Different Regions Produce Different Sounds

What up MM, @UKAntSmith back with another question. All producers have a certain style and it should be unique to them, but is your style influenced by where you come from?

We all know about the East Coast, West Coast beef that happened during the 1990’s and the sounds coming from either side clearly had distinct styles. Was this due to the era and the fact that there was so much emphasis on the big 2 (RIP)? Or do we as producers have a distinct sound depending on our geographical location?

For me a producer has his/her own natural style, but this is heavily influenced on what music they listen too. I’m not convinced this has anything to do with where they come from. I suppose these go hand in hand, but back in the 90’s it was clear, different regions had distinct styles. I’m not sure why, but I feel this perception is filtering out, as we have so much information at our fingertip. Now we have the Internet, it is easier for people to network and get their music out there. In the past, tapes, CD’s, were passed around their community and only they new about the latest kid on the block. SoundCloud, YouTube and a number of different sites have changed this for me.

East Coast clearly had their distinct sound, It’s the origin of Hip-Hop. So you could say it’s the purest of all the Hip-Hop styles, but I’m sure we all have our own opinion on this. The BOOM BAP drums and the poetic lyrics, clearly makes this one of the best styles in Hip-Hop today.

Then the West Coast style was born, later it was given the name “G Funk”. This brought the gangsta side of Hip-Hop to the mainstream. This style was more hardcore and more ruthless. It was so unique to the West Coast throughout the 1990’s and it was a very successful style for its own reasons.

Of course we have many other styles that have emerged during the development of Hip-Hop. In the early 2000’s Southern Hip-Hop was hitting the charts and also the Midwest started to make good progress. The perception used to be that your style reflected where you came from, but does this statement still stand? Clearly different regions can have different styles, but I believe it is more about what you listen too and what sounds good to your ear.

This is a discussion that is run by our opinions and can go on forever. Whenever this topic comes up it reminds me of the classic track from Common, “I Used To Love Her.” Releasing this track brought more attention to Common than what was first expected, but I’ll let him tell you about that.

So does your styles reflect where you come from? Or do you believe you are influenced in another way? Drop a comment below and I look forward to reading your comments.

Until next time, you can catch me at @UKAntSmith

Peace.

Ant