#TrapCovers On Twitter Respond To Corny Acoustic Covers Of “Formation” In The Best Way
Corny white people have been recording ironic acoustic covers of rap songs for almost as long as there’ve been rap songs. It’s a fun way to get a laugh from audiences who are amused by the obvious juxtaposition of the singer’s awkward, white-boy nerdiness and the song’s original context of referring to drugs, streets, revolutions, and other things that the new singer has no experience with. The Barenaked Ladies had a minor hit with a cover of Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power” in 1993, and artists from Ben Folds to Ed Shereen have gotten a chuckle by covering Dr. Dre or Fetty Wap. But as the latest YouTube covers from acoustic guitar-playing white folks–of new anthems like Rihanna’s “Work” and Beyonce’s “Formation”–started popping up, Black Twitter decided to flip the script: Hence the #TrapCover was born.
The #TrapCover is basically exactly what it sounds like: A Dirty South take on a song known for its blinding whiteness. Some of the songs covered are classics–“Hey Jude,” “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Bohemian Rhapsody”–while others are, like Ben Folds covering “Bitches Ain’t Shit,” just a funny juxtaposition (the Golden Girls theme!). Similarly, some of the covers are spectacular to listen to, and others are made by people whose enthusiasm outstrips their natural gifts as a musician–but all of them feel a little bit like justice in a world where this exists.