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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