In 2009, a rapper named Lil B showed a music writer a computer-generated image of a castle floating in the sky and declared that was the kind of music he wanted to make. This moment of digital daydreaming would eventually birth a new genre of hip-hop, though the term cloud rap would not be coined until the following year. Walker Walkmasterflex Chambliss, a music blogger, heard the phrase and used it to describe the hazy, dreamlike sound of Main Attrakionz member Squadda B. Chambliss later applied the label to a 2010 compilation album titled 3 Years Ahead: The Cloud Rap Tape, which helped popularize the movement. The name cloud was chosen to reflect the genre's hazy, ethereal aesthetic and its ambiguity, as it lacked the clear borders of traditional hip-hop. This was not just a sound; it was a visual and auditory state of being that existed somewhere between reality and a computer simulation.
Ethereal Beats And Lo-Fi Dreams
The sonic architecture of cloud rap relies on the heavy use of reverb and ethereal, psychedelic samples to create a relaxed, atmospheric production style. Producers like Clams Casino, Lil B, and SpaceGhostPurrp frequently utilized Vermona synthesizers to craft these sounds, blending trap style drums with ambient and new age music. The genre draws heavily from lo-fi hip-hop and chillwave, incorporating esoteric melodic chopped samples lifted from J-pop, video game music, and anime soundtracks. Unlike traditional hip-hop, which often prioritizes hard-hitting percussion and clear vocal delivery, cloud rap leans into melody and distortion. It pulls from a diversity of rap sounds and locales, including the East and West Coasts and the South, often utilizing looped samples from downtempo, ambient, and chillout music. British female singers such as Sade and Imogen Heap also appear frequently in these tracks, adding a layer of melancholic beauty to the digital haze.Collectives And The Internet Age
Cloud rap emerged as a distinctly internet-native movement, with artists relying on SoundCloud, YouTube, and Twitter to distribute and promote their music independently of record labels. By 2010, figures like Squadda B, Friendzone, and South Florida acts SpaceGhostPurrp and Metro Zu were tagged as cloud rap by online critics, though many artists expressed dislike for the term and distanced themselves from it. The genre gained mainstream attention in 2011 with rapper ASAP Rocky's debut mixtape Live. Love. ASAP, which featured partial production credits from Clams Casino. The movement was fueled by online rap collectives such as Raider Klan, which featured SpaceGhostPurrp and Denzel Curry, and the ASAP Mob led by Rocky. In 2013, Swedish artist Yung Lean became an eminent cloud rap artist when the video for his single Ginseng Strip 2002 went viral. His work with producers Yung Gud, Whitearmor, and Suicideyear, alongside the online rap collective Drain Gang, would shape the genre's future. Other influential groups included Black Kray's Goth Money, Seshollowaterboyz, and GothBoiClique, which included Yung Bruh and Wicca Phase Springs Eternal.