I just can't take it anymore.
———
Listening to New Music —> Trap Excitement
One of the biggest positive developments in my life for 2018 is to listen to new music by the boatloads. As much new music as I can while still being mentally present.
I feel like as a musician who obsesses on creativity, the more I hear, the better I get. It’s like eating more calories to build more muscle. We don’t have any clear “unified theory” of how creativity works, but as a shaman of sorts in this field, I truly believe that listening to new and challenging music is a controllable and reliable way to induce creativity.
I’m not alone in feeling this way:
- The Number One Predictor of Creativity? Openness to Experience
- Why Weird Experiences Boost Creativity
One of the genres that I leaped into this year was trap. Since I’m a fresh convert to the world of hip-hop, I can’t avoid it. At first it was fun.
The beats are huge! The bass bass bass, and the ever-evolving ecosystem of soundcloud rap is pretty cool. Maybe this won’t be so bad-
I lasted six months.
It Does Mostly Sound The Same
Not all trap music sounds the same, but a lot of popular music does fit the exact mold.
The moment that broke me was the new Blocboy JB album. Here:
I don’t know, its just exactly the same as every trap song I’ve heard for at least 3,000 years. It’s not that most trap is this generic — this is EXTRA generic — but upon hearing this track I was done, my spirit was eternally broken.
Not even Lord Pump could save this from being too generic:
For me, this is peak trap.
Trap Isn’t The Only Offender
Let me be clear that trap isn’t the only one. This is already happening in many genres. In the older days we did it with pop punk, with boom bap rap, with EDM, it’s the thing that happens.
Trap has had more legs than anybody expected, I think. I remember when Dubstep was the big thing, and then it seemed like Trap would have a similar trajectory, it would have a 2-3 year heyday and fall off HARD.
Instead, unlike dubstep, Trap refuses to die and is spreading to all other genres. You didn’t see indie bands attempting dubstep wubs, but you do see them doing the trap beat thing every other song now.
I dunno what comes next. All I know is for me, I’m done. If the first 60 seconds of a song or record is pure Generic Trap Beats, I’m out.
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This made me smile a little, haha.
To be honest, I didn't know trap was still a thing. I mean, yeah, trap elements are all over the place, but as a unified genre I thought it went out of style a few years ago.
My problem with listening to genre specific music is that once a sound is classified there are so many people trying to imitate that sound that it dilutes the talent pool so much that it becomes almost impossible to find the good shit. I try to focus on the good shit regardless of genre.
Oh, and as for dubstep being dead, well, the new Death Grips song features some pretty dank wubs. Haha.
the new death grips is crazy im so pumped for this new album. agreeing w/ everything you said. genres are useful but there are flaws
To be very frank, I've tried my best trying to figure out why is it that hip-hop is so popular - contemporary hip-hop to be honest - 80% of the time the sound is so montonous, there's practically no melody and the verses are mediocre.. and yet they get so much airplay and seem to be the 'in' thing when at any disco or pub (is it why I hate going ot pubs now?)
When listening to the radio when driving, this is the one thing that drives me nuts if it comes on air and I end up changing the channel because I find it really disturbing.. with all due respect it doesn't give me the feeling 'music' is supposed to..
I'm somebody who appreciates dance/pop/rock/folk/metal music of the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s but.. contemporary hip-hop.. gosh man.. no comments
Well it depends what you listen you. This topic is about the very specific sound of "pop trap" which i think is what you mean by "contemporary hip hop" -- but outside of that mate id suggest that there is a ton of cool stuff. Death Grips, all the stuff Flying Lotus works on, even some mainstream stuff like Cardi B or xxxtentacion is pretty creative and interesting
I agree, it's odd to me how ubiquitous trap has become. Pop artists write trap songs, there is country-trap, EDM-trap obviously, etc. Every trend gets old, and the longer it goes, the more bland and worn-down it becomes haha. I suppose it's time for a musical revolution.
Same thing happened with rock so I feel like this is just how it goes