Falling into the grimey trap
How rap music overtook pop in 2017
The year in music didn’t begin in earnest until the release of Culture, the trap- rap instant- classic album from Migos. It came out in late January, during the depths of winter, when no one could have known just how much of a forbearer it would come to represent. With a string of undeniable bangers and boastful lyrics, Culture was indicative of a shift taking place in the landscape of music. Migos magnified a theme that had long been in the making: pop and rock taking a firm backseat to rap in the world of mainstream music.
The popularity of Culture, which debuted at # 1 on the Billboard charts and has since gone platinum, snowballed into several other trapinfluenced rap albums blowing up. Whether it be 21 Savage, Lil Uzi Vert, any of the “Lil” Soundcloud rappers or experienced vets like Young Thug, 2 Chainz, Gucci Mane, Travis Scott or Future, you couldn’t open your streaming account without hearing some form of the rap subgenre that utilizes melodic synthesizers, rhythmic snares, deep 808 kick drums and gritty lyrics. It took over airwaves and Spotify streaming, and it was laced subtly and sometimes loudly throughout DAMN., Kendrick Lamar’s latest masterpiece.
It helped that while trap gained steam in 2017, mainstream music fans began to also take notice of grime – the British version of trap that has been popular overseas since the early 2000s. It was as if overnight, with a little assistance from Drake, the underrated genre took off. Grime, which is darker and typically more ramped-up than trap, wedged its way into the North American musical zeitgeist as more and more people began to take notice of Skepta, Stormzy and Giggs. This grime movement, coupled with trap’s ascension, helped push rap even further into the forefront.
And while current pop royalty like Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift still had big releases with Divide and Reputation (respectively) to bookend 2017, their music didn’t take hold of our collective imagination the way that rap did. This was the year you were just as likely to hear Migos on the radio as you were Bruno Mars; when the biggest streaming numbers were reserved for rap albums. This acknowledgement of rap surpassing pop music even made it’s way to the Grammy nominations. The most reputable of the music awards has long seemed dedicated to honouring tradition above all else. This has typically has meant awarding the best pop or rock acts with the general classifications, as though these genres encompassed all music entirely. It feels nothing short of embarrassing that just two years ago, voters chose Swift’s 1989 over Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly as album of the year. Or, even as recently as last year, when Adele’s 25 won over Beyoncé’s Formation.
But now, the tide seems to have finally turned. Three of the five Best Album Grammy nominations are rap albums, in Lamar’s DAMN., Childish Gambino’s Awaken, My Love! and JAY-Z’s 4:44. Even in the rap category, artists that would probably not have previously been recognized, such as Migos and Rapsody, have picked up nominations.
The result is a 60 per cent chance that a rap album will win Album of the Year for only the second time in the award’s 60 year history – and the first since Outkast won in 2004. But perhaps more than that, it will mean that in 2017, rap has finally outpaced pop music in the mainstream.