Tag Archives: Ratchet

9 Songs to Slow Down on a Ratchet Weekend

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Written by David Turner (@dalatudalatu)

The obvious term is “Ratchet & B.” That’s what Jeff Weiss coined talking about TeeFlii early last year, when his mix of YG raunch and The-Dream’s slyness sounded a bit more unique if not wholly original. A year later: TeeFlii is on a major label, Ty$ got his own Top 40 hit and the minimalist Cali sound that seemed so limited before has found its way across the country. History is usually not too kind to forced genre names—reveals “Witch House” tattoo—but “Ratchet & B” feel right for these strip club, sex obsessed tunes that beg for summer sun after this polar-vortexed winter.

“2 AM (Young California Remix)” – Adrian Marcel (feat. Problem & Sage the Gemini): Problem and Sage the Gemini are two guys whose careers could easily subsist on R&B singles and being those “California Ratchet Guys.” Not that they haven’t created excellent music on their own, but their respective personas only need 16 bars to shine. This “2 AM” remix from the young singer Adrian Marcel proves this fact, because while I’ve been told that Marcel is one to lookout for, the late-night minimalism here fits effortless rapping far too well. And, I’ll admit this might just be myself, but there is a very “Chill Out” vibe to “2 AM” that almost hints at Owl City, which a place I never thought I’d desire R&B to approach.


“2 On” – Tinashe (feat. Schoolboy Q): To keep chucking up 2s, here is Tinashe’s “2 On” with a sadly leaned out Schoolboy Q. But no amount of mediocre rapping can hold back this immaculate single. DJ Mustard’s production and Tinashe’s suave recall less Cassie’s “Me & U,” but one of Diddy’s late 2000s singles which had a sonic tinge of one too many shots of Ciroc. But, Tinashe isn’t dealing with love lost, she’s faded with her clique on a mission and DJ Mustard and Schoolboy Q are just buzzed along for the ride.


“24 Hours” – TeeFlii (feat. 2 Chainz): The good and bad column for TeeFlii is pretty even. On the Pro-side is that hooks practically form from him just saying any phrase; on the Negative-side is that he leans on repeating certain words (“Annie”) to a point of obnoxious meaninglessness. “24 Hours” leans on his strength, where nearly every line could be its own hook and it doesn’t hurt DJ Mustard’s beat is only a side-step away from his biggest 2014 hit “Show Me.” And just in case future radio listeners want to be even more confused by this potential hit, 2 Chainz verse regurgitates a number of lines from previous songs. Ratchets don’t need originality.


“Do It To Ya” – YG (feat. TeeFlii): The way that 2010s rap has started to cannibalize its own history could be a cause for concern for the genre that traditionally treats history as an unwanted used napkin but that isn’t the case here. DJ Mustard swiping The Dogg Pound’s “Let’s Play House,” reduces down the song to just a few piano chord and snaps to distinguish it from the suave of the original. And while TeeFlii might have the unfortunate task of repeating “do it to ya,” YG even on his major label debut remains a going down first kind of nigga. *praying hands emoji*


“Drop It” – Trevor Jackson (feat. B.o.B.): This is probably the least “R&B” song on this list and honestly fits closer to the more party oriented Ratchet songs I discussed a couple months ago. “Drop It” doesn’t have the personality of “Paranoid,” the fucking perfect sample of “Show Me,” or even the star-studdedness—Chris Brown and Lil Wayne—of “Loyal,” B.o.B. doesn’t count. But, Trevor Jackson, again could there be a less star-ready name, has an effective song though not thrilling song that unfortunately cannot keep up with its sonic brethren on the radio right now.


“Na Na” – Trey Songz: There are a number of sonic tics that give away a DJ Mustard song. The “Ha” chants, the drums, the way that the subject matter seems to be invoking a strip club no matter the artist. Not that Trey Songz hasn’t relished a kind of Post-R. Kelly kind of sleaze (see: every time attempts to rap), it’s just that with a Mustard beat everything gets an intentional, or maybe not, layer of grime. The song isn’t a great Mustard or Songz single, but it’s an interesting show of form in just how malleable a singer and a producer can be for a specific sonic moment.


“Or Nah” – Ty$ (feat. Wiz Khalifa & DJ Mustard): Ty$ already has a one Top 40 single with the insta-classic “Paranoid.” “Or Nah” doesn’t have the immediate narrative conceit that makes “Paranoid” so repeatable even after one knows “that having two bitches in the club” cannot be a good idea. Instead the song leans on the other strength of Ty$ as a songwriter is that he understands how is voice can linger to string out a song’s hook. The song takes on a smoked-out conversation where our narrator is either talking to a woman, or maybe just himself, once he asks a question like “you gonna make these eggs cheesy or nah?”


“Slide Through” – Rayven Justice: First off shout to site owner and untouchable random regional hit finder, David Drake with mentioning this over at Complex last week. Somewhere between an YG mixtape deep cut and John Hart’s “Who Booty,” this song again shows the kind of amped up bro-ness of these “Ratchet & B” songs. A hook that interpolates C-Murder’s “My Niggas,” which has become an almost foundational text for this current rap generation, and a silk smooth beat makes this worth every listen after the first two dozen.

 

“$nitches” – Lupe Fiasco (feat. Ty$): Lupe Fiasco at one point rapped on a major label rap album from the perspective of a hamburger. Though Fiasco has been a strong rapper for over a decade and his sneaky ear for pop hooks, which he and others would likely deny, has been lose recently with him too caught up in his own #twitterdeep thoughts. “$nitches” isn’t a Rashomon like tale of black love instead it’s a 5pm three drinks deep convo amongst the bros talking shit and scheming about the opposite sex. Uplifting or conscious-minded this isn’t. Enjoy the Cali weed, a cold Lime-a-rita while relaxing with those closest to ya.

King Ratchet :YG’s “My Krazy Life”

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Written by Maxwell Caveseno

Somewhere in the apocalyptic seas of violence on Worldstar, a clip exists of an YG show from a few years back in San Diego. The clip consists of brief moments of the rapper performing, then him and his team square off against a group of gangbangers in the audience. Then chairs, stun guns, human bodies and the gold towers for the velvet rope at the club’s entrance are being flung around with casual abandon. It was something out of some video game that sold 5 billion copies so kids could just blow shit up for hours, eloquences about such things are hard to maintain. Thankfully, Keenan Jackson doesn’t suffer this plight.

My Krazy Life practically defies any expectations about people’s perceptions of the former jerk rapper turned godfather of the “Ratchet,” because the devils in the details here and the details are in devilishment. Not since Flockavelli has there been an album so densely populated with violence, and it’s hard recall a modern street rapper so determined to paint such a vivid bloody picture. Here YG serves the goal of past Los Angeles “dumb angels” such as Brian Wilson: to provide the voice of those who aren’t so likeable and precocious as world-weary traveler and prodigy Kendrick Lamar. If Kendrick’s good kid, m.a.A.d. city served as a sort of Ulysses for Los Angeles, this would probably be its Ham On Rye. Self-centered, arrogant, stripped down, obnoxious, yet above all: Commanding.

The album is littered with these hyper-detailed moments of violence. On “BPT” YG describes his initiation into the Treetop Piru’s by beating down someone and recalling how “The haymaker didn’t connect,” and how he restrained himself from stomping his opponent out “cause that’s disrespect.” Or the carelessly offhand way he alludes to masturbating in the county jail on “Bicken Back Being Bool.” For once, it seems his lyrics have finally caught up to the way his voice used to awkwardly squeak and glitch-out through those bass-heavy tunnels in his teenaged attempts of emulating Lil Wayne’s drug-induced robotic tics on early tracks such as “Still Popping” him in a digitaldripped.com/Myspace Profile Player staple. He just casually careens along on a daredevil path; spasmodically dropping stray loose information like it’s nothing.

And the information is necessary; for the most part, YG’s discography up to now has suffered mostly from a lack of personality. But this time Jackson is out here putting everything on display, such as his struggle to heal the wounds of betrayal on “Me & My Bitch,” or his fraught relationship with his mother on “Sorry Mama.” Despite consistently being written off as unintelligent or incapable by most of rap’s critical consensus, he’s able to speak for a whole subset of rap that rarely commit to such detailed step-by-step portrayals of what makes a person turn out the way Keenan Jackson has. The bizarre paradox of “Meet the Flockers,” where YG informs listeners to prey on the Asian community for better odds, while boldly comforting anybody who’s ever had to break and enter into a household to stay afloat is problematic as hell. But at least someone who’s been there is trying to speak on their behalf. Rap has too many rich kids trying to be voices of their generation, and maybe some of the casualties of places like Compton, Chicago, or anywhere else where life becomes desperate deserve the right to affirm their existence.

Def Jam proposed that My Krazy Life is going to be the next The Chronic for Los Angeles. It’s a pretty fair comparison; the Drake assisted “Who Do You Love,” “Left, Right” and “My Nigga” are all massive bangers, with DJ Mustard’s fully-realized sound finally shoving YG out of the limited kingdom of L.A. radio rap and unleashing him onto the nation. It has the sonic potential for him to remain in the chronology of rap the way that those early 90s West Coast classics linger around after decades, enthralling legions of listeners. The storyline is fascinating and direct, the beats are heavy and evocative. At one point, some unidentified DJ, perhaps Mustard, transforms an old school rap staple sample via Eugene McDaniels into a mass of poltergeist triplets screaming to get out.

But I’d defer that, heretically enough, My Krazy Life is more like a West Coast version of The College Dropout. The rare moment a rapper takes the time to document all the details to humanize the people left behind in a way that’s so artistically powerful, hopefully even those who are miles away from such a life may gain a chance to have their eyes forced upon such a life. It is arguably the finest debut from a West Coast rapper in over a decade—yes, even against THAT ALBUM—and it is true marvel to watch YG deliver after so many years of promise, work and dedication.

#400

Passion of the Weiss & So Many Shrimp Present: Krazy (A YG Primer Mix)

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Post by Maxwell Caveseno & Son Raw (@SonRaw) 

YG_KRAZY_cover_small

It’s been roughly 6-7 years since YG burst on the rap scene. He’s survived two trends/sub-genres coming and going, been incarcerated, and lived a life that the average rap fan fantasizes about. Throughout those years, he’s remained an underground phenomenon, beloved in Los Angeles but only known for one novelty single outside the city of Angels. Today, Passion of the Weiss and So Many Shrimp are here to change that with Krazy: A YG Primer -mixed and selected by Son Raw and compiled and inspired by Maxwell Cavaseno.

With YG’s debut album FINALLY  unleashed on the public, we figured it would be beneficial for everyone to take a look back at the rise of this West Coast star. From his early jerk-era oddities, to the loose ends of his mixtape campaign, to the recent hits that have helped finally convince Def Jam that their initial investment on the “Toot It And Boot It” kid was actually a smart one. There’s DJ Mustard, there’s gang bangin’ on wax. In short, there’s everything that makes West Coast Gangsta rap worth listening to in 2014.

Download: Link

Stream:

Track Listing:

Travis Porter (feat. YG) – Yo Bitch

YG (feat. Lil Wayne, Meek Mill, Nicki Minaj & Rich Homie Quan) – My Nigga (Remix)

YG (feat. Ty$) – Pop Painkillaz

YG – Bad Bitch

YG (feat. Meek Mill) – I’mma Thug

YG – Fucked Up

YG (feat. Tory Lanez) – On The Set

YG – Do It With My Tongue

YG – Bompton

YG – Left, Right

YG (feat. TeeCee 4800) – Keenan Jackson

YG (feat. Drakk) – Who Do You Love

YG – I’m A Real One

DJ Mustard (feat. Joe Moses & YG) – Burn Rubber

YG (feat. Dom Kennedy & Joe Moses) – This Yick

Iamsu! (feat. YG) – Igloo

YG – Just Broke Up

E-40 (feat. Problem, YG & Iamsu!) – Function

YG (feat. Ty$) – I’ll Do Ya

Young Jeezy & YG – U.O.E.N.O. (Remix)

YG  (feat. Riko & Reem Riches)- Westside 4 Fingaz

YG – All Fly Shit

YG (feat. Charley Hood & Ray J) – No Sleep

YG – This Year

YG – Riding Like Me

Yiken in the Bay

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Written by Maxwell Cavaseno (Tumbls here)

Corny as it seems dancing is still one of the main elements of hip-hop, even in 2014. To be honest nobody except highly proficient Japanese cyborgs or ridiculously enthusiastic teutonic kids still getting buzzed off of Red Bull sponsored TRU MC hosted tournaments of B-Boy standard technique gives a damn about “breakdancing.” And why should they? Hip-Hop is the world’s most rapidly developing musical virus, and every other year they throw out a new dance style, or five, to fuck us up, both in the head and the ankles. And sometimes it’s married to a specific sound/genre, sometimes just something to do. In the current year alone, we’re dealing with the nascent steps of “Bop” out of Chicago, the “Nae Nae” out of Atlanta, and least heralded, but nonetheless interesting to watch, the Bay Area’s latest style: Yiken.

Physically, Yiken itself is basically the human centipede of dances; conjoinment and following the leader is everything. In this case, the leader is usually a young woman, thankfully blessed with something for her partner, the young man, to follow. Bent over and swaying, she proceeds to perform a snake-charming slow swish, which her dance partner follows with his own hips. The end result is a dance that is almost like a smoother, slippery version of “jacking,” or a soft grinding ride when contrasted to the pummeling daredevil antics of “daggering.” It’s also realistic to assume that somewhere in California this dance is causing one young man to sock another in the mouth for taking liberties with a young woman, in the age old saga of adolescent hormones and enthusiasm colliding with dance. Ah, to be young.

But when it comes to dances in rap, there’s usually always a strain of rap following around. Jerk had New Boyz, Snap had D4L, and for Yiken, we have faces that are actually already pretty familiar. Right now the dominating voice of most Yiken videos and parties might just be the post-hyphy hitmaking phenomenon of last year, Sage the Gemini. Obviously his older gems such as “Red Nose” and “Gas Pedal” still gain mileage, but specifically doing rising damage is the late blossoming of his friend and associate D-Mac. Produced by Sage and additionally featuring him on the hook, as well as C.F.O.P.A staple Show Banga, “Panoramic” is a riptide of bass-weight. Armed with Sage’s depth charge kicks and ear-snatching robotic baritone, D-Mac peels out bars gleefully, sounding like an overenthusiastic nerd calculating the algorithms to finally get a girl in bed. In the video, rappers are typically giddy and goofy, while dancers wear the movement’s motto on their chest with “Yike Or Die” shirts.

The motto’s owner, and the other main administrator of Yiken in trying to take it from Bay Area rap craze to semi-movement, is Priceless Da Roc. Once a post-hyphy rapper known for raunch, hard beats and nimble flows “Yiken” finds him in the same musical milieu. However, gone is the overexertion of older songs like “Face Get Blue” to a more slinky and cautious sounds that still manages to rattle trunks and eardrums with ease. Other names building up steam are Chonkie F Tutz, 99 Percent, and C2Saucy, amongst others. And while trying to pin it down to a true “signature sound” is incredibly difficult, the general wave of talented and enthusiastic youth signifies yet another burst of innovation just waiting to realize their potential.

So, how does a niche California rap scene sustain itself? Like anyone else in the current rap climate, the internet serves as an oasis in the information desert. Scene figures Priceless, Ms.#GetItIndy & DJ J12 promote endlessly via Youtube videos showcasing new dance moves, songs, and generally enjoying themselves. However, in a true amount of foresight, these groups have extended their movement into a touring crew who demonstrate and celebrate with people all over the west coast. Slowly but surely, the gospel of the Yike is being preached across America, and it seems only a matter of time before we see just how long this dance lingers around in the hearts and minds of all.

Disney Meets Ratchet

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Written by David Turner (@dalatudalatu)

I’d first like to thank Max for pointing out to this song over a month ago and knowing it’d be something I’d absolutely love. Zendaya is a Disney child star from TV shows I’ve neither heard of/seen, but in the last few months she got a minor pop hit with “Replay.” A kind of out there single with a video that starts like Cassie’s “U and Me,” and musically becomes a loopy off-kilter Dubstep song, which sounds like a Purple-Era Joker track.

“Replay” was the opener for her self-titled debut album and the album’s closer “My Baby” comes from an entirely different sonic planet. Produced by NicNac, the guy behind Chris Brown’s “Loyal,” Sean Kingston’s “Beat It,” and most of Bobby Brackins’ mixtape, Maxwell Park, from last year. NicNac and DJ Mustard share some stylistic traits with both finding success very California party tracks—see here for Mustard’s wild party side. The main differentiation between the two is that were Mustard stresses minimalism, NicNac allows the disparate sonic elements to remain within the track instead of trying to pair them down. The original “My Baby” is great and hopefully has/will find its way on to radio once temperatures heat up, but Max specifically pointed out the track’s remix. This remix line-up is a personal Ratchet dream team of Ty$, Bobby Brackins and Iamsu!. Taken individually the additional verses aren’t great, but as a sum total of a great beat, a nice hook and drunk-on-love verses from my favorite California dudes, it makes for a great Pop-now-turned-Rap song.

Enough Mustard for a House Party

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Written by David Turner (@dalatudalatu)

Not to focus too much on DJ Mustard, but no one, not even Mike Will Made It, has the rap and R&B world so wound up a single producer’s sound. The reason for Mustard’s dominance is that it isn’t based around one style. The post-“Rack City” sound that he was self-repeating has shifted into something less “Ratchet,” and morphed into a surprising variety of styles. Not that DJ Mustard hasn’t sold rappers 300 different slight variations of “Rack City,” but his Ketchup tape and YG’s Just Re’d Up 2 showed just how far he had come in a year. His styles have splintered into: G-Funk-meets-Ratchet (“Im 4rm Bompton”), 90s sampling R&B tracks (“I Wanna B Down”), Atlanta backyard grillin’ anthems (“Up and Down” and “Headband”) and he’s even found a less rigidly defined niche with his Ty$ single “Paranoid.”

That particular strain of Mustard is what I wanted to focus on here. “Paranoid” is my favorite song of 2013, 2014 and I’ll just give it a three-peat and include 2015. Sing it at home, blast it on the radio and mention it whenever #music appears in a conversation. Ty$’s story of paranoid love is far too relatable, not as art imitating a listener’s life, but more for its overly detailed and thought-out concerns in mattes of love. #sorrynotsorry I’ve enjoyed the song since it first appeared on Ketchup last summer but regarded it as a one off oddity then appeared “Show Me”. The now more popular single by Kid Ink featuring Chris Brown, in the role of TeeFlii, has climbed up the Hot 100 chart and into my heart. A blatant self-bite of “Paranoid,” but production wise, at least, it showed improvement with a Robyn S. “Show My Love” sample. The great 90s Pop-House classic is stripped down to a few choice piano plucks and placed in the same musical skeleton as “Paranoid,” and the answer of what “what does heaven sound like?” finally has a proper answer.

But two songs doesn’t make a trend, which goddamnit this site is about trends, so throw in a Flo Rida’s track with August Alsina called “Rear View” and a Chris Brown song called “Loyalty,” which is either by DJ Mustard, or someone very on point in copying this peculiar style, to pass the minimum of three being enough for a trend claim. The exact “style” was tricky to describe at first, but hearing all of these songs together highlighted their shared sonic seams. Mustard’s production on YG’s hit “My Nigga” certainly helped the minimal gangster track prosper on the social media site on Vine, because the song worked perfectly as a 6 second loop (“My Nigga My Nigga”). “Paranoid” and “Show Me,” even more so are songs that have a simple to remember Vine-able melody. The songs in this context sound like “Pop” takes on the Mustard’s usually more street leaning records and that slight target shift has made perfect records for car drives and all turn-up related functions.

Top 20 Ratchet Songs of 2013

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Written by David Turner (@dalatudalatu)

Welcome back to So Many Shrimp. We’ve missed you gals and guys. I’m David Turner, not Chief Keef biographer and Complex writer David Drake, and I’ll be leading this ship into 2014. To start off, I was just posting a brief life of my personal favorite “Ratchet” songs of 2013. And just because, I know commentors will say “That’s from the Bay not LA!” or “‘Paranoid’ is an R&B song not Rap.” My general rule for “Ratchet,” those quotes could be used more tepidly, is if a track is done in a Post-Snap/Post-Jerk minimal style or have some kind of connection to the state of California it is “Ratchet (Rap Genre),” if not also “Ratchet (Adjective).”

20. “Team Up” – Problem

Gonna start off with a mixtape #deepcut, cause why else do an internet list. Problem’s The Separation was a really strong summer tape, but I’d understand if no one talked about it enough. It isn’t “weird,” “exciting,” “sad,” or whatever buzzword that SEO rap writers needs to give a rapper proper coverage. Whatever, “One on One You Ain’t Fucking With Me.” Preach Pastor Problem Preach.

19. “On Citas” – Iamsu! (Keak Da Sneak & Mastah F.A.B.)

Iamsu! and the Heartbreak Gang released a lot, A LOT, of music in 2013. Some of it good (Jay Ant’s Blue Money), some of it bad (that HBK Gang full group project), but most of it forgettable (Su’s own Kilt 2). “On Citas” stood above the rest of Kilt 2 by sticking to his Bay roots alongside Keak Da Sneak and Mastah F.A.B. by making an oddly memorable song without sounding like Su was trying too hard.

18. “Make It Clap” – YG

DJ Mustard like most rap producer makes car music, not weak-laptop-speakers or overpriced-Beats-headphones music. One can still hear all the detail of “Make It Clap” on some ten buck ear buds, but the sun doesn’t stay up longer in the summer for no reason, it knows there is a season for track like these to blare with the windows down on evening rides.

17. “R.I.P.” – Young Jeezy (feat. 2 Chainz)

To think in 2005 that Young Jeezy’s career in 2014 would still be going strong and that he’d actually become a pretty dexterous rapper. Who’d a saw it? That lumbering flow that he used to reveal in, back in the Trap or Die days, has entirely been replaced with a rapper who nimbly can go from a Drumma Boy beat to DJ Mustard and oddly sound more at home on the West Coast than in his usual Southern rap pocket. In fact “R.I.P.” along with the “Function (Remix)” served as the transition from Jeezy being a Southern living legend to becoming an odd forecaster of the DJ Mustard take of rap in 2013. And, 2 Chainz said “Turnip / Collard Greens,” didn’t want to forget that.

16. “Hella Ice” – Doughboyz Cashout (feat. YG)

Last summer, when Jeezy released his #ItsthaWorld mixtape he tucked away one of the biggest rap song of the year with “My Nigga.” The song would eventually go on to outshine the rest of the tape featuring Jeezy, Doughboyz Cashout and YG on their West Coast gangster shit with YG being on the only one to fill either one of those descriptors. But “Hella Ice” with its crushing stomp squashes any linger questions about the relevancy of Doughboyz Cashout, they have none. And yet, here are 92 words on this great song.

15. “This Dick” – TeeFlii (feat. Jadakiss)

The original “This Dick” was pretty good, but the remix with Jadakiss got a great verse from him and wisely retooled the original beat. The single got minor radio traction during the fall, and DJ Mustard hasn’t made a song that’s crossed onto radio stations with such force.

14. “Bus It The Intro” – Earl Swavey

Last year Que had a song, “Young Nigga,” whose chorus went “Young Nigga Young Nigga Young Nigga Young Nigga Young Nigga Young Nigga I stay with a pistol and hang with drug dealers, gorilla and killers.” Swavey here takes the same thematic idea, except with a few more middle fingers and on a beat that sounds like a metallic bootleg from the League of Starz camp.

13. “Aliens” – Jay Ant (feat. 1-O.A.K.)

HBK might be a gang, but they have an obvious leader in Iamsu!, who’s the most visible member of the crew, while the rest of mostly sit behind laptop creating slaps. Jay Ant’s mellow persona doesn’t have the dynamism of Suzy, but the zoned-outness of “Aliens” showed that a little diffusion to 2am Ratchet behavior isn’t a bad idea.

12. “Open Yo Legs” – Bobby Brackins

Working at my school’s library, I fully understand those strange looks people give me from having the music on my earphones too loud. But the song is so bouncy. And, again I know no one cares about Bobby Brackins, but in a world where we praise Ty$ and TeeFlii, his tape Maxwell Park deserves some shine.

11. “Nigga Get Off” – Reem Riches, TeeCee4000 & RJ

*HORNS* *HORNS* *HORNS* I’m pretty sure the only person that cared enough about DJ Mustard and LA Gangster rap to listen to this tape was A$AP Yams, because otherwise I would’ve entirely missed it. As much as YG’s music is great for a car ride, these opening three seconds could be repeated ad-infinitum and still have one of the best rap songs of the year.

10. “Headband” – B.o.B. (feat. 2 Chainz)

The whistling. That little whistle. The “Ooooos” that must’ve come from Ty$, otherwise why is he in the video for this charming sun-soaked tune. I’d say that B.o.B. in this video perfectly encapsulates the average Atlanta dude style; buuuuuuut 2 Chainz verse is too perfect for me to not devote at least two sentences to this fact. The economically minimal rapping style of 2 Chainz hasn’t been better used his verse on “Mercy.” #BlessTauhee

9. “All I Do” – Jahlil Beats (feat. Jinsu & Problem)

Jahlil Beats got his start with Meek Mill’s Flamers series (“Hottest in the City” and “Rosé Red”), and that hyper charged energy carried him well with his more minimal tracks. Claps. Claps. Drums. Drums. Drums. Claps. Claps. And to quote Problem again: “You fucked up / my life is as sweet as mangos.”

8. “Started from the Bottom” – Drake

“The Canadian went Ratchet.” If only the rest of Nothing Was the Same sounded like this, “Hold On We’re Going Home” or “Trophies.” He might have made a good album! Either way the beat, the video and the fucking sentiment only ring stronger almost a full year later.

7. “Bout Me” – Wiz Khalifa (feat. Problem & Iamsu!)

#teamKhalifa, but this should have been a real single from Wiz’s average second major label album. It’s catchy, rubbery and beyond those elastic band qualities, it’s the most quotable Wiz song since, well he’s never been that quotable so let’s go with ever. And with assistance by Iamsu! and Problem (“Super-duper high / 88th floor”), the song functioned as the perfect transitional track, as evening radio mixes became wall-to-wall Ratchet bangerz.

6. “Don’t Trust Nobody” – DJ Mustard (feat. Killa Kam and RJ)

I previously mentioned this song in a Pitchfork article on DJ Mustard last year, and I’ll stick to the general idea this is an Oneohtrix Point Never song with venomous rap on to the arpeggio chords instead of letting the electronics stand alone. Not that I’m complaining about either!

5. “Burn Rubber” – DJ Mustard (feat. Joe Moses & YG)

*Insert a phrase of phrase for Joe Moses* *Insert a phrase of praise for DJ Mustard* *Insert an emoji of dismay and confusion*

4. “Paranoid” – Ty$ (feat. Joe Moses or B.o.B.)

I “feel” this song. Not because this odd situation of multiple lovers has happened to me. Nah. I’m just a generally paranoid ma-fuck. Email an editor. Worry. Text a girl. Worry. Not sure when the next rest area is gonna appear on the highway. Worry, dear god worry. The beat is also cocoa butter smoooooooth.

3. “Like Whaaat” – Problem (feat. Bad Lucc)

This is from 2012, but didn’t really breakout nationally until 2013. I’d love to have read the #secrete Facebook group that decided that Young Bleed’s “How You Do That” was going to be the Ratchet generation’s “Funky Drummer.” But I’m certainly not gonna complain that No Limit Records continues to inspire another generation of rappers. *Rides Away on A Gold-Plated Tank*

2. “My Nigga” – YG (feat. Young Jeezy & Rich Homie Quan)

A Post-Vine success story of a song, which got increased buzz cause the phase “My Nigga” can be incorporated into humorous 6-second films. But my favorite angle of this particular hit is that even out of context on Vine is that the song in a little six second loop still makes far more sense than the radio edit of “My Hitta.” “My Nigga My Nigga My Nigga My Maaaauuuu-Fucking Nigga.”

1. “Red Nose” / “Gas Pedal” – Sage the Gemini/(feat. Iamsu!)

Goddamnit people. Somehow the whites convinced themselves that “twerking” was something new and exciting, when we all well know that all of them partied to Lil Jon’s “Get Low,” and heard the lyrics “Let me you see you twerk it for me one more time.” “Gas Pedal” is pretty old, but the Bay area hit finally started getting radio play in 2013 and eventually became a Vine viral hit along with its sister track “Red Nose.” At some point looking through Vine over the summer, the actual songs morphed into “My First Twerking Lesson” for young whites across Obama’s America, which was at one point hilarious and forty-nine more points just embarrassing. But, all was not lost, as both songs increased visibility eventually got both of them into the Billboard Top 100?! And apparently Sage the Gemini is actually going to release an album this year, again all was not lost.