“Train Your Ears”: Shock Value as a Cultural Filter
There’s a new sound trending amongst rappers, and if you don’t like it, then you should start “training your ears.”
This trend, built on violently distorted 808s, absurd samples, and lyrics designed to go viral, largely exists on platforms like TikTok and Instagram due to its memeability.
However, the shock value and comedy seem to erode over time, giving way to genuine enjoyment of the music. Hence, “training your ears.”
Just go to the comments under any of these rappers’ posts, and you will immediately see two types of commenters: those who think the music sucks, and those who get it.
Gen Alpha seems to be picking up on an old sentiment that fans of avant-garde or experimental bands have carried for years: that if you don’t like the music, it’s your fault.
This is meant to be an exclusionary tactic, but in practice, since most people couldn’t care less if they “got” music from the likes of Captain Beefheart or Xiu Xiu, it insulates a fanbase and strengthens their perceived sense of community.
If you have yet to hear this sound and want in on this niche subcommunity, here are some starting points.
Meme Rap and the Rise of Absurdist Virality
Recently, I heard Miami XO’s “Bazooka” playing over almost every meme on my feed.
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The indelible lyrics begin: “Rest in peace, my granny, she got hit by a bazooka / Yeah, I think about her every time I hit the hookah / Kaboom, kablaow, kaboom.” Amazing.
Pages that propagate memes saw this song as an opportunity for clicks, using it in conjunction with completely unrelated tweets and textposts to make something that’s supposed to be funny on multiple levels.
Take this post, for example, which has over two million views on Instagram. “Bazooka” has garnered an absurd amount of streams this way.
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Slimepayn, Irony, and Viral Allyship
Slimepayn’s “Love” samples an already trending song to leverage lyrics of a similar level of hilarity: “First time I cracked a bitch, I told my dad same day / He was like, ‘Thank god, n****, I was gettin’ scared you was gay’ … I’ma love my son if he gay / I’ma love my son if he trans / But I will not love my son if he not gettin’ no bands.”
It’s a statement of LGBTQ+ allyship made funny by its aggressive, capitalistic sentiment, one that you don’t know what to do with but laugh.
“Love” samples Radiohead’s “All I Need,” using one of TikTok’s most viral sounds of last year to bolster its potential to catch fire online.
When Production Becomes the Joke
Although these two lyrical cases are prominent, the trend really has more to do with insane production choices.
Munyunn is a good example of this; the videos debuting his songs gain hundreds of thousands of views on his Instagram.
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Primarily, this is because of his wacked-out beat selection: “Ancient” samples an old sea shanty, “Drunken Sailor”; “BigMFknMunYunn” samples one of the iPhone’s default alarm sounds; and “Binureal” samples one of those Eastern healing frequencies.
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Munyunn’s tornadic, off-center flow also creates a lot of conversation, with some fans insisting that things really only click once you think of the beat as lyrics and the lyrics as a beat. Whatever that means.
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However, not all of his songs are meant to be the butt of social media jokes: there’s this unreleased song where he raps quite traditionally as he embraces the harsh 808s that producers like tdf and perc40 laid the foundation for, a drum noise that can also be heard on “Banshee.”
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Pushing Volume to the Limit: 2slimey’s Speaker-Busting Sound
The abrasive 808s only get harsher with artists like 2slimey, whose recent songs are bound to bust your speakers.
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For example, “Pop alot,” “Roc out,” and “bring emOut” were all designed to incite a visceral reaction in listeners, as 2slimey and his producers push the boundaries for how loud music can be.
He’s about as popular as anyone in the scene now, but comparatively, his music isn’t pushing the boundaries as far as some of his contemporaries.
From Joke to Genre: Harsh Noise Rap’s Next Phase
wildkarduno’s “i dont give a fuxk bout da 808s” is one of the earliest entries in this canon, an aptly named song where the drums sound like a zipper scraping the inside of your dryer.
The ugly, brutal songs that rappers like Percatric, eltank, and lildre556 purvey in their Triller-style Instagram videos take things even further, the distortion turning their raps into full blown harsh noise.
Some comments suggest that the beats were produced by Merzbow, and they’re not far off. Is this all an elaborate joke, or will this subgenre develop into something with legitimate credibility? Only time will tell.
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