Kalen Nicole

*Cues Bryson Tiller, “Aye, I’m back and I’m better,”  Ok, don’t. 

Recap: Last post, existential crisis, meets irrational violence, meets internalized misogyny, meets mumble rap, meets my ears and I’m wondering why I like trap music so much. So I reflected, I asked my friends and family to weigh-in and I’m ready to share!

“So can I kick it? Yes, you can! Can I kick? Yes, you can!“- A Tribe Called Quest

I like music, and over the last three years I’ve really liked trap music; as well as, the hard lyrics, rough voices, feelings of power and control that trap embodies. Friends complain that I “never chill” when I’m given the aux, we are always at 100 x 100, if I’m in control. Over Christmas break, I began wondering how constantly streaming  provocative and violent music affects my disposition and thoughts.

Bigger question: Could more chill music help me to chill? 

Spotify logging my eight hours of Migos for 2018 was a wake-up call to how I’m training my psyche. In class, I’ve learned that reality is discursive: the words we use have power over how we live our lives. “Preach,” Young Dolph. So, I started cutting back, “That’s Major,” Young Dolph, and I feel a littler more chill, collected, and aware of my language. I still feel the need to turn All The Way Up on the way to work, when I workout, and frequently in between, but I’m not slanging imaginary work  24/7 anymore.

My authenticity in this season looks & feels different than it did a few months ago. I’m good with that.

Me-knowing me- I couldn’t leave it at just that. What is it about this genre that has embraced and permeated my ideology of love, femininity and the general hustle?

I know it Bang, my ish bang, ba bang bang but is there more?

…So that’s the intro, here’s the entree:

1. Why do you think I like trap music?
2. Do you like trap music? Why or why not?
3. What kind of music do you prefer?

For this project, the interviewees were: my parents, my cousins Kendra, Tuere and Savanna, my friends Drew/Druce Wayne, Jaylon, Troyce, Maghana and Cheyenne.

Music is all we got.

So maybe I find it relatable. The people I consulted for this were the people who have been there throughout all of my phases and moments of spiritual reckoning: Mom and Pops. In the Russell household, no road trip could happen without the musical renditions of the Rev. Al Green and Earth, Wind and Fire, Frankie Beverley and Maze attended every family function via our stereo, Keith Sweat was there for every Sunday Night Slow-Jam session, Cameo made cameos, and Parliament kept our tidy house in perpetual funk. All of this interspersed with Hall & Oates,  a lil country and top 40.

So when I asked the originators of soul what they thought about my attraction to trap music, their reactions were honest and concise. My dad was not familiar with the term “trap,” but supposed that I liked hard-rap, because I was young and wasn’t able to differentiate between good and bad music yet. My mom believed that trap music allowed me to experience a life I had not actually lived.

“It’s kind of dangerous, it’s intriguing to you.” Neither of my parents like vulgarity, profanity, or loudness, so the convo was ‘wrapped’ up quickly.

Then there’s my bestie/sister/cousin Tuere, who  likes some trap music, but prefers R&B, Kehlani, Brent Faiyez, Paramore, and Tory Lanez. She says she is more likely to listen to trap in a group setting. And she thinks I like trap because “the lyrics are hype.”

“I think you like to act a fool. It gives you a sense of culture and belonging you haven’t experienced. You know others like trap, and listening to it gives you a form of validation from growing up in such a White society.”

So facts. I did grow up in a very White society. There were seven Black people in my high school. The culture of my high school, the interactions and music that permeated my public school experience, were not always the most validating.

In 2014, Kendrick Lamar rapped “Living my life in the margins, and that metaphor was proof.” in the song Poetic Justice. And I lived those lyrics from 2007-2014.

Since you are such a analytical person, I believe you like it due to the fact it can be used to provide a sense of belonging to people, especially people of color and even a escape from reality. Events like Trappiest hour which Stevie (DJ view) DJs allows black people to freely act as they please, listen to trap music, and for a few hours in a sense create their own imaginary world. That said, you see it as a form of self care. –Jaylon Thomas

My friend Maghana, said he doesn’t listen to trap, as he has a more “conservative music taste from growing up with parents that listened to 70s-90s R&B.”

Magahana’s statement prompted me to reflect on my childhood. I’m an only child, so there were no older siblings to introduce me to Brandy or Pretty Ricky. I listened to what my parents listened to- old-school or what my friends listened to- Aaron Carter, Brittney Spears and the Backstreey Boys.

I was indoctrinated with a mixture of 2000s pop and 70s Motown, neither of which I really identified with. Hip hop  appeals to all walks of life. It’s universal, and I think that’s what drew me in. And with hip hop, you don’t have to worry about being lonely, being confused, or broke, you’re making magic. Hip hop is a form of resistance that has been used to articulate the life and struggles of many marginalized people.

You enjoy trap music because it can bring people together. Since you’re such a holistic thinker, I believe you like trap music because of how widely known it is around the world. In other words, the sound of trap music is so global it can attract all people regardless  races, ethnicities and even creeds. Thus, it can be played anywhere and everyone would come together because they recognize it. -Jaylon Thomas

My friend Troyce equates my affinity for trap with “modern poetry”… and liking hooks and ‘dope vibes.’.. He describes trap as “One of the few genres of music where the beats impacts the listener more than the lyrics.” Nevertheless, he prefers underground music that’s motivating and entertaining.

So once again:

Bang, my ish bang, ba bang bang 

My trillest cousin, Savanna, aka S.Willy, agrees. She says  trap music “gets me hyped and usually has a nice beat to dance to. Sav believes trap  gives me “the energy I need to start my day off right.” Thank you S.Willy.

Word Up, I do like to dance etc. etc.

Like most people you see it as entertainment and more free flowing: the catchy hooks, catchy lyrics, and banging beats are very complementary to a party environment or any place where the main goal is to be entertained. –Jaylon Thomas

And 9/10 times when I’m not dancing in the mirror, I’m with my friends having a good time. Special s/o the one who taught me to Milly Rock, My best friend Cheyenee, a.k.a. CheyeGood. Cheyenne likes trap music in certain situations, like the club or gym, but really just loves R & B. With a background in Psychology, Cheyenne tells me  “you like the rough edges, but you’re not about that life. It’s like reading a book, you get a quick glimpse of the life through the beats and rhythms. “

“Trap has such a negative connotation & it’s the opposite of how people view you.”

My cousin Kendra, aka Psychology/Sociology Degrees hunty/most likely to know me more than I know myself says, “I think you like trap music because it goes against how you were raised meaning, you were raised in a more sheltered household and you went to school were I’m sure country was more popular than trap.”

“In simpler terms it’s your form of rebellion.” 

Heard, I am proud to be an Okie from Muskogee, but I’m multi-faceted!

The homie Druce Wayne thinks I “like the bop and the excitement even though I’m a president’s honor roll graduate”(I’m still multi-faceted). Drew also believe he is more trap than me…

…I disagree, because I don’t support the notion of my hometown or socialization process being a prerequisite for liking a particular kind of music. Trap music is just easy to like, Issa Vibe and as Jaylon so eloquently put:

I do like trap music. It’s fun and  you can turn up to it. Unlike conscious hip hop, trap music doesn’t bog you down with complex lyrics that may include metaphors, double or triple entendres, or punchlines causing you to listen and analyze like as if you was dissecting the content for a book for a class. –Jaylon Thomas

I do it for the culture. Trap is way to disengage from graduate school, work, the permeation of neoliberalism into my life.

Rather, trap music uses catchy but simple hooks, entertaining lyrics, and banging beats which allows me to enjoy the music without thinking to in depth about it. I appreciate this aspect of trap music because it forces you to stay in the moment, have fun and just rock with the music. –Jaylon Thomas