There is a widely practiced tradition of white people slowing down hiphop, rap and black pop music to record acoustic covers of them. Sometimes there’s a guitar involved and sometimes a keyboard or a legit full on piano is used. The lyrics to these songs, when dragged through the painful process of acoustic washing, always ends up sounding like something you could totally sing around a campfire while toasting marshmallows. The implication is that people would rather listen to black music when everything that is distinctly black about it is removed.
YALL MAKE ME SICK YALL RUIN EVERYTHING YALL HAVE THE NERVE pic.twitter.com/34dtJCeVZy
— Clean My Teefah (@moisturizeds) February 25, 2016
…… I have no words. From the way he says NEGRO to him saying it in general. Got me FUCKED up pic.twitter.com/ROveZbZIO1
— Clean My Teefah (@moisturizeds) February 25, 2016
My fucking lungs hurt. How Ellen Degeneres gon fuck up Formation like this? pic.twitter.com/99S2FSjoE3
— Jay Dior (@JayKenMinaj_) February 25, 2016
What the fuck is this pic.twitter.com/DcNnkk87Xv
— Jay Dior (@JayKenMinaj_) February 25, 2016
LDDjjHjhdjtghhdf WHAT pic.twitter.com/MNyOHQQ62T
— Jay Dior (@JayKenMinaj_) February 25, 2016
“Work” – a song where Rihanna leans heavily on sliding island patois is especially difficult to listen to other people sing, let alone strum a guitar to. Still, those YouTube covers are being uploaded. Beyonce’s “negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils” Formation record is another popular one being dragged through the gauntlet as of late.
These covers aren’t all terrible though. YouTube singing sensations including Tori Kelly (who is now a major artist) have slowed down many a hip hop record to garner thousands of views and loads of approval and attention from those of us who would otherwise not care.
But for the most part, they’re are the lowest common form of appropriation. And the #Trapcover hashtag was created out of folks reaching the highest levels of fed up.
Black and brown people are now uploading their own hilarious covers of pop songs, removing everything that is inherently white and placing a trap spin on hits from the likes of Taylor Swift and Britney Spears. The Star Spangled Banner redone in a way that would truly make Fetty Wap proud is also a fan favorite.
Check out some of the funniest ones and let us know which song you’d like to see a #Trapcover of.
"I Got You Babe" x Sonny & Cher #trapcover #blacklove #BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/K07PvfhqoO
— DJ KHALEESI (@_ravey_) February 26, 2016
Okay for my last one I tried to think of the whitest song possible. The Friends Theme Song #TrapCover pic.twitter.com/EFG5ttHK8e
— Victor Pope Jr (@VictorPopeJr) February 26, 2016
Had to do it. Britney Spears "Baby One More Time" #TrapCover pic.twitter.com/PbFP1rKX2P
— OMG, LaJethro (@LaJethroJenkins) February 26, 2016
This is really the only #TrapCover that matters: Golden Girls Remix @FinallyAaron pic.twitter.com/pneAwyxPO0
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) February 26, 2016
Hello – Adele (#TrapCover) ft. @TheePharoah pic.twitter.com/ProIAVJ5mS
— Bruh. (@monstta) February 26, 2016
#trapcover Yellow by Coldplay ??? (idk if @NathanZed was jokin or nah but I really did it) PS twitter cut my version pic.twitter.com/cecJko7w8x
— Pablo (@Yo_Its_Tree) February 26, 2016
My #TrapCover Of The Full House Theme Song pic.twitter.com/hj9kpN3RXq
— Demetrius Harmon (@meechonmars) February 26, 2016
My #TrapCover to Don't Stop Believing x Journey pic.twitter.com/wjCyjHdG4W
— Victor Pope Jr (@VictorPopeJr) February 26, 2016