The Drop: A Snowfall Saga

The Drop: A Snowfall Saga is a spinoff of Snowfall, a crime drama tv series (2017-2023) about the crack cocaine epidemic in mid-1980s Los Angeles. The Drop sets the clock forward to 1991, reprising characters Wanda (Gail Bean) and Leon (Isaiah John) as they navigate the emerging West Coast rap industry.

Fittingly, the trailer for The Drop features hip hop as its soundtrack. In the opening shot Wanda puts a cassette in her car’s tape deck and a funky synth bassline comes in. At 0:05 as Wanda is digging through boxes of vinyl, we hear the sounds of a DJ scratching on turntables.

At 0:15 we see the production company’s title card (FX), as violin samples are added to the soundtrack. We hear a chord from the brass section crescendo at 0:23 as a voiceover pronounces “from the dope game to the rap game,” further clarifying the plot evolution from Snowfall to this new spinoff series. The brass hit an accent at 0:25 as we see the graffiti-style intertitles, “From the Streets of Snowfall.”

At 0:30, Wanda hands Lamar (Asante Blackk) One Way’s 1982 record ‘Who’s Foolin’ Who?’, asking him to use it as inspiration for a new track. They take their new track on a cassette tape to a house full of members of the Bloods gang, to show to rapper Artillery (Simmie Sims III), and to show that the stakes are high, a siren-like rising tone is added to the mix from 0:38-0:44. Artillery approves and begins rapping over the track at 0:47, in a style reminiscent of West Coast rap legend 2Pac.

At 0:56 we start to hear the synth riff from Chaka Khan’s 1983 hit song ‘Ain’t Nobody’ as we see a montage that shows Wanda successfully building a business of selling hip hop mix tapes. Business is good, and we see bags of cash at 1:12.

But success doesn’t come without a cost. Pressure from family and gangs makes Wanda’s dream unravel. At 1:26, the hip hop drum groove is removed and replaced by the sounds of thudding impacts, church bells chiming, orchestral strings, and Chaka Khan’s chorus vocals isolated and processed through a wall of reverb. Now we’re in a montage of street fights and chases. At 2:00 drums come back in, now with a groove more inspired by Atlanta trap music. From 2:06 the drums start pulsing, growing faster and faster as though this is the buildup in an EDM track, evolving into a barrage of what we like to call trailer triplets. The music cuts to a stop at 2:11 as we see a finger press the rewind button on a tape deck. This leaves space for Wanda, with a wall of gold records on the wall behind her, stating, “I’m unstoppable, baby.” When the music returns at 2:13 for the trailer’s outro, we’re back to the synth riff from ‘Ain’t Nobody,’ with Chaka Khan’s vocals and a heavy hip hop drum groove sample.

For a series about such a specific moment in hip hop history, the music in this trailer had to be on point, and it is.

The Drop: A Snowfall Saga streams on FX and Hulu September 8th.

— Jack Hui Litster