Triggerman: The Beat That Started It All

Whether you know it or not, you've probably heard the Triggerman beat. Released in 1986, “Drag Rap (Triggerman)” by The Showboys became a massive hit throughout the city of New Orleans and is the foundation of bounce music. Its intro will be immediately recognizable for anybody who considers themselves a fan of the southern subgenre, but even those unfamiliar with bounce might also recognize the beat from bounce-inspired, more mainstream hits, T.I.’s 2012 hit "Ball" or Juvenile's "Nolia Clap." Even Death Grips have sampled this beat!

The Showboys' influence, particularly in Southern Hip Hop, has been immense and far beyond anything the rap duo from Queens could have imagined. As it too often goes, though, The Showboys' personal success does not amount to anything near their importance. While those who have used the Triggerman beat have risen to local and even international stardom, its creators have slipped into the shadows of a now long-gone era of Hip Hop. It's been rumored that when a Memphis producer was able to track down locally legendary pair years after the release of "Drag Rap", they were completely unaware of their song's southern success and wave it had set in motion.

MC T. Tucker and DJ Irv’s “Where Dey At?” is considered to be the first true bounce song, and Triggerman’s intro, 808s, and even vocal samples can be heard throughout. “Where Dey At?” is really a reworking of The Showboys’ song, making it more uptempo, danceable, and playful. The lyrics they insert over this rework are repetitive, explicit, and though sometimes combative, they always carry a lighthearted, or celebratory, tone. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is essentially bounce music. In a way, the entire genre is a reworking of this song and bounce music is one city’s way of seeing how far one beat can go. While some of the extremely high tempo and electronic-infused bounce of today may seem a far cry from the more relaxed Triggerman tune, this Showboys’ single is still at the heart of the rhythmic structure and pattern of any song that considers itself bounce.

As people outside the city of New Orleans have begun to pick up on bounce and the genre has spread, copyright issues have arisen for artists looking to venture into more widespread recognition. For years, bounce artists have used the Triggerman beat in their songs then played them at parties or, more recently, posted them online. While the genre remains contained within the local scene, there is no necessity to make the sampling official and draw up a contract whereby the owners of the copyright of “Drag Rap” retain a portion of writer’s rights and earnings. However, when artists begin to want to take their work to the national stage, these illegal samplings become an issue. In a 2013 Pitchfork special on Big Freedia – by far the world’s most popular and success bounce artist – her team expressed concerns about the legality of the beat’s usage in her music, a problem didn’t seem like one at all when the self-proclaimed Queen Diva was rising on the local scene. As bounce begins to attract greater attention outside of the safe space of its mother city, where fans and musicians alike are willing to turn a blind eye any copyright infringement, the Triggerman beat poses a problem for artists taking their careers to the next level. It’s quite the predicament for rising bounce stars but an even bigger one for artists who started it all. According to Complex Magazine, The Showboys themselves do not have any legal rights to “Drag Rap.”