| Chopper | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Hip hop |
| Cultural origins | Mid-1990s,Cleveland andChicago |
| Typical instruments | Vocals |
| Regional scenes | |
| Midwest hip hop | |
| Other topics | |
Chopper is ahip hop music subgenre that originated in theMidwestern United States and features fast-paced rhyming or rapping.[1][2] Those that rap in the style are known aschoppers, and rapping in the style is sometimes referred to aschopping. The style is one of the major forms of Midwest hip hop, though by the early 2000s, it had spread to other parts of the United States including California and New York City, and it has spread around the world since.
Chopper style places an emphasis on speed of pronunciation, and as such is commonly attributed to some of the fastest professional rappers, such asBone Thugs-N-Harmony,Mac Lethal,Twista,Big L,Tech N9ne,Twisted Insane,Busta Rhymes, Rebel XD,Krizz Kaliko,George Watsky,Jaz-O, andEminem.[3] Vocalist Oli Peters of thetech-death bandArchspire is also heavily influenced by this style.[4]
The word "chopper" was first used in street and hip hop slang to refer to anautomatic firearm. The word has also been used as an informal word forhelicopter. The linkage to automatic firearms and helicopters are the rapid "tat-tat-tat" sound they make. This may have an analogous relation to fast-paced rap. One of the first rappers who popularized this style of rap,Twista, in a song withTech N9ne entitled "Worldwide Choppers" implied this in his lyrics, "I'm finna be usin' it as energy, watch how radiant I'ma be / Like a helicopter when the words fly"[5] was used to loosely describe the style of fast-paced rap, but the usage of the term was made more widespread when rap artist Tech N9ne released a series ofposse cuts with other chopper-style rap artists from around the world in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2015 including "Midwest Choppers" and "Midwest Choppers 2", "Worldwide Choppers" and "Speedom (Worldwide Choppers 2)".[6] The trend of naming songs in this fashion spread, with examples such as DCVDNS & Tamas's track "German Choppers"[7] and theUndaground Choppers series produced by DJ Lil Sprite, which currently includes ten installments.[8]
The word "chopper" can simply be used for any rapper that uses a fast-paced style in their lyrics.[9] The word is also used as a verb, as in "chopping" or "to chop", in describing the action of rapping at high speeds.[5]
Chopper rap is typically characterised by the inclusion of twice or three times as many syllables to each bar and line as would be found in most other forms of rap. Sophisticated rhyme schemes are also an important element of the style. The inclusion of two or three times as many syllables in the bars causes the lyrics to be described as being in "double-time" or "triple-time".[10] The beattempo of chopper songs, particularly from the Midwest, tends to range from 90 BPM to 180 BPM, a much higher range than most other rap genres.[1] Maintaining the quality of lyrics in terms of rhyming and substance while increasing speed of delivery is one of the key aspects of the style.[3][11]
The term "chopper" does not imply any thematic characteristics, and songs in the style touch on a wide range of subjects. One subgenre chopper rappers often cross into ishorrorcore, seen in Tech N9ne's "Am I a Psycho?" featuringHopsin andB.o.B[12] or the rapperTwisted Insane's albums.[13] Midwest rapperProzak explained that the style often revolves around "dark beats and lyrics" in the DVDThe Hitchcock of HipHop.[1]
Although the subgenre of chopper-style hip hop did not achieve broad mainstream appeal until the early–mid 1990s through artists such asBone Thugs-n-Harmony andTwista, the style has been around for decades. The first group to rap at high speeds on record were theTreacherous Three with the release of "New Rap Language" in 1980.[10][14] Throughout the lyrics of the song, memberKool Moe Dee is referred to as the originator of the fast style:
For MCs who bite
The fast-talking rhymes
They're gonna feast
So get ready to eat
Moe Dee's the originator
So you might as well starve
Cause you can't catch this fast beat(Hit it, Moe)
Kool Moe Dee went on a year later to use one of the verses of "New Rap Language" against Busy Bee in a New York rap battle in 1981.[16]
The style of rapping fast was also popular with Jamaican rappers in the early 1980s with releases byDaddy Freddy ("Joker Lover"),[17]Shinehead ("Rough and Rugged") and Peter King ("Me Neat, Me Sweet").[18]
In the 1990s, the style spread to theWest Coast, with artists at "The Good Life" such as Ellay Khule,Freestyle Fellowship, CVE, Riddlore, Chubb Rock, Mikah 9 and many otherProject Blowed affiliates adopting the style.[19][20]
Although the style of rapping at high speeds had existed in bothEast Coast hip hop andWest Coast hip hop as well as abroad, it was not until the 1990s that chopper rap began to emerge as a distinct and popular form of hip-hop.The Dayton Family andTwista were active in the Midwest in the early 1990s[21][22] and developed the use of chopper rapping as their main style. This ushered in a wave of chopper acts from the Midwest that began to receive attention, such as Twista in Chicago and the groupBone Thugs-n-Harmony fromCleveland.[3] Bone Thugs-n-Harmony signed toEazy-E'sRuthless Records in 1993[23] and their 1994EPCreepin on ah Come Up reached No. 12 on theBillboard 200 charts. Their next albumsE. 1999 Eternal (1995) andThe Art of War (1997) both reached No. 1 on theBillboard 200 chart[24] and also produced the 1996 single "Tha Crossroads" which reached No. 1 on theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart.[25] This success helped to popularize the chopper style across the United States and beyond.[2] During this period, many other rappers in the Midwest that would go on to become highly successful began their rapping careers as underground artists releasing songs in the chopper style, such asEminem[10] andTech N9ne.[26]
At the same time Twista and The Dayton Family were popularising the style in the Midwest, New York emceeJaz-O (also known at the time as The Jaz) was using the fast-paced chopper rap style in his music,[3] releasing his debut albumWord to the Jaz in 1989 andTo Your Soul in 1990.[27] Jaz-O was the mentor of the then-unknownJay-Z, and these albums included the first songs Jay-Z was ever on, "Hawaiian Sophie" and "The Originators". In this way Jay-Z began his career in the chopper style of rap before moving into slower forms, and in the liner notes ofVol. 2... Hard Knock Life he describes this, saying of "The Originators" that "we was using that fast style that everybody seems to be using now".[28][29]Vol 2... Hard Knock Life also included the single "Nigga What, Nigga Who (Originator 99)" as a sequel to their previous chopper-style collaboration.[30] Also active in New York in the late 1990s was Latino rapperBig Pun, who was known for his fast-paced, witty lyrics and ability to rap for long periods of time without taking a breath,[31][32] very much in the manner of the chopper style.[3]
In 1999,Missouri rapperTech N9ne and his business partner Travis O'Guin founded the independent record labelStrange Music.[33]Anghellic, Tech N9ne's first album released through Strange Music, sold 278,000 copies and marked his breakthrough from an underground artist to a commercial success.[34] He continued to release albums on the independent label regularly, with six further albums in the 2000s alone, and became established as one of the major chopper artists.[35] His "Tech N9ne Collabos" series, so far consisting of eight albums released between 2007 and 2017, is a collection of albums featuring other artists on every track, through which Tech N9ne has introduced a wide range of artists to his substantial fanbase. The albums include collaborations from fellow Strange Music artists such asKrizz Kaliko,Yukmouth andKutt Calhoun; as well as other chopper rappers, other rappers who do not normally rap in chopper style, and some rock artists.[6][36] Due largely to the success of Tech N9ne's career, Strange Music has become a major independent record label and hosts a sizeableroster of artists including many in the chopper genre.
The 2000s also saw mainstream success come for some of the earliest choppers. Twista's fourth studio album,Kamikaze, topped theBillboard 200 chart in 2004, and his next three albums all reached the chart's top 10.[37] Bone Thugs-n-Harmony released five albums from 2000 to 2010, all of which charted in the top 50 positions of theBillboard 200.[24] Throughout the 1990s, New York rapperBusta Rhymes had been creating music, first as a part of the groupLeaders of the New School from 1989 to 1993 and then as a solo artist from then onwards.[38] Beginning with his 1998 albumExtinction Level Event: The Final World Front he began to rap at faster speeds on some songs, and throughout the time since then he has incorporated chopper-style rapping on several of his successful tracks, such as 2001's "Break Ya Neck"[39] and his guest verse on Tech N9ne's 2011 single "Worldwide Choppers",[5] leading many to consider Busta Rhymes a chopper rapper.[3] Rhymes' music was highly successful throughout the 2000s,[40] and his unorthodox style is considered by some to be one of the most significant developments in the style in recent times.[39]
The 21st century has seen chopper rap spread from its roots in the Midwest and in New York around the world of hip hop. In theSouth, rappers such asChamillionaire andYelawolf have used the style,[3] while on the West Coast rappers such asSan Diego-born rapperTwisted Insane andSnow Tha Product from San Jose regularly rap in the chopper style.[13] The style has also spread to Europe, with Danish rapperU$O and Turkish rapperCeza both featuring on Tech N9ne's aforementioned single "Worldwide Choppers", and particularly to Germany.[10] German rappers such asSamy Deluxe,Olli Banjo [de],Kollegah,Hollywood Hank [de],DCVDNS [de][10] andSchwartz [de].ShimmyMC [de] featured American choppers Twisted Insane andWrekonize on his single "Thron".[41] The style has also been adopted in Asia, withKorean rapperOutsider being known for his very high speeds rapping in theKorean language.[42]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Amongst the many rappers, Outsider distinguishes himself! He can go through 21 syllables per second, and his rap is the result of hard practice.
