TIA: Over the last decade, one of the most notable additions to hip-hop has been Chicago’s
drill scene.
The dark undertones and murky sound of the genre left its mark thanks in part to producer
Young Chop.
Young Chop: Whatever I was doing, I was just making sure my craft was right. Making sure my beats was on point,
that I sounded as different as possible from anybody that was making beats at that time.
TIA: Along with other regional producers like the late Smylez and DJ L, Young Chop had a
huge role in bringing drill to the foreground of hip-hop.
And what attracted many fans to the genre was the production.
Young Chop: It's just like dark and um, sometimes melodic and happy and sometimes.
I don't know, it's just a variety of everything.
Young Chop: It all started with me lowering my shit, making my shit deeper and scarier, hit harder.
We brung the darker deep keys, when niggas was playing the C, we was playing the F and shit like that.
TIA: Part of what made Young Chop’s sound so unique were his signature beats, often
mixed with some piano to create an intricate melody, a skill he picked up early on in his career.
Young Chop: My lil brother had took piano lessons, that shit crazy, and he showed me the basics of that shit.
It was an older church lady she do that shit for real, showed me the basic shit I’m like, 'I got it.'
TIA: And of course, one of the most memorable parts of any Young Chop song is his producer tag.
Young Chop: I was just in the crib like damn I need a tag.
And then I got my lil’ cousin he was like I think 4 at the time, and I made him say it.
TIA: Many know Chop as the producer behind many of Chief Keef’s early hits, like “I Don’t Like.”
TIA: The pair rocketed into the national spotlight in late 2012 with the release of Chief Keef’s
debut studio album ‘Finally Rich,’ executive produced by Young Chop himself.
And the album’s intro, at the beginning of “Love Sosa” captured the listener’s
attention from the minute it starts, thanks a little nudge from an Interscope Records executive.
Young Chop: Me and Larry Jackson, when we were putting the album together...So Larry comes he "Why don't we put some skits in the video?”
I started going through interviews and stuff then I came across the video and I said I'm going to put this in front of "Love Sosa.”
TIA: And as for the rest of the song, according to Chop it just came together randomly one day in the studio.
Young Chop: I don't think we had a thought process, we were just in the studio one day, tired,
because we'd been in the studio working on the album for a whole two months.
Just working and all of a sudden I just was tapping on the beat...I didn't play nothing out,
I just typed it in and it just came out "Love Sosa.”
I wanted to make the album sound like an album,
and I ain't want it to sound like any album that was coming out of Chicago.
TIA: Besides a number of legendary tracks with Sosa, Chop has produced for everyone
from Big Sean to Kanye, and he’s also grabbed the mic himself.
Young Chop: Niggas be tryna stay hot forever. We can’t stay hot forever.
We gotta come in, do some different shit. That’s why I started rapping.
TIA: Chop’s dropped a number of solo projects over the years and
still makes sure to put on for other local rappers.
Young Chop: I'm working on a little project and I got a compilation album where I got all of your favorite rappers on there.
I ain't gon' say too many names.
I'm working on some new stuff with some Chicago rappers and stuff like that.
TIA: Since the birth of drill, other regions outside of Chicago,
from the UK to Brooklyn, NY have put their own spin on drill music,
and the genre’s blossomed into separate regional movements.
Like Brooklyn’s Sheff G….
Sheff G: Drill music been in the music but it’s just like how you tuning into it.
You see how everybody reacts to the music. They really fuck with it, it gives you a different type of feeling.
TIA: And the UK’s 67.
67: We’ve got a faster tempo and we did it with a faster rap.
This country at that time was loving Grime and this was like the new Grime.
And we come with our own slang that bare people start copying.
TIA: While there’s been the occasional back and forth about the drill pioneers,
there’s no denying Chicago and Young Chop’s role in the rise and the spread of drill music.
Young Chop: That was seven years ago when we did that though.
So now it’s come back with some DJ L drums with Young Chop melodies.
I rock with it though.
They know I'm The Godfather father father father father.
TIA: Young Chop’s legacy has been cemented in hip-hop as one of the most influential
producers of this generation, and he’s still innovating.
Young Chop: I just live in my own world. I don't be trying to fit in with what's going on.
I ain't trying to do none of that. Because I'm my own trendsetter. I already did. I trendsetted.
That's all you need to do, then everything else is gone' come.
'Cause whatever God got planned for you, he got planned for you.
TIA: I’m Tia with Genius News bringing you the meaning and the knowledge behind the music.