Cloud rap

Not to be confused with Soundcloud rap.

Cloud rap (also known as trillwave) is a subgenre of hip-hop and internet rap music that has several sonic characteristics of trap music with a hazy, dreamlike and relaxed production style.^[3][4] Rapper Lil B and producer Clams Casino were early pioneers of the style.^[3][4] The term "cloud rap" is derived from its internet origins and ethereal style.^[5]

Cloud rap
Sample of a cloud rap instrumental in the style of Clams Casino
Other names	Trillwave
Stylistic origins	Hip hop lo-fi music chillwave[1] trap[1]
Cultural origins	Late 2000s, Southern United States
Typical instruments	Vocals (Auto-Tune) Synthesizer
Derivative forms	Emo rap[2] rage rap
Other topics
Chopped and screwed phonk plugg witch house

Etymology

In a 2009 article, music writer Noz wrote that rapper Lil B showed him a CGI image of a castle in the clouds and said "that's the kind of music I want to make", crediting Lil B with the coining of the term.^[3] Producer Clams Casino has also been credited with pioneering the cloud rap sound as early as 2010 through collaborations with Lil B.^[4]

Characteristics

Cloud rap is melodically similar to lo-fi and chillwave but distinguishes itself with distorted, psychedelic samples and the inclusion of trap style drums.^[6] The genre takes inspiration from the "diversity of influences and the easy accessibility" that cloud computing entails.^[7] Such influences include hip hop, drum and bass, grime, and trip hop, R&B, dance, indie, rock, and pop music genres.^[7]

A Vermona synthesizer that can commonly be found in use by producers such as Clams Casino, Lil B, and SpaceGhostPurrp

The label "cloud" denotes distinct characteristics of the genre such as its "hazy," ethereal aesthetic (in terms of both aural and visual expression) and its ambiguity as a genre without clearly defined borders.^[5] Cloud rap's lyrics sometimes revolve around themes of love and betrayal, as well as more typical themes found in popular music such as sex, drugs, and alienation.^[8]

Cloud rap pulls from a diversity of rap sounds and locales: from both the East and West Coasts and the South.^[7] In particular, cloud rap often utilizes looped samples from female singers, and often from those whose voices have an ethereal quality.^[7] Often, cloud rap is released independently of record labels, and cloud rap artists rely on internet services (such as SoundCloud, YouTube, and Twitter) to distribute and promote their music.^[9]

Cloud Rap production^[10] is characterized by ethereal synths, reverb^[11]-heavy beats, distorted samples, and a chopped, lo-fi musical style. The genre leans heavily into melody, blending elements from various genres while maintaining a strong connection to hip-hop. With many of the genre's pioneers taking major influences from witch house and chillwave, many artists have producers in common like Clams Casino, 90's Bambino, and SpaceGhostPurrp.^[12][13]

History

2000s–2010s

Origins

Lil B is credited with coining and pioneering "cloud rap"

Cloud rap originated in Atlanta, Houston, and Memphis during the late 2000's,^[6] with the term being used to refer to lo-fi, hazy rap.^[3] Elements of cloud rap appear as early as the 1990s, with the influence of the Memphis rap scene,^[14] as well as in 2001 with Clouddead's self-titled album.^[15][16] By the late 2000s to early 2010s, artists such as Lil B and producer Clams Casino became key influences on the development of cloud rap alongside Main Attrakionz^[17] and South Florida artists SpaceGhostPurrp^[18][19][20] and Metro Zu.^[21] Subsequently, the sound of Viper's early work was later noted as an early progenitor of cloud rap.^[22]

The term was also used in the Space Age Hustle blog's compilation of songs, 3 Years Ahead: The Cloud Rap Tape.^[3] The compilation consists of songs that fall in the cloud rap genre.^[3] The genre garnered mainstream attention in 2011 with rapper ASAP Rocky's debut mixtape, Live. Love. ASAP, which saw partial production credits from Clams Casino.^[8][7] The early work of Black Kray and Playboi Carti have been described as cloud rap, alongside Swedish artist Yung Lean who became an eminent cloud rap artist in 2013 when the video for his single "Ginseng Strip 2002" went viral.^{[8][23][24][25]}

Regional scenes

In Sweden, rapper Yung Lean alongside online rap collective Drain Gang, consisting of Bladee, Ecco2K, Thaiboy Digital, and Whitearmor, further influenced the development of cloud rap .^[26]

French rap duo PNL are pioneers of this genre on the francophone hip-hop scene; their first single "Le Monde Chico" (2015) going triple platinum, "Dans la légende" (2016) diamond, and "Deux Frères" (2019) went double diamond.^[27]

See also

• Lo-fi hip hop
• Emo rap
• Internet rap