Phonk

Phonk takes the sonic palette of 1990s Memphis underground rap — cowbells, hi-hat rolls, distorted Roland TR-808 drum machines, slowed-down vocal samples, and tape-warble noise — and rebuilds it as a separate genre using modern production tools. Tempos range widely, from around 70 BPM half-time tracks to 140 BPM drift-phonk variants. Original Memphis tapes were recorded straight to cassette, and 2010s phonk producers preserve that lo-fi quality on purpose: muffled high-end, tape hiss, and a flat, almost mono mix. Vocals are usually sampled rather than newly rapped, often pitched down and slowed by half.

The source material is 1990s Memphis underground rap — DJ Spanish Fly, Tommy Wright III, Kingpin Skinny Pimp, Three 6 Mafia's early tapes — recorded on cassette and distributed locally. The 2010s revival started on SoundCloud through SpaceGhostPurrp and the Florida-based Raider Klan crew around 2011-2012, who chopped and pitched Memphis samples into a new framework. Russian and Brazilian producers extended the sound from around 2017, eventually giving rise to drift phonk as a distinct branch. The 2020s have seen original Memphis figures — Tommy Wright III, DJ Spanish Fly — re-emerge as touring acts on the back of the revival.

The cowbell is everywhere — usually a Roland 808 cowbell sample looped on every off-beat. Listen to how the drums are intentionally pushed into distortion: the kick and snare are not clean but slightly clipped, which gives phonk its 'old tape' feel. Vocal samples are slowed and pitched down so far that the words are often only half-intelligible, which is part of the aesthetic.

For an early revival track, SpaceGhostPurrp, 'Suck a Dick 2012' (2011). After that, $uicideboy$, 'Kill Yourself (Part III)' (2014). For the drift-phonk branch, Kordhell, 'Murder in My Mind' (2021).

'Phonk' is a Memphis spelling of 'funk' — the spelling appeared on cassette tapes by DJ Spanish Fly and others in the early 1990s as a slang variant. The 2010s revival imported the spelling along with the sound, which is why a 2020 SoundCloud genre name is essentially a thirty-year-old piece of Memphis tape art.