Memphis rap, also known as Memphis hip hop or Memphis horrorcore, is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

in the mid-late 1980s.

Aesthetic

It has been characterized as being low budget, using repetitive vocal hooks and a "distorted",

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

soundscape that utilizes the

Roland TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patte ...

drum machine and minimal synth melodies. The genre commonly features

double time In popular music, half-time is a type of meter and tempo that alters the rhythmic feel by essentially ''doubling the tempo resolution'' or metric division/level in comparison to common-time. Thus, two measures of approximate a single measure o ...

flows with triplet flows, and routinely uses samples ranging from

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

horror film score A horror film score is music used and often specially written for films in the horror genre. History Early sound film scores included little music. Universal Studios was among several studios that had a policy of no music under their dialogue, wh ...

s and

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

, as well as hooks from songs by related rappers in the same genre, although DIY production without sampling is common as well. Because of the lack of resources, bedroom studios were often pushed to the extreme. Usually, the lyrics are quite dark and depict graphic subject matter. DJ Spanish Fly had introduced the synthetic drum-kit sound with the TR-808, splitting the Memphis scene in two between those who preferred the live versus the digital sound. Alongside a strong drum beat were, "cowbell, syncopated rhythms, powerful sub-bass, and sharp digital snares", these elements becoming the hallmarks of the Memphis rap sound.

Looping Looping may refer to: Media and entertainment * Loop (music), a repeating section of sound material * Audio induction loop, an aid for the hard of hearing * a film production term for dubbing (filmmaking) * repeating drawings in an animated cartoo ...

is also a signature with no steadfast rule, although looping is used over chopped edits. Memphis artists released recordings on independent labels. The dominance of New York and Los Angeles's hip hop scenes forced southern artists to form an underground style and sound to compete with the other regions. Artists used a grassroots approach through word-of-mouth in the club scene and mixtapes to promote their music.

Artists

DJ Spanish Fly is commonly cited as one of the pioneers of the genre, being the bridge between 1980s electro-funk and the heavier gangster rap of the following decade. Other early artists and groups associated with Memphis rap include T-Rock, C-Rock,

Gangsta Pat Patrick Hall (born November 17, 1973), better known by his stage name Gangsta Pat, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee who established himself in the Memphis underground during the late 1980s and is the son of Stax Records drummer, Wi ...

La Chat Chastity Daniels (born March 21, 1978), known professionally as La Chat, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. She is best known for her association with the Hypnotize Minds record label. She was one of the two female members of Memphis- ...

, Skimask Troopaz, Gimisum Family,

Project Pat Patrick Earl Houston (born February 8, 1973), better known by his stage name Project Pat, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is the older brother of Juicy J, the co-founder of Three 6 Mafia. Houston was formerly a member of hip h ...

Tommy Wright III Tommy Wright III is an American rapper and hip hop producer. He began rapping in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1990s and is considered to be an early pioneer for fast-paced rap and trap production in South Memphis. Musical career Growing up i ...

, Princess Loko, Baby OG, II Tone, DJ Squeeky, DJ Zirk, DJ Sound, Blackout,

Playa Fly Playa Fly (born Ibn Young on September 2, 1977) is an American rapping, rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. Fly was a member of the Three 6 Mafia (then known as Lil' Fly), but he stopped collaborating in 1995 due to monetary disputes and philosophica ...

Gangsta Boo Lola Chantrelle Mitchell (born August 7, 1979), better known by her stage name Gangsta Boo, is an American rapper, who was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. She was the second female member (after K-9) of the Memphis-based hip hop group Thr ...

, Al Kapone, Mental Ward Click,MC Mack, Lil Noid,

8Ball & MJG 8Ball & MJG is an American hip hop duo from Memphis, Tennessee. They met at Ridgeway Middle School (Memphis, Tennessee) in 1984. In 1993, the duo released their debut album ''Comin' Out Hard''. They went on to release ''On the Outside Looking I ...

and

Three 6 Mafia Three 6 Mafia is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip hop group, they would eventually go on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mys ...

, with the latter two achieving relative commercial success. Three 6 Mafia's ''

Mystic Stylez ''Mystic Stylez'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Three 6 Mafia. Produced completely by founding members DJ Paul and Juicy J, the LP was published via Prophet, an independent record label. In 2001, the album was re-released ...

'' and other releases by members of the group such as ''

Come with Me 2 Hell ''Come With Me To Hell, Pt. 1'' is the third studio album collaboration between Memphis-based rappers DJ Paul and Lord Infamous. It was released in 1994 and distributed through the independent record label, Prophet Entertainment. A "Remastered ...

'' by

DJ Paul Paul Duane Beauregard (born January 12, 1977), better known by his stage name DJ Paul, is an American DJ, record producer, and rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is a founding member of hip hop group Three 6 Mafia and uncle of the late rapper ...

and

Lord Infamous Ricky T. Dunigan (November 17, 1973 – December 20, 2013), better known by his stage name Lord Infamous, was an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He was the half-brother of DJ Paul and one of the co-founders of Three 6 Mafia. His lyrics t ...

and Lil Noid's ''Paranoid Funk'' were particularly influential in the genre's development.

Influence and modern sound

Despite largely staying underground, it has attained a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

on the internet from

MP3 blog An MP3 blog is a type of blog in which the creator makes music files, normally in the MP3 format, available for download. They are also known as musicblogs, audioblogs or soundblogs (the latter two can also mean podcasts). MP3 blogs have become ...

s, influencing rappers such as

Lil Ugly Mane Travis Miller (born May 13, 1984) is an American rapper, singer and record producer from Richmond, Virginia. He has recorded under multiple aliases in various genres since his first known released project in 2005, including Lil Ugly Mane, Shawn ...

Freddie Dredd Ryan Mitchel Chassels (born September 19, 1997), known professionally as Freddie Dredd, is a Canadian rapper, singer, producer and songwriter, best known for blending gritty, lo-fi sounds, vintage samples, and intense—often dark—lyrics whi ...

Denzel Curry Denzel Rae Don Curry (born February 16, 1995) is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Carol City, Florida, Curry started rapping while in the sixth grade and began working on his first mixtape in 2011. Influenced by underground Fl ...

, and

SpaceGhostPurrp Markese Money Rolle (born April 1, 1991), known professionally as SpaceGhostPurrp, is an American rapper and record producer from Miami, Florida. He was the founder of the American hip hop group Raider Klan and Black Money Boys. Famous Raider ...

, as well as the rise of

crunk Crunk is a subgenre of hip hop music that emerged in the early 1990s and gained mainstream success during the mid 2000s. Crunk is often up-tempo and one of Southern hip hop's more dance and club oriented subgenres. An archetypal crunk track fre ...

trap music Trap is a subgenre of hip hop music that originated in the Southern United States during the 1990s. The genre gets its name from the Atlanta slang word "trap", a house used exclusively to sell drugs. Trap music uses synthesized drums and is ch ...

, and

phonk Phonk () is a subgenre of hip hop and trap music directly inspired by 1990s Memphis rap. Mostly present on the SoundCloud platform, the music is characterized by vocals from old Memphis rap tapes and samples from early-1990s hip hop, often co ...

References

External links

Memphis Rap Music and Artists
{{Regional hiphop in the United States 1990s in American music American hip hop genres Culture of Memphis, Tennessee Music of Tennessee Music scenes Southern hip hop American hip hop scenes

Aesthetic

Artists

Influence and modern sound

See also

References

External links