2010 was a year of immense change for hip-hop. Innovative producers and MCs pushed rap to new margins, kick-started by Wayne’s rap/rock hybrid Rebirth and punctuated by Kanye’s genre-trumping behemoth My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. But for all the creative sampling, surprising collaborations and overall broadening of the rap world’s horizons, a grittier, more visceral sound dominated the cars, clubs and street corners throughout the year. It danced on the line between self parody and self reverence, and as Complex’s Ernest Baker sharply noted, it felt like “an invitation to a party celebrating the fact that music like this [was] even being made.” It was the dense, noisy, controlled chaos perfected by young producers Lex Luger and Young L and galvanized by street anthems like Waka Flocka’s “Hard In Da Paint” and Rick Ross’s “BMF (Blowin’ Money Fast)” that captured our spirits in 2010, prompting hipster mosh-pits and trapster brick sales all at once. These huge, messy, and deceptively complex records employ a pop tactic known as the “Wall of Sound,” a production technique that’s been igniting dance floors for decades. Created in the 60s, introduced to hip-hop in the 80s, and still towering today, the Wall of Sound represents a prevalent dialogue surrounding the politics of sound, and is particularly significant within the context of the hip-hop soundscape.

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