MIDI, when it was invented in the early 1980s, was a revolutionary technology. Compared to its predecessors, like the analog synthesizer, it didn’t actually transmit physical sound, only electronic pulses. Work by Mike Dean, a famous music producer who has worked with world-famous artists such as Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, Jay-Z, and so many more, perfectly exemplifies the capabilities of this technology. Born in 1965, he’s been producing music since before the technology was invented, and has adapted to the changes in the music production landscape that MIDI has brought, as evidenced on albums like Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight by Travis Scott, released in 2016. The album, created once the technology had been fully accepted by the genre of hip-hop, allowed for Dean and Scott to create an album with heavy use of electronic, synthesizer based sounds only made possible through the use of MIDI. MIDI has allowed for 21st century hip-hop albums like Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight to be produced more cheaply and efficiently, all while allowing for a more precise manipulation of sound, which helped lead to the rise of the gothic-trap sub-genre. The ability to go back, edit, quantize, and modify previously-recorded melodies with MIDI allowed for the union of both uniquely-timbred sounds and extreme precision, which combine to create the more complex beats that the sub-genre required. This will be discussed by examining the history and rise of MIDI technology, through the use of videos demonstrating both Dean and Scott’s production processes, and by discussing a couple of songs on Travis Scott’s first supremely successful and gothic-trap heavy album.