Internet rap
Internet rap is a style of hip-hop that emerged in the late 2000s, initially spreading through the online blogosphere, and early social media platforms like Myspace and later Tumblr, as well as mixtape-sharing site DatPiff.
Internet rap encompasses various online microgenres, and aesthetics that are deeply intertwined with internet culture, memes, and digital communities. Unlike traditional hip-hop, internet rap is characterized by music primarily influenced by the internet and born out of online communities. Artists often favor online music distribution platforms such as SoundCloud, with songs frequently promoted and shared through streaming services like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
Though many internet rappers achieve mainstream success, artists within this label have been described as alternative or underground rap. The scene was originally based primarily on trap music but later gave rise to several microgenres and internet subcultures.
History
1990s–2000s: Forerunners
During the mid-to late 1990s, Canibus became the first rapper to make references to the internet in hip-hop. On the track "DJ Clue Freestyle" released in 1997, Canibus stated, "I'll battle you on the net, I'll battle you in the flesh." He later created his own website, known as "www.canibus.com", which was promoted alongside his debut album Can-I-Bus in 1998. In 2002, he launched "MicClub.net", named after his second album Mic Club: The Curriculum, where he shared music, lyrics, and interacted with his fans, which made him one of the earliest rappers to own a personal website and use the internet as a creative and promotional platform.In 1998, Florida rapper Trick Daddy also made reference to the internet and its visual aesthetics, with the release of his album www.thug.com, which was the URL of his official website.
2000s–2010s: Blog Era
In the late 2000s, influential rappers like Lil Wayne and Soulja Boy were the first to embrace social media, with the latter being credited as the first rapper to have a Twitter account. Wayne and Soulja Boy helped redefine hip-hop through their approaches to online distribution, as their popularity grew largely from freely sharing songs through online music videos, demonstrating to the hip hop music industry that uploading your songs for free on the internet could effectively build a fan base and generate profit, which was an unpopular idea at the time. Writer Kyle Kramer of Vice, stated:Internet rap music was originally referred to as "blog rap" due to hip-hop artists in the 2000s primarily distributing their music through the early online blogosphere, artists in other genres would also proliferate through blogs which led to the emergence of early online music scenes like blog rock and bloghouse. Early internet rappers operated primarily on the early social media platform Myspace as well as mixtape-sharing site DatPiff, which became an influential hub for the movement. Artists like Soulja Boy drew influence from early 2000s hip-hop subgenres such as crunk and snap rap. Artists such as Asher Roth, B.o.B, Kid Cudi, Mickey Factz, Wale, and Charles Hamilton who released music and gained attention primarily through music blogs stood out amongst their contemporaries.
By 2009, influential rapper Lil B emerged, with his success largely linked to internet virality and an embrace of broader online trends, while Lil B and his producer Clams Casino have been credited with pioneering the trap-based subgenre of cloud rap. His popularity inspired a generation of internet-based rappers who drew influence from online spaces, movements, memes, and digital culture. He has influenced multiple other rappers, with record producer Metro Boomin stating on Twitter: "Lil B is responsible for a lot of careers man. A true hip hop pioneer". Lil B has been credited as "the godfather of internet rap," and influencing a whole generation of online rap artists.
Early 2010s: Cloud rap
By the early 2010s, influential rap groups and collectives such as Odd Future, Brockhampton, Migos, A$AP Mob, Metro Zu, and SpaceGhostPurrp’s collective Raider Klan proved highly influential to the development of internet rap. Artists continued to proliferate on blog-related websites like Tumblr, and distributed music through SoundCloud, YouTube, and Spotify. Other influential figures included Danny Brown, Tyler, the Creator, and Yung Lean. The term hipster hop would also emerge to describe some artists from this time period who were making internet rap reflective of hipster culture, applied to artists such as The Cool Kids and Kid Cudi.Around this time, the broader internet rap scene began to amass wider audiences, following the online virality of Lil B, with rappers also drawing influence from Waka Flocka Flame, Gucci Mane and Juicy J. Other pivotal influences included Chicago's Chief Keef who helped popularize and pioneer drill music, with his style significantly influencing both mainstream trap music and online rap scenes.
File:Yunglean.jpg|thumb|238x238px|Yung Lean's tracks "Ginseng Strip 2002" and "Hurt" contributed to the wider popularization of cloud rap and vaporwave visual aesthetics
In 2012, Black Kray's Goth Money alongside Wicca Phase's GothBoiClique and cloud rap pioneer Bones, would later draw influences from witch house, leading to the development of emo rap, later popularized by Lil Peep, XXXTentaction and Juice WRLD. Additionally, Kray's early collaborations with Working on Dying contributed to the development of tread music. By 2013, Swedish cloud rap artist Yung Lean's track "Ginseng Strip 2002" went viral online, influencing a new generation of internet rappers. Amarco referred to Lean, who visually drew influence from seapunk and vaporwave aesthetics, as "by and large a product of the internet and a leading example of a generation of youths who garner fame through social media." The Swedish online rap collective Drain Gang, consisting of Bladee, Ecco2K, Thaiboy Digital, and Whitearmor, further influenced the development of online rap music.
Contemporaneous developments in online underground rap during this period included experimental and industrial hip-hop artists such as Death Grips, JPEGMAFIA, Clipping and Injury Reserve.
Mid–late 2010s: SoundCloud Rap
During the mid-to-late 2010s, the music distribution site SoundCloud became a central hub for a new style and movement in online hip-hop. South Florida's SoundCloud rap scene proved heavily influential to the sound of this era, drawing heavy influence from South Florida rap collectives like SpaceGhostPurrp's Raider Klan and Metro Zu. Artists like Denzel Curry, Lil Tracy and Lil Peep would emerge from the scene as well as Lil Pump, who would rise to internet virality through his 2017 single, Gucci Gang.This era was defined by artists like XXXTentacion, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty and Playboi Carti, who were collectively labeled soundcloud rap. Although internet rappers had been releasing music on SoundCloud for years, it was only during this period that the term "soundcloud rap" became associated with a specific sound. Subsequently, the term "mumble rap" later emerged as a pejorative to describe the off-kilter lyricism and unclear cadence and delivery of these rappers. Additionally, Playboi Carti's label, Opium became responsible for the emergence of notable artists such as Ken Carson and Destroy Lonely in the late 2010s, who both reached wider popularity in the early 2020s. Artists associated with the label pioneered a fashion style described as "opiumcore", which drew from punk and alternative fashion, with the broader underground rap scene's internet-driven aesthetics being noted as influential to the high fashion world.
2020s: TikTok
During the early 2020s, many internet rap microgenres emerged or would primarily develop such as sigilkore, digicore, rage, jerk, krushclub, pluggnb, ambient plugg, terror plugg and hexd, with Rolling Stone describing the 2020s underground rap scene as "extremely online". Additionally, influential collectives during this period include Novagang and Surf Gang. Online platforms such as Discord and online games like Roblox have been noted as influential.Notable influential scenes and artists began to gain wider popularity during this period which included Luci4, islurwhenitalk, subiibabii, Odetari, 6arelyhuman, kets4eki, cade clair and asteria in the sigilkore and krushclub scene, Summrs, Tana, Kankan, Iayze and Autumn! in the plugg and pluggnb scene; Yeat, Osamason,Yung Fazo, Prettifun and Che in the rage scene; as well as Xaviersobased, Nettspend and Yhapojj in the jerk scene. Although these artists initially emerged from these scenes, some later embarked onto other musical styles and movements.
Other influential artists include Yabujin, 2hollis, Sematary, Bleood, and Rich Amiri. Subsequently, the online underground rap sound expanded to multiple international and regional scenes around the world, particularly in the United Kingdom as spearheaded by artists such as Lancey Foux, Fimiguerrero, Fakemink, Len and YT. In China, artists Bloodz Boi, Billionhappy and Jackzebra emerged. While in Argentina, the scene was spearheaded by the SwaggerBoyz collective led by AgusFortnite2008 and Stiffy.