If you follow Hip-Hop, you have most definitely seen this new wave of music that has been dominating SoundCloud charts. This wave is the Southern Florida rap scene. Over the history of Hip-hop, areas across the United States have all had their signature sounds.
Ranging from Houston's 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 & 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥
Memphis's brutal rap sound
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and New York's grimy noise
There are many other areas that have their signature sound such as West Coast G-Funk, Detroit Ghetto-Tech, and Bay Area rap, but now in days we are witnessing a collage of multiple sounds. Artist's like A$AP Rocky is a great example of some one who meshes these genres together. A$AP mixed elements of East Coast, Southern, and West Coast hip hop very successfully over his albums. Even with figures that mesh these genres together, we are witnessing the blossoming of a major sound that is becoming more and more mainstream. This genres being
"The Florida Distortion"
Through all of the regional noises in current day Hip-Hop, Florida seems to be one of the most polarizing. But what really is this distorted Florida noise that is oh-so-popular? To begin we are going to look at the beginning of this genre.
The pioneer of this noise is producer Ronny J & Denzel Curry. In 2013 I was listening to Denzel Curry's Nostalgic 64 and I instantly heard a uniqueness that had a very large potential. Denzel was spitting some of the most abrasive and in your face lyrics with some banger beats crafted by Ronny J was a breath of fresh air to the hip hop scene. Influences that could be easily highlighted were some older Memphis Rap such as Lord Infamous of Three 6 Mafia, some Chicago Drill such as Chief Keef, and even some Yung Lean Cloud Rap.
In 2015, following Nostalgic 64, Denzel came with the the EP 32 Zel/Planet Shrooms which features the Florida Rap Magnum Opus, "Ultimate". This song, produced by Ronny J, blew up across social media as a song that would be played during a "savage" moment such as someone flipping a water bottle and landing it upright. With Ultimate's success, Denzel put himself on the map of highly anticipated rap artists.
The following year, Denzel released Imperial which had cemented himself as a rapper that had the respect of the listeners. He had put Florida on the map and set the trail for artists such as XXXTENTACION, Ski Mask the Slump God, Lil Pump, and SmokePurpp.
All of these artists have very interesting noises. We will start with XXXTENTACION.
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XXXTENTACION is the most broad of these five rappers. His hit "Look At Me!" had blown up to the 34th spot on the Billboard while he was serving time in jail. Since his release, he has done nothing but become more popular. A large reason for his popularity is his accusations against Drake for stealing his flow. XXXTENTACION claims that Drake's flow on "KMT" is much to similar to his on "Look At Me!". XXXTENTACION has abilities to make bat-shit crazy songs like "Yung Bratz" with throat scratching vocals or lyrical and emotion songs such as "Slipknot". XXXTENTACION is very hit or miss. He seems to have just as many people that love him as people that hate him.
Next, we will talk about Ski Mask the Slump God
Ski Mask is a Florida rapper that has become popular on SoundCloud by his songs with XXXTENTACION. Ski Mask has a very raspy voice that he flows on beats very well with. He raps over some crazy beats such as songs made by Metal bands like Slipknot and very odd video game samples. His aggression pairs very well with XXXTENTACION and they make some crazy bangers such as "Take A Step Back".
The next rapper is Lil Pump.
Lil Pump is a 16 year old rapper who is known for his songs "D Rose" and "Flex Like Ouu". He used adlibs to complete lots of his songs and has extremely basic lyrics. He is very identifiable with his pink dread locks and usually poses in photos with guns pointed into his mouth. Pump is an active Xanax abuser and "Trapper of the Century".
Lastly, Smokepurpp.
My personal favorite of all the Floridan rappers. Smokepurpp raps with great melody and flow. He is the closest you can get to a Lil Uzi Vert & Travis Scott hybrid. Rather him rapping on banger Ronny J beats such as "Audi" or effortlessly flowing on TM88 production in "Glock in my Benz" he always has a character and attitude that fits different moods. He has songs for kickin' back, songs for driving, he even has songs for knocking someone out. He is very broad and dominating SoundCloud.
Southern Florida rap is exploding on SoundCloud and has even had some lime light in the mainstream. I see nothing but success in it's near future.
Thank you for reading!
You know a lot about the history of rap! When I see the emerging artists and sounds you displayed, it feels like the look of a popular rapper is evolving and changing as much as the styles are. I suppose publishers are desperate for some image adjustment and innovation. I can see why people like lil pump and xxx are polarizing - they're meant to attract a different audience to rap that older fans do not want in the genre. Not the first time or last this will occur!
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