"Ratchet" / R&Bass / DJ Mustard

CrowleyHead

Well-known member
Biggest sound of rap/pop/R&B in the last 5 years, and I figured fuck it, dissensus needs a thread. After all, Pandiculate was asking me a bit in the rap thread about it, but every time I try to start it gets me overwhelmed with trying to be a completist since its a genuine scene and not just "DJ MUSTARD AND A BUNCH OF GUYS" or w/e.

So I guess, some guidelines of the variations on it for new faces...

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Nic Nac from the bay, usually affiliated with Bobby Brackins is probably the best bet for y'all honestly, he's got very nuumish love of creepy vocal snippets in the club thump

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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JXRN_LkCa_o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> ((I avoided this song like nobody's business, but JFC that instrumental is perfect.))

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I'll do a more complete overview of the producers, artists and my thoughts on it for anyone, but yeah.
 

luka

Well-known member
Think the argument was why have deep tech when you can have this instead lol
 

CrowleyHead

Well-known member
The argument can be applied however you want it, lol.

I mean, its kind of indicative of how differently the US / UK treat this sort of music. This is an essential part of every club/radio in America rn, but I guess because its rap-based, it could never be considered proper dance music in a way, yet its nearly almost always supposed to service as danceable shit.

Off the top of my head though, the most noteworthy producers are...

DJ Mustard (who has a lot of affiliates who he either co-produces with or has under his wing like DJ Official, Mike Free, etc.)
League Of Starz (who consist of Jay Nari, DNYC3, Tren On The Beat, Problem...)
The D.R.U.G.S. crew, who are basically Ty Dolla $ign, occasionally Mustard, and some of their friends
The Invasion (who are also members of the HBK Gang; P-Lo, Iamsu & Jay Ant, also Sage The Gemini (un)officially)

And then artist wise its a lot of people affiliated with these producers. So P-Lo handles a lot of production for all the HBK/CFOPA Axis...

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Sage himself though, I know Reynolds loves his production

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And obv. we know YG & Mustard go hand in hand.

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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/waX2fj0rk2g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Mustard's first beat, in fact.
 

rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
hes got a formula going now. but i really like it. in fact i think i like pretty much everything mustard does, though it doesnt always quite fit. eg - the new gunplay song produced by mustard. though thats always a problem with superstar producers - you mostly either get their sound or you dont get anything at all.

but yeah, my favourite producer of the last few years.
 

vvvwwwv

Well-known member
what else would go with these beats tho, like sticking sage francis on zaytoven..

I mean, its kind of indicative of how differently the US / UK treat this sort of music. This is an essential part of every club/radio in America rn
the only place i hear all this is in the gym on kiss, sat right next to all the recent uk house-pop. and this yt channel, which posts way too much to mantain a real level of quality...
https://www.youtube.com/user/rnbassmusic/videos
 

CrowleyHead

Well-known member
do hate a lot of the lyrics though, have to be honest, whether its chris brown or ty dolla sign. just plain sleazy/creepy.

I'm honestly for it to some degrees. First off though, a lot of it is actually Ty or TeeFlii, they've been writing for everyone. Chris hasn't written for himself to my knowledge for a minute. Even the hook on "Show Me" is actually TeeFlii.

But right now R&B is so like, moralistically repressed and stagnant in masculine territory. You know? A lot of these kids have been selling really earnest, sappy "heroic" images of themselves which can vary as being dated, or being somewhat insincere. I mean, look at Chris Brown's embrace of his 'baddie' attitude. On one hand its v. sleazy, but fans definitely respond to it much more enthusiastically than when he's trying to be ennobled. And that fanbase is mostly female which given his history, you'd think they would be worrying in some regard.

I digress there. Its interesting to see the people who work in that realm, like Ty & Tee whose careers are based in the genre, or people who are dallying like Omarion & Jeremih. Same goes for rappers, like YG is invariably affiliated w/ ratchet, but Ma$e has done it, 2Chainz, Big Sean, Drake, Wayne, etc.

Also, a lot of these artists have different models. Like, Ty used to be a neo-soul kid affiliated with Sa-Ra, sang back-up for Kanye. He takes great pains on instagram to shout out J Dilla and Doom, he's a instrumentalist. He has songs that aren't just the creepy misogyny. In fact his first single for his album was actually positive, in an almost Curtis Mayfield motif. That didn't take off though, and now his second single is him with Tinashe and Charli XCX (who've both experimented with the sound prior) is the one the label pushes because its the familiar sound.

Sage is another example; "Gas Pedal" sonically is v. party and hard, but his album is full of v. moralistic tunes about not being promiscuous, rejecting drugs, all the things that seem like Sage is a goody two-shoes do gooder, which a genre like "ratchet" is something you wouldn't presume it can sustain.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Absolutely nothing rivals this stuff for me as party music at the moment. My little crew's anthems have been Loyal/Touching, Lovin'/Every Damn Day/2 On/4 Digits/Paranoid... Mustard in particular has been smashing it for a few years now. Of course its formulaic but as someone else said every big producer is formulaic to some extent. Premier has been formulaic!

I prefer the RNB stuff to the ratchet rap, not cos I don't like the rap stuff but RNB ratchet is just a golden combination.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
I just recently flipped on "you remind me" by Chris Brown/Kid Ink. Think its cos I heard it a lot in the gym without bass.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
BTW Crowley do you think this sound has another year in it, as a dominant sound? I dunno if my perspective is bollocks cos I'm in the Uk but it seems like every few years a producer takes the lead and others run with it. I guess lex lugar would have been the previous guy, although his sound wasn't anywhere near as open to being used in pop/rnb music.

Seems like London on the Track is a big up and comer atm
 

rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
I'm honestly for it to some degrees. First off though, a lot of it is actually Ty or TeeFlii, they've been writing for everyone. Chris hasn't written for himself to my knowledge for a minute. Even the hook on "Show Me" is actually TeeFlii.

But right now R&B is so like, moralistically repressed and stagnant in masculine territory. You know? A lot of these kids have been selling really earnest, sappy "heroic" images of themselves which can vary as being dated, or being somewhat insincere. I mean, look at Chris Brown's embrace of his 'baddie' attitude. On one hand its v. sleazy, but fans definitely respond to it much more enthusiastically than when he's trying to be ennobled. And that fanbase is mostly female which given his history, you'd think they would be worrying in some regard.

I digress there. Its interesting to see the people who work in that realm, like Ty & Tee whose careers are based in the genre, or people who are dallying like Omarion & Jeremih. Same goes for rappers, like YG is invariably affiliated w/ ratchet, but Ma$e has done it, 2Chainz, Big Sean, Drake, Wayne, etc.

Also, a lot of these artists have different models. Like, Ty used to be a neo-soul kid affiliated with Sa-Ra, sang back-up for Kanye. He takes great pains on instagram to shout out J Dilla and Doom, he's a instrumentalist. He has songs that aren't just the creepy misogyny. In fact his first single for his album was actually positive, in an almost Curtis Mayfield motif. That didn't take off though, and now his second single is him with Tinashe and Charli XCX (who've both experimented with the sound prior) is the one the label pushes because its the familiar sound.

Sage is another example; "Gas Pedal" sonically is v. party and hard, but his album is full of v. moralistic tunes about not being promiscuous, rejecting drugs, all the things that seem like Sage is a goody two-shoes do gooder, which a genre like "ratchet" is something you wouldn't presume it can sustain.

im not one of these goody two shoes indie rock dudes who moan about the homophobia and sexism in rap without looking at the bigger picture. i dont like those elements, but hey, i can still like the music. but anyway, my point was just that i dont think ALL these songs are sexist or sleazy, and i def like a lot of songs that ARE those things, but the way a lot of these songs (which are big HITS) do it, its just lowest common denominator to me. im not so into 'bro R&B'. im not sure what it is exactly, its just a bit too cynically motivated. i was massively into 'paranoid' for example, but the sentiment is just kinda icky (or the somewhat humourless, tongue-firmly-removed-from-cheek way its written about at least is kinda icky, and actually quite obnoxious). i also just have problems with it being so mainstream. but thats another issue. hearing this kinda stuff on an underground hit is one thing. hearing it as top 40 pop is something else. im not into it.
 

rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
I prefer the RNB stuff to the ratchet rap, not cos I don't like the rap stuff but RNB ratchet is just a golden combination.

on one hand, im with you. show me, loyal, paranoid, the jeremiah stuff, and somebody etc are all just killer. but then, while i think a lot of mustards rap stuff seems to just go for 'hard' mode, the YG album was amazing. best mc/producer pairing in ages.
 

CrowleyHead

Well-known member
BTW Crowley do you think this sound has another year in it, as a dominant sound? I dunno if my perspective is bollocks cos I'm in the Uk but it seems like every few years a producer takes the lead and others run with it. I guess lex lugar would have been the previous guy, although his sound wasn't anywhere near as open to being used in pop/rnb music.

Seems like London on the Track is a big up and comer atm

I like London a lot. But I don't think he's going to be more significant than say Metro. These guys are beatmakers and I like 'em, but they aren't redefining anything. They're just very melodically led 'trap' producers.

Like you already said, the fact that its so accessible to the pop/R&B market with your Iggy Azaleas, your R&B artists... Do I think there's an expiration date? Yeah, the minute "Fancy" blew up that was definite because now you have non-rap producers experimenting with the sound in a way to guarantee pop success. Same with Janelle Monae's artist Jidenna. Its based in rap tropes and songwriting... But its a pop song through and through.

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So to get to what rubberdingyrapids was implying about the lowest common denominator type issues...

I don't want to get on a debate on the positives and negatives of all of the content in these songs. BUT there is definitely a growing cynicism.

With "Post To Be" for example... Jhene Aiko has not succeeded with her own dreamy 'weeded-out' post-Weeknd style, and sees Tinashe who prior to "2 On" had been doing similar styles, and now has commercial success by embracing rnbass.

Now, Tinashe's album is essentially 85% back to the style of her mixtapes. Really strong singing, songwriting and really diverse. More left-lane than a LOT of R&B today. UNFORTUNATELY, the single that the label has pushed, is of course, the lowest common denominator "ratchet" single by of all people, Stargate (who've done a ton of pop and occasional pop rap, if you've paid attention).

So while she's struggling to look like more than a one-hit wonder because the label doesn't have the confidence to boost singles that could diversify her fanbase, Aiko comes out on a song with Omarion and Chris Brown (which if you know Aiko's background, are practically her family. One of her cousins was in B2K, and she used to be managed by Chris Stokes along with Brown and Omarion). And Aiko, who used to be a sea of silly meandering songs about nothing, pirate ships photoshopped into her album covers, is now suddenly ceasing to be abstract and talking about "eat the booty like groceries" because she knows its memetic thanks to Kevin Gates IG antics.

There's def. a cynicism in the sound from the industry, and I think this will lead to the sub genre wrapping up within the next... year or so.

I think Mustard will survive, if he regroups and does a new style. The Invasion make a lot of "Bay Area Music", and P-Lo did a song for Flo-Rida that's basically his kind of music so they'll do OK. League Of Starz have always been more rap centric, so they'll be doing album tracks for their life.

My concern is that there's a whole 2nd, 3rd tier of artists who could get buried with the genre before they have a chance to develop and move past the style.
 

Pandiculate

Well-known member
what else would go with these beats tho, like sticking sage francis on zaytoven..

the only place i hear all this is in the gym on kiss, sat right next to all the recent uk house-pop. and this yt channel, which posts way too much to mantain a real level of quality...
https://www.youtube.com/user/rnbassmusic/videos

A lot of this music gets played at Your Mum's House, a weekly club night in Dalston. They take over XOYO occasionally as well, very popular.

Glad I helped kick off this thread, gonna digest it all while I'm 'working'
 

CrowleyHead

Well-known member
@rubberdingyrapids; Also, "Paranoid" isn't as overtly misog as people hype it to be. Yes, its there, but the whole point of it is that Ty's cheating ways are catching up to him (they enhance it a lot more in the video). He's not straight up glamorizing it as overtly as Chris' results. IMO.

But yeah, other gems...

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Best rapper in the scene right now is def. RJ though.

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Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Now the weather's getting about as close to LA as the UK gets, this stuff is really coming into its own. I was going to make a thread as a tribute to the angel sent from heaven DJ Mustard but I remembered this thread already exists and since it's his RNB stuff which really scales the Olympian heights...

Someone put on a Mustard RNB playlist this weekend and it just kept going and going, it's really quite amazing. I wonder how much input he has into the songwriting itself?

The latest one I've heard that's tickled my fancy

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Kieran Alleyne - Be Around (2015)
 
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