For decades, most of the best New York rap sounded like a slap in the head. New York is, of course, the city that invented rap, and its music has always contained multitudes. But from, say, 1984 -- when sternum-crushing Rick Rubin drums took over from the live disco-funk bands who played on most rap records -- brazen fuck-you intensity has ruled the city, to the point where it's embedded in the character of New York rap. In a lot of senses, that's still the case; Young M.A's dominant 2016 banger "Ooouuu," for instance, sounds very much like a slap in the head. But in the underground, something interesting has been happening lately. Right now, a lot of the best New York rap sounds like a plume of smoke slowly dissipating as it touches a plaster ceiling.