Well dear listener, this will be my final new musical post for a long time. I wanted to leave things off with a few pieces of phonk, which just so happens to be this pasty white man’s favorite subgenre of hip hop. Three years ago, after my divorce, I moved to Charlotte, NC and began to gradually immerse myself in music more native to the US South. Being a northerner for almost two decades exposed me to some GREAT music, especially because I lived and worked as a radio deejay in Boston, which you might say is something of a musical city. Charlotte is not a musical city, but the general vibe here is replete with a jazzier and bluesier sound that you can find around just about every corner. These days, I go to local jazz/blues clubs by myself nearly every month. Even though I’m one of the only white dudes sitting at the bar, I’ll just close my eyes at random intervals, bob my head, and enjoy the improvisational nature of the tunes because for some reason… they just make me feel something. It’s not like I can relate to every note or lyric, but southern style music makes me feel sad in a good way. It’s cathartic and feels like home to me, and the musicians always seem to understand not only how to play, but WHY the notes need to be played exactly the way they are executed. I was born in Louisiana, so I feel strangely attracted to influential music from this region. Living close to Memphis, TN also put me in direct touch with phonk.
I highly enjoy phonk for all the same reasons I enjoy jazz and blues. There's a distinctive sadness and darkness in this style of southern hip hop that appeals to some of my own masochistic personality traits. I enjoy the flow of the lyrics and the gloomy subject matter, as some of my favorite phonk tunes include themes of drug abuse, crime and murder. Since I’ve been living in North Carolina, phonk has become a worldwide phenomenon, with variations of it becoming insanely popular in countries like Russia, Turkey and Brazil. Not bad for small-time music that originally started out in rap venues and clubs in Tennessee. I recently and haphazardly discovered the excellent catalog of BXNFXM, which all three tunes in this set are from. Like most phonk artists, his identity is nearly totally obscure, preferring to concentrate on the quality of the music rather than his character. While doing research for this post I discovered he’s from Brazil, his real name is Felipe Bonfim and he’s a music producer. That’s all I need to know, because I came for the music, and not for another self-important and narcissistic modern musician that makes music not because they enjoy making it, but because they’re chasing after money and/or fame. Drift and wave phonk have a punchier, higher-beat-per-minute, and more aggressive sound than the chiller and slower phonk that I got used to on a local level. If you like trap music, which I do, you’ll feel very comfortable with this subgenre, as it is derived from some of the very same building blocks. Smash play on any of the three tracks installed on this post and enjoy, my dear listener.
Phonk tends to emphasize street racing, blood sports and anime in its music videos. I can’t believe how popular this stuff has become in just a few short years. Tell your friends about it, like I did here. It has been my pleasure to deliver some great music to Tumblr for the last half-decade! I'll likely be back with more in 2027!
