Memphis Sample Rap
tagStarted 2014Peak 2016-2020Last big hit still activeFrom Memphis, United States
Located in 1 route
Modern producers chopping vintage Memphis cassette vocals and 808 patterns into new beats. Dusty, pitched-down acapella snippets from 90s tapes loop over crunchy sub-bass and lo-fi drums, the source rappers' menace preserved but recontextualized. Sits between homage and collage — the SoundCloud-era bridge that turned raw Memphis archives into a global template.
History
Around 2014-2017, SoundCloud producers like DJ Smokey, Soudiere and the DoomShop / Purple Posse circles dug into 90s Memphis bootlegs, sampling Tommy Wright III, Lord Infamous and DJ Spanish Fly directly. This sample-driven revivalism gave the genre its name and aesthetic, feeding straight into rare, drift and gym phonk that followed.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonk
- https://splice.com/blog/what-is-phonk-music/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ_Yung_Vamp
- https://medium.com/@agpzoe/influential-artists-in-the-phonk-music-scene-57eb11ae9bd8