Yung Lean is what some would call an enigma, though its safe to say that he is an extremely important figure in music. Some would argue that at just 16 years old, Lean inspired a whole generation, and they wouldn’t be half wrong.
Yung Lean’s Style
With the release of Unknown Death 2002 in 2013, Lean had caught some significant attention from a niche market of followers who listen religiously. It’s clear this release had a whole different formula for creation because for the time, the sound was very foreign. Evident in the song Ginseng Strip 2002; the focus had shifted from lyrics to the overall vibe the track lays down for the listener. Not only does the music itself convey a very unique style, but the visuals which go along further enhance overall vaporwave esque flow of everything. the Slow chopped samples over a simple yet complex beat with backing synths is a recipe for Lean’s signature style.
YUNG LEAN – GINSENG STRIP 2002
Conclusion
Yung Lean was at the forefront of soundcloud’s rising popularity representing the emo-rap scene at the time, his music was unlike anything heard before, and therefore, a new wave of rap subgenres were born left and right. Whether you love him or hate him, the most important thing to realize about Yung Lean is that he reminded an entire generation that it’s okay to be different, and your flaws are what drive your own unique ability.
Have you ever found yourself hearing a new song, but though being the first time you heard it, already know how it goes? Well, this is because the melody, drums, or bassline were “borrowed” from another song that you have most likely heard before. For example in Sean Kingston’s Beautiful Girls, the bassline is from Ben E. King’s Stand by Me. People refer to this method of making music as borrowing, recycling, or just sampling.
Types of Sampling
In underground music and especially PHONK sampling. Typically there are two types of sampling; sampling for a melody and sampling to fill the track out. Producers who are considered some of the best samplers today are names like Dj Smokey, JAK3, and Ryan C.
Example of Melodic Sample:
FREDDIE DREDD (PROD RYAN C) – OPAUL
Example of Filler Sampling:
LOST APPEAL – INNOCENT
You Have to Have an Ear for It
Sampling is not as simple as it sounds, yes you are stealing the work of another person, but you are expressing a different set of skills. Rather than creating you are using only what is placed in front of you figuratively to manipulate and turn it into something else, utilizing your skills that come with familiarity to whatever DAW you are using. Remember, limitation breeds creativity. Another skill necessary for sampling doesn’t really come with experience, you need to be able to recognize when something will and won’t be a good sample.
How do I Find Samples?
Everyone has different approaches to finding samples, some go above and beyond buying records/cassettes and sampling through real record/cassette players, and others just go on youtube, type in “samples” and download the first thing they see. It’s good to be diverse when finding samples. Tyler the Creator said on a recent Nardwuar interview, “I wake up every morning and spend two hours listening to music I’ve never heard before.” So, if you are looking to sample, try to really dig, and find things that haven’t been heard in a long time. Force your listeners to experience and entirely new vibe.
The Winstons Infamous Amen Break
*note
I would explain how to sample, but that takes the unique quality away of sampling if you copy someone else’s process. Right?
Today, you will find many blogs online about how to create music only using a laptop, but never any on specific types of music. This blog was made to teach how to create music aimed specifically at the underground scene, if you have no idea what you are interested in creating, but enjoy artists such as $UICIDEBOY$, DJ Smokey, or FREDDIE DREDD (to name a few) you are in the right place.
this could be you kid!
Finding the Right DAW
For starters a DAW (Digital Audio Workspace) is necessary, this is where everything is going to happen. I would recommend using either Ableton Live or FL Studio, it is important to know that the learning curve for Ableton is far steeper than FL studio, but both are very useful and powerful software.
After obtaining a DAW you’ll need to get comfortable with the software, this comes with experience. Tutorials online will help but only to an extent, you must gain knowledge of the DAW of choice through your own experiences to really learn.
Sounds are the next most important aspect to making music, without baseline percussion you have nothing. There are a magnitude of free to use sounds floating around the internet, these include hi hats, snares, kicks, etc.
For underground music there is an abundance of 90s to early 2000s southern rap placed into most tracks to give the feeling that your music is being created on an 8 track, this really adds dark and gritty sound to your track. This isn’t necessary but it makes producing far easier.
Here are some albums to check out for samples. Keep in mind, these albums are from 1994-2012 but were far ahead of their time.
Tommy Wright III – AHSES II ASHES, DUST II DUST LIL UGLY MANE – MISTA THUG ISOLATIONKOOPSTA KNICCA – DA DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND
The God Formula
When creating a track the easiest way to go about this is by using a simple formula; sample (for melody), closed hi hat, snare, and kick. Once this formula is used more can be added on to make the track stick out from others. *note: melody samples can be anything from disco to italian swing music, that part is all up to you. If it sounds cool take the risk and try it out.
Inspiration
Remember, the art is not making the percussion, its blending the samples together and making them sound as if it’s part of the same song, the better you manage to do that the more success you’ll end up gaining because this is what people are looking for in this genre of music. People want to hear what they have heard before in a new way, live by this and you are on your way to the bank.
Here are some examples of songs that combine samples over their beat very well
Both of these tracks utilize the simple process described before. Simple percussion with samples from complete different songs put together to create one song that stands on its own, it’s quite an amazing process when done correctly.
Underground Music Production 