Tommy Wright III - he's another artist from Memphis as well.
Tommy Wright III也是来自孟菲斯的歌手
He had a song called "Gangsta Forever."
他有一首单曲叫“Gangsta Forever”
All these artists released their debut albums in the mid ‘90s.
上面这些歌手的首张专辑都是在90年代中期发布的
And they weren’t just rapping fast,
他们可不仅仅是加快了说唱的节奏，
they were manipulating the beat with triplets.
他们还在节奏里加入了三连音
So how exactly did they pull it off?
那么问题来了，他们到底是怎么做到的呢？
Well. You have to look at the structure of the beat.
好吧，我们得先来了解一下三连音伴奏的结构
For triplets to really eventually come and be so famous
三连音要最终成型并且火起来，
they needed to steal the show and to steal the show they needed space.
就需要在歌曲里出风头；要出风头，就需要篇幅
That’s Martin Connor.
这位是Martin Connor.
You might remember him from these two videos.
你或许能从这两个视频里认出他来
So, you can create a hip hop beat in a couple of different ways.
所以，你可以用几种不同的方法编出嘻哈的节拍
This is the beat,
这是伴奏
and I can interpret this beat in a rap song in two different ways.
当它出现在一首说唱音乐里，我可以用两种方式来唱
I can go either boom, tuh, boom tuh, boom , tuh, boom, tuh.
我可以唱成boom, tuh, boom tuh, boom , tuh, boom, tuh.
Or I can go like this: Boom, tuh, boom boom, tuh,
也可以唱成Boom, tuh, boom boom, tuh
but my snaps have always come at the same speed, right?
大鼓点的速度是一样的对吧
But the snare drums?
那小鼓呢？
They come half as often giving the rapper more space to play.
小鼓出现的频率减半了，这是为了给歌手更多发挥的空间
"Notorious Thugs" illustrates this perfectly.
Notorious Thugs完美地阐述了这一点
And it's also one of my favorite songs
再加上这首是我最喜欢的歌
so I want to talk about it.
所以我就是想拿来说说
This instrumental sounds like a slow downtempo beat,
里面的伴奏听上去像是慢速电子乐的伴奏
that's because we're used to hearing the snare on the two and the four.
这是因为我们习惯听小鼓出现在第二个、第四个节拍上
The acutal bpm though is double the speed.
然而，实际的bpm速度提高了一倍
And the snare hits on beat 3.
而且小军鼓出现在了第三拍的位置上
Essentially the instrumental beat has two rhythmic lanes for the artist to rap in.
本来，乐器伴奏时，歌手可以用两种节奏来唱
Biggie, Bizzy Bone, Krayzie Bone,
无论是Biggie, Bizzy Bone还是Krayzie Bone
they all keep you on your toes by constantly changing those lanes.
他们都会通过持续改变这些音轨，让这首歌能够一直吸引听众的注意力

because the beat is stretched out and feels slow,
因为伴奏被延展了，所以听上去感觉比较缓慢
they can very naturally divide those notes further into triplets.
歌手能够很自然地把这些音符细分成三连音
Let’s switch back to Lord Infamous of Three 6 Mafia.
我们还是回来说说Three 6 Mafia乐队的Lord Infamous的歌吧
That slow beat allowed him to rap an entire verse in triplets.
这种缓慢的伴奏让他能够用三连音唱完整个主歌部分
From the 90s till the mid 2000s
从90年代到2005年左右
southern hip hop artists slowly took over the charts
美国南部的嘻哈歌手逐渐成了主流
and with that they brought the sound of Trap.
在此基础上，他们还发展了Trap这一风格
That stretched out beat is the foundation of the trap sound.
那种更加舒缓的伴奏是Trap风格的根
but you’ll also hear, a deep 808 kick drum, driving synths,
但是还是能听到沉重的808鼓，合成音色
and rapid fire hi-hats that are often programmed in triplet patterns.
以及快速踩钹的声音，而这些声音经常出现在三连音乐曲里
Triplets were always in rap.
说唱里一直都有三连音
And then Triplets were waiting for trap music to come along,
它不过是在等Trap的到来
and then trap music came along and it was just a marriage made in heaven.
接着，Trap就出现了，Trap和三连音简直是天作之合
A song like "Versace" made the sound and rhythmic feel of triplets super catchy.
“范思哲”这种歌又让三连音及其节奏感变得无比上口
Just listen to how that hook plays back and forth with those explosive hi-hats.
只要听听在钹的配合下，副歌部分是怎么反反复复重复演唱的你就明白了
Five years later, it’s pretty easy to see why triplets are Migos’ bread and butter.
五年后，我们不难看出为什么三连音成了Migos歌曲的灵魂了
I don't think Migos is gonna trailing off or fall off.
我并不觉得Migos会过气或是过时
I think they have legitimate star power
他们确实有当明星的实力
and most importantly, I think they put together an incredible album this year.
最重要的是，我觉得他们今年出了一张非常了不起的专辑
Not only that, they’ve been featured on tracks by some of the biggest artists of today.
不仅如此，当今最红的歌手都认可他们了
Triplets aren’t just popular, though.
三连音不单单是流行这么简单
They’re really complex.
这种节奏其实很复杂
The triplets sort of challenges the rhythms and the counts that we're used to.
从某种程度上说，三连音是对我们习惯听的那些旋律和节奏的一种挑战
They can rev up the energy of a song almost instantly.
三连音能够让一首歌的能量几乎在瞬间爆发
Kendrick used them on Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
Kendrick乐队在Good Kid, M.A.A.D City这张专辑里就用了三连音
and then five years later on one of the most dramatic moments of DAMN.
五年后，他们在DAMN专辑里最刺激的部分又用了三连音
This is why I say that hip-hop has done
这就是我为什么说近年来，嘻哈
more damage to young African Americans than racism in recent years.
给年轻的非裔美国人造成的伤害比种族歧视还要大的原因
Chance the Rapper has a similar dramatic transition to triplets on the opening track of Coloring Book
Chance the Rapper在Coloring Book 这张专辑的开始部分也用了类似的大转折
When he starts flowing in triplets, there are no snares drum, there are no base kicks .
当他开始用三连音的节奏时，他没有用大鼓，也没有用小鼓
So what does Chance do,
那Chance是怎么做到
but he makes the triplet the manifestation of the beat.
让三连音成了他音乐中标志性的伴奏的呢？
These are two of the biggest artists outside of the south using triplets.
这是不来自南方，但在使用三连音最拿手的两位歌手
They're no longer a niche southern style.
他们的音乐已经不属于传统的南方风格了
They’ve been the dominating sound of hip hop for over five years now.
五年多以来，他们一直是嘻哈界的核心人物
When a rapper does that rhythm
一个说唱歌手用到这个节奏的时候
all the sudden, they’re tapping into this greater collective artistic movement.
他们一下子就加入了这个更广大的集体艺术运动之中了
So Snoop’s not entirely wrong
所以呢，Snoop说的也不是全无道理
That's what's wrong, right now everybody try to rap the same.
现在大家都想用一样的风格来搞说唱，这就不对了
with I don't know who created it if it was Future or Migos
我不知道这个节奏是谁发明的，管他是Future还是Migos
but all them ni**s sound the same.
但听着好像都一个德行
But he kinda misses the point.
不过，他有点跑偏了
The fact that triplets are super popular now
虽然三连音现在火得不行，
shouldn’t undermine the fact that they’re actually a really powerful rhythmic tool
但这一点并不能改变它们确实是一个非常管用的节奏工具，
that’s been around for a long time.
并且已经由来已久这一事实