Their aim and intention with music was to always strive to be different and stay true to yourself. Other members of the collective include Big Boi, Andre 3000, Cee Lo Green & Killer Mike. In an interview with HiphopDX he talks about his 2012 hit Tony Montana: “When I freestyle I know there are bits you don’t really understand, but that’s what you like it for – thats what its all about to me, thats art.” He also spoke of coming from the Dungeon family, a legendary hip hop collective based in his cousin Riko Wade’s basement in Atlanta, Georgia. One of the original mumble purveyors Future has recently discussed his thoughts on the constant debates surrounding mumble rap. Some think its lack of structure appears ‘idiotic’ and reflects the genre as a whole negatively but others appreciate it as art.

Much like the East-West coast divide in the 90s, modern styles of rap clashing over conflicting style is no first for Hip Hop culture. The sub-genre has recently received a huge amount of backlash from artists and fans, notably from J.Cole who’s heard dissing mumble rappers in his 2016 hit ‘Everyone Dies’: “A bunch of words and ain’t saying s***, I hate these rappers, especially the amateur-8-week rappers, Lil “whatever”, just another short-bus rappers”. The conversation revolves around its alleged lack of lyricism which is where the name ‘mumble’ comes from, supposedly coined by Wiz Khalifa. This new sound has recently sparked interesting debates over its authenticity. The use of pitched harmonies rather than slick, quick bars let the big bass drums dominate the song rather than the melodic instrumentals most people are used to when they think of hip hop.

By focusing on the repetition of the words and melody more than lyricism, the emotion is more dramatic. The particular style of vocalising used in mumble rap is increasingly frequent in modern hip-hop and is spreading across the world. Hailing from the South of America, the genre stems from the glowingly popular sub-genre Trap.

Mumble rappers list