Some argue that mumble rap isn’t dumbing down audiences, rather it is a response to contemporary audiences that are demanding less nuance in the music they’re consuming. Mumble rappers are often blamed for not putting enough effort into their music - perh aps we’re the ones that don’t want to put in the effort into deciphering the heavy lyricism. Mumble rap may not even be the correct term to describe today’s top-selling songs that critics may argue are a reflection of the young generation’s laziness. Perhaps the only thing these rappers have in common besides their repeated overuse of the ad-lib “yeah” is their young age - Lil Uzi Vert is only 24 and Playboi Carti is only 22. Today, rappers like Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, Lil Yachty and Playboi Carti represent the most prominent faces of this new subgenre. Perhaps the most pertinent example is Desiigner’s “Panda,” a song so famously unintelligible that people can often only sing along to the title of the song. Some rap fans will remember Future indecipherably spitting the line “I do the whole dash, dropping all cash / Gutta to the death of me I’m sticking to the recipe” in his song “Tony Montana.” This appeared on “Pluto,” the album that supposedly kickstarted the emergence of the subgenre. The term “mumble rap” was coined in 2011 to describe the slew of rap songs that started shifting to grittier production and simpler, incomprehensible lyrics. Although some fight to fiercely protect the sanctity of rap as a voice for society’s marginalized groups, others agree that hip-hop has expanded to upbeat, pop-inspired production that serves to express artists’ bravado to the masses. So is mumble rap a new genre? Or a convenient umbrella used to label all new hip-hop you don’t like? It’s totally understandable that some rap fans don’t like certain new rappers because of a lack of lyricism, technical skill, and/or enunciation, but we’ve got to move past calling it all mumble rap.The merit of mumble rap has grown to become one of the most divisive topics in today’s hip-hop industry. After all, when Drake scores a hit, it’s usually with pop/R&B escapades like “One Dance,” not tough-talking rhymes such as “Energy”. Is ‘Mumble Rap’ Hip-Hop?Īs rappers increasingly emphasize vocal melodies over spoken verses, the “rap” in rapping is on the verge of extinction. “I’ve got cocaine running through my system.” (Ironically, Pete Rock didn’t understand that it’s a rueful metaphor about how Dolph was born to crack-addicted parents.) and provocateurs over four decades years after it emerged in South Bronx, New York. The contretemps picked up steam when vaunted producer Pete Rock criticized Young Dolph for a video where Dolph hangs out with children while rocking “In My System” and its chorus. Like Lil Yachty, Young Dolph, Desiigner, Lil Uzi Vert, ILoveMakonnen, Post Malone and too many others worth mentioning. It’s being applied to a wave of rappers who mix hooky, off-key vocals with fragmented, barely-there lyrics. Much like its predecessors, “frat rap” and “swag rap”, mumble rap is an Internet-generated definition doubling as an implicit critique. Cue the Last Poets, the fiery black revolutionaries, whose spoken-word attacks forecasted the rise of hip-hop, and “Niggers Are Scared of Revolution”: “I love to see niggers go through changes.” It’s a primary reason why the art form remains a battleground of shit-stirring outlaws. Hip-hop culture, for better or worse, is always evolving.

This new conversation has made the term more popular than ever.įor the most part, people use ‘Mumble Rap’ to describe new rappers like Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty, and Desiigner. But right now, that’s what’s poppin,” Wiz told Ebro. Those artists, if they want to stay around, they’ll figure out the next thing to do.

It ain’t no disrespect to the Lil homies, they don’t want to rap. Once Wiz Khalifa went on Hot 97 in June, the term has been inescapable.

The dreaded ‘Mumble Rap’ term is one of the hottest in music today. Lil’ Yachty Photo by (Anton Mak) Did “Mumble Rap’s” breakthrough create a new genre? or an evolution of Hip-Hop?

Mumble rapper definition