There are a lot of rap’s subgenres: trap, mumble rap, dril and gangsta rap are only some of them.
Today I want to analyse the differences among all of these subgenres, trying to understand when and how they were born, how they grew and they changed in time and the general message they want to leave to listeners.
I want to start by saying that it isn’t always easy to classify songs and singers and that it isn’t always so important because each artist is different, has a different style, message and history.
So it’s wrong to have prejudices about singers only because they belong to this or that genre; the only way you have to understand if you like someone’s music is listening to it so you can like someone who belongs to a genre you have never listen to or dislike someone who belongs to the genre you use to listen to.
Trap
First subgenre I want to analyse is the trap.
Trap is a rap’s subgenre diffused all over the world, also in Italy, wrongly considered as an indipendent genre.
It was born in Atlanta, in particular in trap houses; a trap house is an abandoned apartment in suburbias where drugs are made and sold.
In fact the word trapping in the american slang means: selling drugs.
Trap is characterized by the use of:
an electronical device called Roland-TR-808
the auto-tune (a medium initially born to remove false notes but used nowadays also to produce robotics sounds or to distort the voice)
a more melodical sound
lyrical topics, focused on street life and in particular on the use, often the abuse, of drugs
The trap subgenres was born in the 90’s but it completely spread out in 2010 with artists such as Young Thug, Kanye West and the Migos.
Also some famous pop stars such as Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Katie Perry have produced songs which can be considered as trap.
Trap music is often criticized for his miseducative lyrics and for its no use of metaphors and rymes but this, as explained by the major exponents, is done on purpose because its goal is to create a good melody and not to send a message to listeners
The Drill
Drill is a trap’s subgenre (so also a rap’s subgenre) born in Chicago in 2010’s; it became immediatly famous for the use of violent and nihilistic lyrics.
The world drill comes from Chicago’s slang and refers to an automatical weapon.
It is considered a subgenre of the trap because, same as Trap, it uses the Roland-TR-808 and the auto-tune but it differs from trap as it has a slower rithm and,as I have already said, its lyrics are violent and nihilistics.
The drill is a very criticized genre for the reason why trap is criticized and also for the violent and dark lyrics.
Drill’s lyrics aren’t casually made, as it sometimes happens in trap; singers want to send that violent message they saw being grown in that bad quarter which is the poor area of Chicago.
As the New York Times explains:
With rare exceptions, this music is unmediated and raw and without bright spots, focused on anger and violence.
The instinct is to call this tough, unforgiving and concrete-hard music joyless, but in truth it’s exuberant in its darkness.
Most of its practitioners are young and coming into their creative own against a backdrop of outrageous violence in Chicago, particularly among young people—dozens of teenagers have been killed in Chicago this year—and often related to gangs.
(There’s a long history of overlap between Chicago’s gangs and Chicago’s rap.) That their music is a symphony of ill-tempered threats shouldn’t be a surprise.
Mumble rap or SoundCloud rap
Mumble rap is a rap’s subgenre, born in 2010’s (the first mumble rap song is considered to be Tony Montana made by Future in 2011) on the online platform of SoundCloud.
At his birth the expression mumble rap was a derogative one; only a few years later it became a new subgenre, with a big success of public.
The lyrics of Mumble rap often speak about sex, drugs and jewelery and they are characterized by the use of onomatopoeic words such as “ayo”, “uh” and “yeah”.
Mumble rap is the most criticized subgenre of rap: storical rappers such as JCole and in particular Eminem spoke against it in their lyricals; famous is Eminem’s verse, in which he sais:
The boom bap (other rap’s subgenre used by Eminem during his career) is coming back with an axe to mumble rap.
Also journalists are firmly against mumble rap; some of them see it as an evolution in rap history, others as an involution; personally I don’t like it very much because it has too strange sounds.
Among the reasons why some rap in a mumble way is the abuse of drugs (in particular of lean which makes you speak, even if you don’t want it, in mumble way) and the decision to use a new slang, difficult to be understood by the most.
Are considered Mumble Rappers the singers Playboy Carti, Young Thug in some of his productions, Lil Pumb and 21 Savage in some of his songs.
Gangsta rap
The gangsta rap is one of the most important rap and hip hop’s subgenres.
Main characteristic of gangsta rap is the violent and explicit lyrical which speaks about drugs, sex and criminal activities related to gangs: in fact most of gangsta rappers say to be members of criminal groups such as “the Bloods” and “the Crips”.
The subgenre was born in 1980’s and had its first important song in “f*ck the police” of the group name N.W.A.
In this period for the first time vulgar words coming from slang were used in songs, in particular “n*gga” and “h*e” (which means prostitute); then gangsta rap has grown especially in the East cost.
This type of music and of lyrics has received lots of criticisms from journalists and music fans but this hasn’t stopped it.
Its authors say they’re only describing what they really live during their lives.
Conclusion
I want to end this article with my opinion in brief on all these subgenres.
As you may have already noticed, listening to the songs, all these subgenres are similar in sound, they’re made by people coming from similar economical and social backgrounds and they have similar lyrical which is a vulgar and diseducative one; but is it right to criticize them?
Personally I obviously disagree with rappers messages and use to listen to the ones who speak about more touching and interesting topics; but I also think that anyone is free to speak about what he wants.
I also think that, before criticizing, it is a good decision to analize lifestyle in poor areas and ask ourselves if rappers really want to live what they are living, if it is so easy to leave such a world and never forget that money doesn’t make you happy if you’ve never receiced love.
IN SINGERS' MIND 