The track’s got a Celtic folk vibe to it and sounds like it could’ve been produced by the likes of Bonobo, Nujabes or Emancipator. The song is produced by Metro Boomin, Frank Dukes and Southside, and samples Tommy Butler’s 1976 pipe-laden “ Prison Song.” Kodak Black‘s latest smash hit “ Tunnel Vision,” which hit Billboard‘s Top 40 late last month, is produced by Metro Boomin, Southside and Cubeatz. Future’s “ Mask Off,” which sounds like it could soundtrack an East Asian epic film (as the aforementioned meme suggested), is one of the more popular cuts off of his chart-topping self-titled album. In the last month, it looks like this flute-infused Atlanta-style of rap music is gaining commercial popularity. Over the last few years, flute samples have been laced all over the most well-known songs from Atlanta’s biggest rappers like Future, Migos, Gucci Mane, 21 Savage and 2 Chainz. The spirited style flute playing was first used by the early Atlanta producers such as DJ Toomp (who produced T.I.’s flute-featuring 2004 hit, “Motivation”), and later refined by the likes of Lil Jon, Shawty Redd, Nitti and most notoriously, Zaytoven.
![rae sremmurd this could be us sample prince rae sremmurd this could be us sample prince](https://cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/advancelocal/SYLT2QS52JFLPADBXJQWGVAGR4.jpg)
Not only does the instrument give danceability and soul to the music, it produces a playful, Pied Piper-esque ambience when paired with bouncy 808s and slinky pianos - making listeners feel like they are in some sort of a trapped-out role-playing game. It’s one of the Atlanta rap’s signature sounds and is often used by the city’s biggest producers, like Metro Boomin, Southside and Mike WiLL Made-It. None, however, employ the flute sound quite like the way Atlanta producers do, though. Aerophones were also big in underground rap (Mos Def’s “ Sex, Love & Money,” Dilated People’s Kanye West-featured “ This Way” and Atmosphere’s “ The Waitress“) and were often used by revered producers like J Dilla, Madlib and Nujabes.
![rae sremmurd this could be us sample prince rae sremmurd this could be us sample prince](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e3/e9/be/e3e9beb4e8cc8b308ceaa75fad381a61.jpg)
Cole’s “ Power Trip,” Yung Lean‘s “ Kyoto,” et al. They were sprinkled all over ’00s hits: JAY Z’s “ Big Pimpin’“, 50 Cent’s “ Just a Lil’ Bit“, Timbaland’s “ Indian Flute,” amongst many others, as well as ones from this decade: A$AP Rocky’s “ Goldie,” Kendrick Lamar’s “ HiiiPower,” J. Beastie Boys (“ Flute Loops” and “ Sure Shot“), Snoop Dogg (“ Tha Shiznit“) and more had flute-infused beats in the ’90s. Contrarily, the flute and its edge-blown aerophone variants are some of the most-used sounds in beat-making history - their light and fluttery, yet sometimes dark, exotic and mystical, timbre contrasts well against the genre’s hard-hitting drums and bass-lines. The incorporation of the flute, piccolo, vessel flute ( ocarina) and pan flute (or its worldwide variants, such as the Chinese dizi, Mongolian tsuur, Persian ney, Japanese shakuhachi, Indian bansuri, Ashanti atenteben, Korean danso, Balkans kaval, Andes quena, Native American flute etc.) in rap production isn’t something new.