimately add revenue. Most adults I talk to are oblivious that this shit is out there. But still, it's impacting our children in a profound way. I don't think I have a solution except to expose our kids to more substantive art before they are swept up by the latest meaningless trends. I just wanted to get my feelings out there because it's been bothering me a lot lately. Oh well, I'm going to listen to some death metal now.
rant over
-Daniel