The Lo-Fi Lens: Interpretations of Memphis Rap Tape Rips in the Online Mediascape

ABSTRACT

This article interrogates the association between 1990s Memphis rap and the concept of lo-fi in journalistic discourse between 2012 and 2022. It employs Appadurai’s concept of mediascape in demonstrating how digitized Memphis rap tape recordings, or “tape rips,” have been portrayed through a lo-fi lens in electronic media. It discusses how using lo-fi tropes as a reference point to interpret the audio quality of these recordings curates imagined worlds that ultimately result in the judgment of people and places.

KEYWORDS:

• Digitization
• lo-fi
• mediascape
• Memphis rap
• recorded music
• tape hiss

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their time and effort in reviewing this article. Special thanks to Michael Spitzer for his comments on an earlier version of this article. A paper based on this work was previously presented at the International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK/Ireland Branch Conference 2022.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. Interestingly, Supper’s analysis of liner notes finds that more emphasis is placed on what recording technology adds to the recording than what it takes away: “[W]hile a reduced frequency range is arguably just as characteristic of lo-fi recordings as tape hiss is, it is not usually made explicit in liner notes” (267).

2. Many productions utilized mid-range digital drum machines like the Boss Dr-5 Doctor Rhythm Section and Boss Dr-660 Dr. Rhythm. These not only provided the means to program sampled drums, but also featured melodic samples such as bass and synth sounds, which could be sequenced into melodies. This meant that producers could compose complete instrumental tracks with these machines without multi-tracking.

3. Some Memphis rap tapes have been re-released on CD, meaning their audio quality can be compared to unofficial uploads found on the internet. Take, for instance, DJ Zirk’s “Ana 4 ya Hoez.” This features on the 1993 cassette release 2 Thick, as well as the 2002 CD compilation Underworld. The version of the track that features on the unofficial tape rip of 2 Thick uploaded to YouTube plays at a faster speed and higher pitch than the CD version. It also features prominent hiss and distortion that is not present on the CD.

4. This is not to say that Memphis rap was unmixed or un-mastered in general.

5. In an audio context, the phrase “blown out” means distorted.

6. Grotesque (After the Gramme) was recorded in Cargo Studios in Rochdale and Street Level Studios in London. It could be that Fisher is referring to the track “W.M.C. – Blob 59,” which Walker labels one of the Fall’s “dictaphonic tracks,” recorded with a portable tape recorder rather than a studio machine (80).

7. One example of this is the 2020 album Glock Clocked by Russian drift phonk producer PHARMACIST, where hiss is present in every track.

8. This can be heard on track “intro” of Da Menace’s 2021 Author of Pain EP, as well as other tracks on the record.

9. Most former Raider Klan members still making music have followed this progression to using professional studios for recording or mixing.

Additional information

Funding

This work is based on part of the author's Ph.D., which was partially funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council's (AHRC) North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP).

Notes on contributors

Joseph Coughlan-Allen

Joseph Coughlan-Allen completed his PhD at the University of Liverpool. His thesis was titled “Buzz, Hiss, Crackle, Clunk: consequential sounds of music technology in music recordings, their meanings and roles.”