Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Trap music wasn't only about the beats but also about certain lyrics and that's mostly Atlanta and Georgia as a whole. Probably a couple surrounding states like Alabama and South Carolina. Trap I believe was a slang word in Atlanta (because I know we didn't say that in Texas at all). You can make an argument that Memphis rappers used those type of beats but the lyrics was completely different than what TI, Jeezy, Gucci, and other rappers from Georgia talked about.
When Cash Money first came out, they used more bounce beats in their music. Then when they signed with Universal, they started changing it a bit but still used more of their local sound. The lyrics though was again way different than what Atlanta rappers was talking about. Houston, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Memphis used more horns in their production than Atlanta did as well. So for me, as a person that grew up listening to the different Southern rappers within the region, I can easily tell if a person was from where.
NYC doesn't have that influenced today. Also, the beats that came out of NYC we're pedestrian compared to the beats that are coming out today. Atlanta, and the south in general makes better beats. Always have. That's probably why every region is using "trap beats."
Okay, that has nothing to do with what we were talking about.
Trap music wasn't only about the beats but also about certain lyrics and that's mostly Atlanta and Georgia as a whole.
We were talking about sonic distinctiveness. That means the beat and the elements of the typical trap beat--drum roll, heavy 808, hi hat--do not have their origins in Atlanta. Project Pat had been rapping over that kind of beat long before anyone from Atlanta.
So in other words, a trap beat is not an "Atlanta beat" or the "Atlanta sound" since there were other producers in other Southern cities that played a large part in creating what most people think of today as a "southern sounding" beat.
Crunk music & bootyshake is the ATL sound that I'm used to.
That was the Atlanta sound. Even T.I.'s first album "I'm Serious" had some elements of that. What we hear rappers rapping over today--from Drake to Future to Lil' Uzi Vert--are just generic beats that possess most of the distinctive elements of Southern hip hop. It's not that these rappers are biting off Atlanta specifically; they are imitating the South as a whole.
When I think of the trap sound that everyone is following today, I think of Gucci Mane and nobody else. There were plenty of other acts who glorified drug distribution (TI tends to claim he pioneered the term) but Gucci/Mike Will were the first to marry it with a very specific sound/beat that people were able to associate with trap music in general and still do to this day.
Gucci's sound to me, is the Atlanta sound... and it all started with Trap House then songs like Bricks. By the time 'Bricks' and 'I Don't Love Her' came out, the sound was solidly in place and the rest (today's mainstream sound) is history. When I hear all of the chart topping songs of today (Bad and Boujee, Mask off, Panda) I hear Gucci, always have quite honestly.
Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
3,530 posts, read 4,171,933 times
Reputation: 2925
All this talk about Atlanta's beats, but it seems that Reggaeton, Bachata and Dancehall beats, all heavily associated with the NYC area (and Dancehall with Toronto), have been blowing up the airwaves the past couple of years, many from non-NYC area artists (Despacito, Hotline Bling, One Dance, Controlla, Odio, etc.). If anything, music, including "hip hop"/pop, is global, and while there are still "sounds" associated with certain regions, it's up to the popularity and the artist that determines "trends".
Drake, from Toronto, has 4 of the 5 songs I've listed (and a lot more) because he's still the biggest name in all of hip hop. He can literally pick and choose (and he does) what region he wants to sound like/collaborate with today, whether that's New York (Stay Schemin, 0 to 100, Odio), Atlanta (Where Ya At, Jumpman), Toronto (One Dance, Controlla), LA (Who Do You Love?, 100), etc. In the Internet age, the artists are what make the regional sounds hot nowadays, no matter where they're from. Atlanta's sound hasn't been strictly synonymous with Atlanta rappers for a while now, and likewise with every other region.
Interesting point. I wonder if L.A. is in fact more popular for hip hop worldwide than Atlanta considering that there was a much stronger association between the music and the geography back in the day. There is no "Atlanta" sound per se but rather a more general Southern sound among rappers who hail from that region of the country.
LA have worldwide iconic rappers/entertainers with NWA, Ice Cube solo, Ice-T, Dre and of course Snoop Dogg
Okay, that has nothing to do with what we were talking about.
I have to kinda steer the conversation because you're all over the place.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
