#30DaysOfBounce Day 1: “Drag Rap” by the Show Boys. https://youtu.be/uGWlDm3Jwss

I’ll stop short of saying there would be no New Orleans Bounce if not for this song. Our people have always been so inventive, we would have just come up with something else. But I will say that Bounce would not be what it is if not for this song. “Drag Rap”, known to all New Orleanians as our beloved “Triggerman beat”, is the backbone of the Bounce. The DNA, even. And the funny thing is, the song ain’t even from the South.

“Our story starts in notorious Queens . . ”

“Drag Rap”, the dramatic old-school gangland tale of Buggs Can Can versus Phil D. Triggerman, is by these New York cats called the Show Boys. But ask them where they got the most love and dem Show Boys wouldn’t say no New York City. (Dis ain’t no Pace Picante commercial, no, wo!) No, dey would point down to the state that look like a boot and say we put our foot in it.

Or should I say we put our ass in it. Because in order to understand Bounce, when you hear those fateful xylophone keys opening this song, you should picture somebody’s gluteus bootyus gyrating to that rhythm like if it’s trying to detach itself from the rest of the body. The dance is called “poppin’”, “P-poppin’” (as with Naughty By Nature’s “O.P.P.”, the “P” here could stand for a couple thangs . . ), or “twerkin’”, and yes, I dare say that latter term was coined in the deep South in the early 90s if not earlier and quite possibly in a sweat-soaked Uptown project courtyard or under a Carnival-converted 7th Ward overpass in a certain Crescent City. “Ratta-tatta-tatta-tatta-tatta-tatta-BOOM!”

At about 1:50, you’ll hear my favorite part of the beat, where the aforementioned signature keys are backed by this sinister yet soulful medley of percussion. That’s the part which was sampled as the bedrock of the first official Bounce song (which we’ll hear more about later…).

All said, “Drag Rap” is a pretty good example of storytelling in hip hop, but a much more compelling example of musical repurposing in Bounce. NOLA will always appreciate the Show Boys, but we “showed” dem “boys” what to do wit dat beat, yurd me? In “Takeover”, Jay told Nas, “You made it a hot line; I made it a hot song.” Well, in dis case, dey made it a hot song, and we made it a cultural phenomenon! “BOOK ‘EM!”