Bounce music is an energetic style of New Orleans hip-hop music which is said to have originated as early as the late 1980s, but is typically believed to have begun with the 1991 single "Where Dey At" by MC T. Tucker & DJ Irv. A highly influential cover of "Where Dey At" was also released by DJ Jimi in 1992.

Structure

Bounce is characterized by call and response style party and Mardi Gras Indian chants and dance call-outs that are frequently hypersexual. These chants and call-outs are typically sung over the "Triggerman beat", which is sampled from the song "Drag Rap" by the Showboys, or "Brown beat", which is sampled from Derek B's "Rock the Beat." The sound of bounce has primarily been shaped by the recycling and imitation of the "Drag Rap" sample: its opening chromatic tics, the intermittent shouting of the word "break", the use of whistling as an instrumental element (as occurs in the bridge), the vocoded "drag rap" vocals and its brief and repetitive melody and quick beat (which were produced with use of synthesizers and drum machines and are easily sampled or reproduced using like-sounding elements).

Influence

The genre maintains widespread popularity in New Orleans, LA and the southern United States and has a more limited following outside of the Deep South. Throughout this decade, the Take Fo' record label has dominated the genre with artists such as DJ Jubilee, Da' Sha Ra' and Willie Puckett. "Sissy rappers" such as Katey Red, Big Freedia and Sissy Nobby have also made significant contributions.

Like crunk, Miami bass, and Baltimore club, bounce is a highly regional form of dance music. Nevertheless, bounce has influenced a variety of other rap subgenres and even emerged in the mainstream. Atlanta's crunk artists, such as Lil' Jon and the Ying Yang Twins, frequently incorporate bounce chants into their music (such as, "shake that thing like a salt shaker") and slang (such as "twerk"). These chants and slang were originated by artists like Magnolia Choppa, Juvenile, Da Stranger, and other New Orleans and Baton Rouge natives. Mississippi native David Banner's hit "Like a Pimp" is constructed around a screwed up sample of the "Triggerman" beat. The mixtapes of Three 6 Mafia's DJ Paul also prominently feature traditional bounce sampling. DJ Paul, a native of Memphis, TN, has, in fact, been one of the most prominent purveyors of bounce outside of Louisiana, having incorporated its features into tracks produced for La Chat, Gangsta Boo and his own group, Three 6 Mafia. He has also released several "pure" bounce songs, including the popular "Push 'Em Off."

History

One of the first mainstream bounce records was Juvenile's "Ha", would eventually chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Juvenile also released the genre's biggest domestic hit to date, "Back That Azz Up", which peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100. The first international bounce hit was by Beyoncé, a native of Houston, TX with roots in New Iberia, LA, whose 2007 single "Get Me Bodied" broadly introduced the genre to an international audience.