Hip-Hop Adds a Chapter to the Flute’s Epic History
When Future’s “Mask Off” was released earlier this year, the internet remixed its bittersweet tale of drug use with video syncs of kids, cartoons, and Ron Burgundy playing the flute—mimicking the woodwind sample from Tommy Butler’s “Prison Song” looped in the beat. The meme highlighted the flute’s often-cheeky portrayal in pop culture, but also its relatively unusual place in hip-hop until recently.
Flutes have, in fact, a of throughout history, as makes sense for a genre that freely combines musical traditions and has a close relationship with jazz. But many listeners an uptick in reedless woodwind loops, some of which are snippets of live playing and some of which are synthesized. Big songs from Future, Gucci Mane, Kodak Black, Drake, D.R.A.M., and Migos all fit the bill; at , HP Cheung has a that notes how
