{{Short description|Style of hip-hop}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Mumble rap | other_names = * Non-lyrical rap | stylistic_origins = {{hlist|Hip-hop|trap|drill}} | cultural_origins = Early 2010s,<ref name=":2"/> Southern United States, especially Atlanta | instruments = {{hlist|Vocals (auto-tune<ref name="bongminesentertainment.com">{{cite news|url=https://bongminesentertainment.com/mumble-rap-hiphop-culture/|title=5 Ways How Mumble Rap or Non Lyrical Rap has Influenced Urban Pop Culture|first=Emily|last=Johnson|date=May 7, 2018|newspaper=Bong Mines Entertainment|access-date=January 29, 2019}}</ref>)|guitar<ref name="bongminesentertainment.com"/>|drum machine (Roland TR-808)<ref name="bongminesentertainment.com"/>}} | regional_scenes = Southern United States | local_scenes = {{hlist||Atlanta|Memphis|Miami}} | other_topics = {{hlist|Auto-Tune|cloud rap|chopper rap|road rap}} }}
'''Mumble rap''' (also known as '''non-lyrical rap''') is a loosely defined<ref name=":2" /> style and era of hip-hop that emerged and proliferated via the online audio distribution platform SoundCloud during the mid-to-late 2010s.<ref name="wweek">{{Cite news|url=https://www.wweek.com/music/2018/01/24/an-aging-hip-hop-fan-and-wws-resident-hypebeast-debate-the-new-sound-of-rap/|title=An Aging Hip-Hop Fan and WW's Resident Hypebeast Debate the New Sound of Rap|work=Willamette Week|access-date=January 29, 2018}}</ref> The term originated as a pejorative used to describe a vocal style characterized by unclear or incoherent enunciation, often described as "mumbling", which represented a shift away from traditional hip-hop conventions centered around complex or meaningful lyricism,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/rise-of-mumble-rap-lyricism-2016-7625631/ |title=The Rise of 'Mumble Rap': Did Lyricism Take a Hit in 2016? |website=Billboard|author-first1=Kathy|author-last1=Iandoli|date=December 21, 2016 |access-date=August 28, 2018}}</ref> and instead emphasizing other aspects of delivery like melody, mood, and tone.<ref>{{cite web |date=September 10, 2018 |title=The real 'Slim Shady' strikes again with latest album release | Arts & Entertainment |url=http://www.theeastcarolinian.com/arts_and_entertainment/article_6d5cc630-b54a-11e8-84ab-9f4fae295fb5.html |access-date=September 27, 2018 |website=Theeastcarolinian.com}}</ref>
While "mumble rap" originated as a pejorative,<ref>{{cite news |last= Coker |first= Hillary |date= December 5, 2017 |title= The Who's Who Of SoundCloud Rap |url=https://genius.com/a/breaking-down-the-origins-of-mumble-rap |work= Genius |access-date= December 5, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://djbooth.net/features/2017-11-29-desiigner-calls-out-old-people-talkin-mumble-rap|title="It's Corny": Desiigner Calls Out "Old People Talkin' That Mumble Rap"|last=Zisook|first=Brian "Z"|website=DJBooth.net|date=February 12, 2018 |language=en|access-date=December 14, 2018}}</ref> some have reappropriated the label,<ref name="ringer"/> with various critics and artists defending the style as a new phase in the evolution of hip-hop.<ref name="mn2s.com">{{Cite web|url=https://mn2s.com/news/features/mumble-rap/|title=What is Mumble Rap? {{!}} Features {{!}} MN2S|website=Mn2s.com|access-date=January 30, 2018}}</ref><ref name="VibeReally" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Waugh |first=Michael |date=2020-08-20 |title='Every time I dress myself, it go motherfuckin' viral': Post-verbal flows and memetic hype in Young Thug's mumble rap |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/popular-music/article/abs/every-time-i-dress-myself-it-go-motherfuckin-viral-postverbal-flows-and-memetic-hype-in-young-thugs-mumble-rap/2900DB84C08DD824FE46337003D8A050 |journal=Popular Music |language=en |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=208–232 |doi=10.1017/S026114302000015X |s2cid=225894040 |issn=0261-1430|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
== Etymology and characteristics ==
The earliest known usage of the term "mumble rap" was in 2014 by VladTV battle rap journalist Michael Hughes, in an interview with battle rapper Loaded Lux about the style's emergence in mainstream hip-hop.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/8E_qHB1PwXc Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20150108045321/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E_qHB1PwXc Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E_qHB1PwXc| title = Loaded Lux Addresses the Emergence of Mainstream "Mumble Rap" | website=YouTube| date = December 11, 2014 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> There is disagreement over who first rapped in such a style, although its creation has been attributed to rappers such as Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, Chief Keef, Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, Migos, Sahbabii, Playboi Carti, and most notably Future, whose 2011 single "Tony Montana" is often cited as the first mumble rap song;<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=http://www.vibe.com/featured/mumble-rap-essay/|title=Is Mumble Rap Really Such A Terrible Thing?|date=June 6, 2017|work=Vibe|access-date=September 4, 2018}}</ref> however, there have been sources dating as far back as October 2011 of even older releases by other artists. Artists such as Das EFX and Fu-Schnickens may have rapped in a similar style years before the term was created.<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |last=Jasmine |first=Alyse |date=June 6, 2017 |title=Is Mumble Rap Really Such A Terrible Thing? |url=http://www.vibe.com/featured/mumble-rap-essay/ |access-date=January 29, 2018 |work=Vibe}}</ref> The term was first used to describe rappers whose lyrics were unclear, but the use of the term has expanded to include rappers that some critics claim "generally put little emphasis on lyricism or lyrical quality".<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://miccheque.wordpress.com/2017/07/22/is-mumble-rap-killing-hip-hop/|title=Is "Mumble Rap" Killing Hip Hop?|date=July 22, 2017|work=Mic Cheque|access-date=January 30, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mushfiqur |first=Shanto |date=January 11, 2018 |title=Mumble Rap - Either you love it or hate it |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/shout/music/mumble-rap-either-you-love-it-or-hate-it-1517851 |access-date=January 30, 2018 |work=The Daily Star}}</ref>
Mumble rap is used mostly as a derogatory term, in reference to a perceived incoherence of the artist's lyrics.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hinebaugh |first=Jonah |title=Mumble rap is abstract expressionism for hip hop |date=November 6, 2017 |url=http://crowsneststpete.com/2017/11/06/mumble-rap-is-abstract-expressionism-for-hip-hop/ |access-date=August 7, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Lyons |first=Patrick |title=Lil Yachty's "Teenage Emotions" (Review) |url=https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/59517-lil-yachtys-teenage-emotions-review-news |website=HotNewHipHop |date=June 2017 |access-date=August 7, 2018}}</ref> Oscar Harold of the ''Cardinal Times'' stated that "mumble rap" is misleading, arguing that the rappers such as Future rely more upon pop melodies and vocal effects, such as auto tune, than mumbling.<ref name="Cardinal Times">{{cite web |last=Harold |first=Oscar |title=Review: 'Mumble Rap' is a poor label for new Hip-Hop |url=https://cardinaltimes.org/11726/reviews/review-mumble-rap-is-a-poor-label-for-new-hip-hop/ |access-date=August 7, 2018}}</ref> Justin Charity, a staff writer at ''The Ringer'', argues that the term is unnecessarily reductive and does not in fact refer to one specific type of rapping. He wrote that many of the artists often scapegoated in conversations about the subgenre do not actually mumble, which "is the red flag that the term isn't a useful subcategorization."<ref name="ringer">{{cite web|url=https://theringer.com/mumble-rap-moratorium-lil-yachty-desiigner-15bc3647dae9|title=Declaring a Moratorium on the Term "Mumble Rap"|author=Charity, Justin|date=April 18, 2017|publisher=The Ringer|access-date=May 14, 2017|archive-date=April 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404033546/https://www.theringer.com/2017/4/18/16047136/mumble-rap-moratorium-lil-yachty-desiigner-15bc3647dae9|url-status=dead}}</ref>
There are disputes as to whether some rappers are mumble rappers or not. There is also conflation between mumble/SoundCloud rap and other new generation-led evolutions or niches such as trap and cloud rap. ''The Cleveland Plain Dealer'''s Troy L. Smith writes that 21 Savage unfairly gets classified as a mumble rapper.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2017/06/what_is_mumble_rap_25_essentia.html|title=What is mumble rap? 25 essential songs from Future, Migos and more|last1=Smith|first1=Troy L.|last2=Clevel|date=June 6, 2017|website=cleveland|language=en|access-date=December 8, 2019|last3=.com}}</ref>
== SoundCloud rap scene == [[File:Soundcloud logo.svg|thumb|right|SoundCloud logo]] In 2017, music critic Jon Caramanica of ''The New York Times'' opined that SoundCloud rap "in the last year has become the most vital and disruptive new movement in hip-hop".<ref name="Complex">{{cite news|first=Jon|last=Caramanica|title=The Rowdy World of Rap's New Underground|date=June 22, 2017|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/22/arts/music/soundcloud-rap-lil-pump-smokepurrp-xxxtentacion.html}}</ref> Todd Moscowitz, the founder of Alamo Records, called the scene a "lo-fi movement" noting the heavily distorted bass and intentional lack of polish in the sound. When Ski Mask the Slump God discussed the genre's lo-fi sound and recording techniques, he noted, "It was like the worst recording set up, [but] you could set it up anywhere and that was the wave we were on... The raw energy of that—the distortion—is our speciality, and we used that to our advantage."<ref>{{cite magazine| title=Look At Me!: The Noisy, Blown-Out SoundCloud Revolution Redefining Rap|first=David|last=Turner|date= June 1, 2017|magazine=Rolling Stone|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/look-at-me-the-noisy-soundcloud-revolution-changing-rap-w485101}}</ref> ''Spin'' noted that the SoundCloud company has not been able to leverage the popularity of SoundCloud rap to improve its financial problems.<ref>{{cite magazine| title=Why Soundcloud Rap Couldn't Save Soundcloud|first=Jordan|last= Sargent|date= July 14, 2017|magazine=Spin|url=https://www.spin.com/2017/07/why-soundcloud-rap-couldnt-save-soundcloud/}}</ref> In January 2019, Stephen Witt of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine argued that the SoundCloud rap wave was in decline, citing the death of Lil Peep in 2017 and murder of XXXTentacion in 2018, as well as 6ix9ine's legal troubles.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/tekashi-69-rise-and-fall-feature-777971/|title=Tekashi 69: The Rise and Fall of a Hip-Hop Supervillain|last=Witt|first=Stephen|date=January 16, 2019|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US|access-date=February 2, 2019}}</ref> The death of Juice Wrld in 2019 has been attributed as the moment SoundCloud rap died.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Juice WRLD Dead at 21 After Seizure in Chicago, Final Moments Captured |url=https://www.tmz.com/2019/12/08/juice-wrld-dead-dies-seizure-chicago-midway-airport-hospital/ |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=TMZ |date=December 9, 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Caramanica |first=Jon |date=2019-12-09 |title=Juice WRLD and the Tragic End of the SoundCloud Rap Era |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/09/arts/music/juice-wrld-soundcloud-rap.html |access-date=2022-05-24 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Reception== ===Praise=== In defense of the style, Justin Charity of ''The Ringer'' suggested that the debate is "really about discomfort with how a generation of young musicians has chosen to use their voices in strange, unprecedented ways, and against the wishes of their parents and forefathers."<ref name="ringer"/> ''The Guardian'' compared the style to the first wave of punk, noting a shared "sonic simplicity, gleeful inanity, and sense of transgression."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Aroesti |first1=Rachel |title=Lil Pump review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/nov/21/lil-pump-review-brixton-academy-review-gazzy-garcia |website=The Guardian |date=November 21, 2018 |access-date=June 6, 2019}}</ref> ''The Vibe'' linked mumble rap to earlier forms of hip-hop, as well as jazz scatting.<ref name="VibeReally" /> For ''The Conversation'', Adam de Paor-Evans disputed the idea that mumble rap is a reflection of laziness, suggesting instead that it is an accurate reflection of boredom resulting from the immediacy and speed of contemporary cultural life."<ref>{{cite web |last1=de Paor-Evans |first1=Adam |title=Mumble Rap: cultural laziness or a true reflection of contemporary times? |url=http://theconversation.com/mumble-rap-cultural-laziness-or-a-true-reflection-of-contemporary-times-85550 |website=The Conversation |date=October 18, 2017 |access-date=6 June 2019}}</ref> ''Red Bull Music Academy'' stated that "however they're labeled—SoundCloud rap, emo-trap, mumble rap—one thing's for sure: these rappers are forging new paths, once again pushing the boundaries of what rap is, who it's for and how it's distributed."<ref>{{cite web |title=21 Rappers Under 21 Who Are Shaping Hip-Hop |url=https://www.redbull.com/us-en/21-best-rappers-under-21 |website=Red Bull Music Academy |access-date=June 6, 2019}}</ref>
Rap pioneer Grandmaster Caz expressed acceptance of the style, stating: "It's all good. They’re a different generation, they do a different thing, they have a different agenda, and their influences come from different places. So I’m not mad at them."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Stereo |title=How Hip-Hop's Generation Gap Became a War for Its Soul |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-hip-hops-generation-gap-became-a-war-for-its-soul-6 |website=The Daily Beast |date=January 20, 2018 |access-date=June 6, 2019}}</ref> Funk pioneer George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic declared himself a listener of mumble rap, stating "we try to pay attention to whatever the new music is that gets on your nerves."<ref>{{cite web |title=GEORGE CLINTON'S LEGEND AS THE MASTER OF P-FUNK WILL ENDURE AFTER RETIREMENT |url=https://ocweekly.com/george-clintons-legend-as-the-master-of-p-funk-will-endure-after-retirement/ |website=OC Weekly |date=August 29, 2018 |access-date=June 6, 2019}}</ref> Podcaster and television host The Kid Mero dismisses criticisms of the style, stating: "Sonically if your shit is wack, why am I gonna listen to what you gotta say? If I turn it on, and the beat is kind of annoying, I’m not gonna sit through that just to hear you say 'lyrical, metaphysical, giftical…' I don’t want to do all that."<ref name="VibeReally" />
===Criticism=== Rappers who have voiced discontent with mumble rap include J. Cole,<ref name="mn2s.com"/> Hopsin,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://allhiphop.com/news/hopsin-clowns-auto-tuned-mumble-rappers-in-no-words-video-future-young-thug/|title=Hopsin Clowns Auto-Tuned "Mumble Rappers" In "No Words" Video|website=AllHipHop|date=October 7, 2015|access-date=November 11, 2021}}</ref> Chris Webby,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/72702-chris-webby-calls-out-the-mumble-rappers-in-new-video-raw-thoughts-new-video|title=Chris Webby Calls Out The Mumble Rappers In New Video "Raw Thoughts"|website=HotNewHipHop|date=November 2, 2017|access-date=December 17, 2018}}</ref> Logic,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2019/05/03/eminem-and-logic-blast-their-rap-peers-new-collab-homicide/3660768002/|website=USA Today|access-date=March 31, 2020|title=Eminem and Logic blast their rap peers on new collab 'Homicide' }}</ref> Russ,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.themaven.net/allhiphop/news/russ-mumble-rappers-will-never-go-down-among-the-best-hip-hop-artists-BbsrmSqD9ESOJUO-DDqlig?full=1|title=Russ: Mumble Rappers Will Never Go Down Among The Best Hip Hop Artists|work=AllHipHop.com|access-date=January 30, 2018}}</ref> Joyner Lucas,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/113747-eminem-and-joyner-lucas-rant-about-the-state-of-hip-hop-on-lucky-you-new-song|title=Eminem & Joyner Lucas Rant About The State Of Hip-Hop On "Lucky You"|website=HotNewHipHop|date=September 3, 2018|access-date=December 17, 2018}}</ref> Taboo of Black Eyed Peas,<ref>{{Cite AV media|people=Black Eyes Peas|date=October 26, 2018|title=NEW WAVE|type=Song}}</ref> and Eminem.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/eminem-rick-rubin-mumble-rap-broken-record-podcast-8031293/|title=Eminem Is Frustrated With 'Mumble Rap,' According to Rick Rubin|magazine=Billboard|access-date=January 30, 2018}}</ref> After declaring that the "boom bap is coming back with an axe to mumble rap" in Royce da 5'9"'s song "Caterpillar", Eminem criticized multiple mumble rappers on his album ''Kamikaze''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/people-eminem-disses-surprise-album-kamikaze-2372804|title=All the people Eminem disses on his surprise album 'Kamikaze'|date=2018-08-31|work=NME|access-date=2018-09-02}}</ref> Eminem's diss track "Killshot", which was targeted at Machine Gun Kelly, included a line where he insults MGK, calling him a mumble rapper.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le0u232ODx8|title=Machine Gun Kelly Breaks Down Eminem Feud, Halsey Rumors, Mac Miller's Death, Binge EP + More|last=Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM|date=September 20, 2018 |access-date=29 January 2019|publisher=YouTube}}</ref> Noted rap artist Pete Rock prominently criticized the style for abandoning hip-hop tradition.<ref name="VibeReally">{{cite web |last1=Jasmine |first1=Alyse |title=Let's Ask Ourselves, Is Mumble Rap Really A Thing? |url=https://www.vibe.com/featured/mumble-rap-essay |website=The Vibe |date=June 6, 2017 |access-date=6 June 2019}}</ref>
Dr. Heidi R. Lewis published ''Make Rappers Rap Again: Interrogating the Mumble Rap "Crisis"'' in the Oxford University Press Theorizing African American Music Series. In the book, which features an interview with DJ Drama, Lewis "contrarily and perhaps controversially{{nbs}}... argues Mumble Rap is real Hip Hop. Relying primarily on discourse analysis, [she examines] Mumble Rap's congruence with oft-forgotten or subjugated Hip Hop cornerstones like illegibility, melody, the DJ, and the subgenre, as well as the ways most mumble rappers practice citational and collaborative politics that are congruent with real Hip Hop. [Lewis also takes] a critical approach to examining the Mumble Rap sound, arguing it's much more complicated than it’s often characterized, especially concerning flow and production. To explain the subjugation of Mumble Rap, [she situates] the subgenre as southern and examines the ways it challenges dominant notions about real Hip Hop masculinity vis-à-vis mumble rappers' attention to the mental and emotional, drug use and addiction, and the fallacies of gender and sexuality norms."{{citation needed|date=May 2026}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Heidi R. |title=Make rappers rap again: interrogating the mumble rap "crisis" |date=2025 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-777384-0 |edition=1. |series=Theorizing African American music |location=New York, NY}}</ref>
==See also== {{div col}} * African-American Vernacular English * Asemic writing * Atlanta hip-hop * Chicago hip-hop * Chopper * Drill music * Internet rap * Landfill indie * List of hip-hop genres * Scat singing * Soundcloud rap * Southern hip-hop * Weird SoundCloud {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Hip-hop|state=collapsed}} {{Portal bar|2010s|Internet|Music|Record production}} Category:Mumble rap Category:Hip-hop genres Category:2010s in music Category:Microgenres Category:2010s fads and trends Category:African-American music Category:American styles of music Category:2010s in American music Category:Music of Atlanta Category:2010s neologisms Category:2010s in Internet culture Category:Criticism of hip-hop