In the third decade of recorded rap, we are privy to the subtle and sometimes mysterious distillation of stylistic influence; we need not rely on a blatant rehashing of an old favorite’s concepts in order to fall in love with genre again. Elements of A Tribe Called Quest’s debut LP People Instinctive Travels and the Paths Of Rhythm have trickled into far-flung nooks and crannies of the rap world; my best guess is that The Neptunes and Kanye West have played a major role in this process post-2000. Rather than redraw every strand of the web of influence I will examine how PITPOR shaped the sound of certain groups in the 90s and then point to contemporary artists whose works are reminiscent of these developments.

PITPOR‘s enduring contribution to the art of rapping is the melding of a deceptively relaxed vocal presence with odd unexpected cadences and similarly eccentric lyrics. Q-Tip’s matching of this vocal style with drums tweaked to sound harder than even Paul C’s productions and a surprisingly melodic set of samples inspired Mobb Deep to craft their distinctive deliveries.¹ However, while Mobb Deep recited damnation narratives and darkened their sound² other groups that were likely inspired by PITPOR —namely K.M.D., The Future Sound,³ and UMCs— were less hesitant to incorporate joyous digression into their lyrics. (more…)

1. I expound on this argument, in far greater detail, here and here. [↩]
2. Arguably to the brink of self-parody. [↩]
3. I wrote a piece on their brilliant debut The Whole Shabang, and another piece about their song “The Function” and the decline of dancing of hip hop dancing after 1992 here. [↩]