BY: TIFFANY STARKS / STAFF WRITER
Cash Cobain is an American rapper and producer from the Bronx, NY, who has quickly gained the attention of record labels such as Warner Chappell. Born Cashmere Smalls, he’s known for changing the energy of drill rap which tends to have a negative connotation attached to it.
Cash Cobain is also a great vocalist who appeared on tracks with Ice Spice, A Boogie, Don Toliver, Nav, and J Cole to name a few, showing how he is on his way to the top making the change of original Drill to “Sexy” Drill music.
He also collaborated with Ice Spice on his song Fisherrr, which has been a major sensation, sweeping across the East to West Coast since its release in February.
Cash already has producers trying to emulate him by using 90s samples on drill beats trying to follow his unorthodox approach all over YouTube and Google.
Cash Cobain started out making beats in his grandmother's house while being inspired by drill and trap music growing up. This helped shape the way he formed his sound and tailored the beat to make it his own. He taught himself how to produce on FL Studios and quickly carved his unique sound.
While growing up in an extended family, he listened to Willie Nelson, Japanese Jazz, and Billy Ocean, which helped hone in on his talent. The grownups around baby Cash bought him drum sets and keyboards from Toys “R” Us, which he used when he was old enough to search beat making on his grandmother's laptop and apply what he learned.
He explained, “Everyone should feel that, feel like they can’t control their body. Their bodies just gotta dance because the music is so sexy.” On his album’s opener “Slizzy Hunchodon”, he uses a technique of swapping drill minor keys for a darker feel of major chords, then layers in New Jersey club tempos with unexpected loops from well-chosen samples.
By 2014, NYPD police started to place the connection to drill rap and gang violence from rappers who started rapping about their crimes to the public and enticing their rivals in diss tracks which allowed police to start banning rappers from performing in NYC.
Cash saw this as an opportunity to change the drill scene up a bit and add a sexy tone with the energy of the drill beat but with a melodic feel.
During the pandemic, people were forced into isolation which allowed him to collaborate with other producers who wanted to make the same party music.
After the restrictions were lifted, they would throw underground parties to showcase the Sexy drill the producers have been posting to SoundCloud and YouTube. The underground parties started to be a safe haven where you could have fun.
Cash Cobain performed a free show in Coney Island where the speakers were so shoddy that the audience leaned in to fill in his lyrics on “Drunk Contest”.
He is someone who can get the crowd rocking to drill beats and R&B samples that put sexy vibes on these fast-paced beats.
When reporters asked what it means to perform, he simply stated, “It means everything. I just know that I’m not rapping about killing nobody. I don’t have nobody rapping about killing me, or at least I hope not. It feels amazing for real, because I know how New York can get.”
This line alone shows how deep and violent it gets in NYC about drill rapping. It shows his understanding of the violence behind what Drill was known for, which he was trying to recreate and change. He understood the assignment and executed it to the fullest extent by turning Drill into something fun and sex. I can’t wait to see what more Cash has in store for NYC and only time will tell.
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