Murda Beatz Piped Up in Fort Erie

When you think of the sound that has Atlanta going crazy, you think of some people. Probably Black people…from Atlanta. Makes sense right?

This is why the Internet is great. Gone are the days where all you could do is romanticize getting to know what certain people and places were like if you couldn’t afford to travel there. The Internet makes the trip happen for you. As long as there’s a genuine interest to engage with a different community, the Internet allows people to get in touch.

The Internet is not a replacement for human contact. But a young kid in Fort Erie, Ontario who just wants to produce music for hip-hop artists needs a way to identify with the community before breaking into it. Unless he’s coming up with money for trips to the States frequently, how does it happen?

Ask Shane Lindstrom.

Noisey‘s profile of Murda Beatz in 2014 paints a picture of how that magic happens. From downloading FruityLoops after being put on to Lex Luger to DMing Skippa Da Flippa, the Internet gave Murda Beatz everything necessary to evolve from making beats after school into smoking with the Migos hearing his own shit being played at the strip club in Atlanta.

 

Obviously, the local atmosphere of Atlanta does more to breed the kind of hitmaking creativity found in the Young Thugs and Futures of the world. But the sauce isn’t out of reach just because you aren’t technically from there.

Much like Rich Chigga knew what the fuck he was doing on ‘Dat Stick’, anyone with enough of a drive (i.e. an internet connection and mild interest) can figure out how to come up with creative product that can resonate in a place they aren’t actually familiar with.

That’s because they are familiar with the place. Thing is, hip-hop culture is so good at representing the places it’s from, you hardly have to travel to know what’s good.

I know you will never catch me on 64th and Normal in Chicago willingly.

I know the Blue Flame in Atlanta is poppin’ on a Wednesday.

And Murda Beatz knows simple yet infectious melodies can inspire hits in the right rappers like French Montana (‘No Shopping’) and the Migos (‘Pipe It Up’).

It’s taken for granted how amazing it is someone can use something as easily accessible as FL Studios, and then live out their dreams because of it. Also taken for granted is the fact that someone can get so familiar with a culture from another place that they’re adopted as quickly as Murda Beatz was into Atlanta’s hip-hop scene.

We’re looking at a world where cultural icons are more likely to have started obsessing over YouTube content than growing up around people who did what they wanted to do in life. And frankly, that’s okay.

This is globalization. This is hip-hop. This is now, and it’s fucking awesome.

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