from Make Rappers Rap Again: Interrogating the Mumble Rap “Crisis”
Theorizing African American Music Series | Oxford University Press | August 2025
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“Sometimes, we gotta get out of our own way…We’re not gonna always understand the youth.”
—DJ Drama (2021)
In the fifth and final chapter of Make Rappers Rap Again: Interrogating the Mumble Rap “Crisis,“ I situate DJ Drama as critical to the Mumble Rap conversation for more than a few reasons. First, I note his status Southern Hip Hop family for more than twenty years, starting with his mixtape Jim Crow Laws (1999), which exclusively featured Southern artists like OutKast and Three 6 Mafia. Second, I note his longstanding professional relationship with Gucci Mane, who I refer to as the Godfather of Mumble Rap. Third, I point to Generation Now, the Atlanta Records imprint Drama co-founded with Don Cannon that is the professional home of several rappers, including Killumanatii, Jack Harlow, Carvena, and mumble rapper Lil Uzi Vert, the label’s first artist. Drama has also worked routinely with Future, Young Thug, the late Rich Homie Quan, NBA YoungBoy, and other mumble rappers. Last, but not least, while Drama was born in the late 1970s and has great respect, appreciation, and admiration for the Old School, Golden Age, and Modern Era, that has not resulted in him having a lack of respect, appreciation, and admiration for newer artists who converse with longstanding traditions to create a Hip Hop all their own.
The Songs
The Videos
Note: The original interview was conducted on May 20, 2021.
Dr. Heidi R. Lewis 