In the first five seconds of N.E.R.D.’s hit single “Lemon” featuring Rihanna, we hear three things: a voice, a heavy 808 bass, and a high-pitched raucous beat that sounds like a cross between a cowbell and a water drop. These three things immediately signify you’re listening to a Pharrell song because they create an unabashedly upbeat energy. But they also give us a peek into a genre of hip-hop that hasn’t fully crossed over into the mainstream: New Orleans bounce.
N.E.R.D.’s hit song “Lemon” owes a lot to New Orleans bounce
Big Freedia explains where “Lemon” got its bounce from.
To learn more about the genre, and to get a definitive answer on whether “Lemon” is a bounce song, I spoke with Big Freedia, a New Orleans native and an artist widely credited with bringing bounce music to the masses. To learn more about bounce music, watch the final episode of Earworm season one above.
You can find this video and all of Vox’s videos on YouTube. Subscribe for more episodes.
