The Sacramento-based experimental hip-hop group, Death Grips consists of members: Stefan Burnett (aka MC Ride), Zach Hill, and Andy Morin. Death Grips’ 2015 track, On GP comes from the trio’s 2015 two-disc album The Powers That B.

The track opens with a wailing lead guitar, reminiscent of sounds heard from early rock. Soon after, we hear Zach Hill on the drums producing short, quick beats with the similar sounds of guitar wailing layered beneath. MC Ride shouts aggressive, seemingly out of breath lyrics with fast tempo drumming backing him. The instruments frequently clash together within these 6 minutes to create noise in an exaggerated way. Approaching 1:30 mark, MC Ride’s abrasive rapping style fades out with the use of an echoing effect. We then hear a haunting organ piece which cuts into the former guitar and drum beat at a slower tempo. Parallel to the slower tempo, the vocal delivery is clearer and it becomes easier to decipher the lyrics.

MC Ride’s vocal delivery is equally as abrasive and loud as all the other material that Death Grips has released, however On GP can be considered one of their more depressing songs, with regards to its lyrical content. On this track, there are” …lyrics—about ropes and hangings, boredom and psychosis, annoyance and exits—are more grim than usual…” (Currin, “On GP”). Drawing towards the end of the track, MC Ride’s rapping morphs into a robotic chant via pitched down vocals, which adds more distortion to the vocals. The track ends off abruptly which serves as an interesting transition into the last song of the album, Death Grips 2.0, an instrumental track which opens with static and heavy thumping beats.

The style of experimental hip-hop is relatively new. Williams describes it as “… a broad range of electronic dance music styles, not tied down to a single geographic origin, and – as the variety of names suggests – always changing.” (281) The origin of this style of hip-hop is thought of to be “…during hip hop's "golden age",which is usually cited as between the mid 1980s and the mid 1990s and said to be characterized by its diversity, quality, innovation and influence. This was a time during which everything was experimental and new. “ (World Heritage Encyclopedia, “Experimental Hip Hop) Experimental hip hop can sound extremely different and it can be hard to define a song as belonging to the style. Although, the common core element is hip-hop the rest of the elements of the song may be sampled from reggae, rock, jazz, etc. Within experimental hip hop there are a few subgenres such as “avanthop, left-field hip hop, cloud rap, and psychedelic hip hop” (World Heritage Encyclopedia, “Experimental Hip Hop).

Death Grips usually performs in more intimate venues and for an audience that is made up of older teens to young adults. The smaller venues create a more intimate and packed environment that matches with the angry, loud music that Death Grips performs. The atmosphere of one of their shows could be compared to one of a punk show where moshing and head banging are often observed.

Following in the steps of their previous work, On GP and the whole Jenny Death album “… nods to Death Grips’ more conventional rock influences, but it’s in no way trying to pander to a rock audience.” (O’Connor, “Jenny Death”) Due to the eclectic nature of the style of experimental hip hop, Death Grips can appeal to any audience. Their presence is rather polarizing due to their sensitive lyrical content and graphic content in music videos and album artwork. On GP, specifically is associated with hints of experimental hip hop and punk rock. The most important element of hip-hop is the rapping and melodic beats that accompanies it. The style of experimental hip-hop has incorporated elements such as synths, an emphasis on more energetic, sometimes sporadic drumming, and the addition of a melodic guitar riff.

With their past albums being described as a “corrosive, cyber-grinding, electroshock scream-therapy sesh…” (Weingarten, “Artist of the Year: Death Grips”), there is no doubt that Death Grips’ intense and vociferous music creates an affective overdrive within its audience. The aggressive lyrical content often influences listeners to use their music as a form of catharsis. Their audience during their concerts can often be seen aggressively moshing and pumping their hands into the air to the erratic beats. Members of the audience often contort their bodies to dance in time to their carnivalesque performance.

Hip-hop has been a used as a platform for many artists to bring awareness to the issues of society such as economic inequality, racism, religion, and violence. In the 80s, many artists used hip-hip to bring light to the violence towards blacks. Hip-hop artist, Public Enemy ”… coined the term ‘political hip-hop’” (Barrett, “Hip Hop: A Hipstory”). To make the issues more accessible to others, hip-hop artists began to mix melodic beats with black history to reach a wider audience.

Hardcore hip-hop fans may not readily accept Death Grips’ approach to the musical style. With the emergence of experimental hip-hop, the sound began to change and the traditional fast rapping and booming beats of hip-hop has been distorted with synths, loud, pulsing drums, and the messy clash of sounds reminiscent of noise music. Hip-hop’s affective overdrive is about expressing emotions one’s life, struggles, and relationships. The unique thing about hip-hop is that its core element (rapping) is extremely accessible, which is partly what makes it so popular. As hip-hop continues to transform and different styles are created, the core of hip-hop will always be maintained and the values are associated with the style will continue to exist.

Bibliography

Barrett, Sofia. “Hip Hop: A Hipstory.” FOLD,

     https://fold.cm/read/sofiabarrett/hip-hop-a-hipstory-LidwhXs9

Currin, Grayson Haver. “On GP.” Pitchfork,

     http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/17379-death-grips-on-gp/

O’Connor, Andy. “Jenny Death.” Pitchfork,

     http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20451-jenny-death/

Weingarten, Christopher R. “Artist of the Year: Death Grips.” SPIN,

     http://www.spin.com/2012/11/death-grips-artist-year-2012-no-love-deep-web/

Williams, Justin A., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Hip-Hop.

     Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015.

     GoogleBooks. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.

World Heritage Encyclopedia. “Experimental Hip Hip.” Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing Press,