Butch Dawson’s “Irongrip” Expands On Baltimore’s Hip-Hop Sound
7th Floor Villains’ rapper and producer Butch Dawson a.k.a. Jujuan Allen is responsible for the dawning of Basement Rap—a genre he says represents freedom of creativity. The raw sound that he and his Villain crew appropriately compose in their basement is quickly starting to garner some attention along the East Coast. Dawson’s newest track “Irongrip” (featuring CCL$’s Palmtree Tommy) further expands on the Basement Rap stamp and on the sound of Baltimore hip-hop. Like many of L7′s songs, the beat has a high tempo that is contrasted by slow flows. A development in “Irongrip” that stands out the most is the looping of house music elements in the hook—a sound deeply embedded in Baltimore’s culture that local rappers have hardly ever used. Back in 2008, Wale’s “Bmore Club Slam” from the Mixtape About Nothing was a bittersweet moment because although he was a local rapper, regionally, it took a D.C. guy to rap over a Baltimore Club track. Local artists like Ddm, Abdu Ali and TT The Artist often use Baltimore Club in their music but are often thrown into the “alternative” pool, so to see a kid who is strictly rap use those sounds is a pretty big thing. I can really rock with the prospect of having a true Baltimore sound develop in hip-hop and Butch is spearheading that movement. Listen to “Irongrip” below:
In my opinion, Butch Dawson can produce his ass off. So he definately deserves so credit. He should focus on that more; get his beats to artists from different cities.
Have you seen this though? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc3ax8XWAUQ
Rap/Bmore club hybrid that did pretty good right when the club scene was really getting some national attention.