A few years ago no one wanted to be called a “SoundCloud rapper.” The free platform for streaming and uploading music was associated with broke-ass rappers with dreams of hip-hop stardom. But with its low barrier to entry, more and more unsigned artists took to SoundCloud, where they didn’t need a record label or distributor to be heard like they did on major streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify. This up-and-coming generation also rejected the mixtape hosting powerhouses of the early 2000s, like DatPiff and LiveMixtapes, that refused to adapt their one-song-at-a-time release preferences. An emerging class of artists reacting to a changing music industry, these artists took control of their own destinies, releasing their own music on SoundCloud, succeeding at a pace that the traditional music industry couldn’t keep up with.
In 2016, this rising SoundCloud rap generation got its first moment of mainstream validation when a pink-haired, horn-sign-throwing Lil Uzi Vert stood front and center on the cover of XXL magazine’s annual Freshman issue. To his right was a similarly excited Lil Yachty, and above was an intense Denzel Curry. Previously written off as a fad by the olds, the scene labeled “SoundCloud rap” had officially forced its way into the spotlight.
These SoundCloud stars had discovered their own unorthodox path to stardom. Publications were forced to reckon with them because if the SoundCloud scene wasn’t being represented on their sites and in their pages then they were out of touch. The success of having Uzi, Yachty, and Denzel grace the XXL cover—their cypher also featuring Kodak Black and 21 Savage is the magazine’s most popular YouTube video with over 118 million views—only confirmed the changing of the guard.
It was in late 2016, early 2017 that a South Florida-dominated wave of SoundCloud artists began to infiltrate pop culture. South Florida’s local scene became its own subgenre of SoundCloud rap with their grunge-inspired looks, faces covered with tattoos, animated personas, and music featuring narcotized and punk-inflected deliveries coupled with lo-fi and distorted beats. They used bedroom recording techniques that yielded XXXTentacion’s “Look at Me!”; and incorporated the lyrically repetitive, bass-blaring sound of Lil Pump’s “D Rose.” This movement peaked when in 2017 the New York Times ran an insightful piece on the burgeoning scene. The story focused on Lil Pump, Smokepurpp, XXXTentacion, and Lil Peep—the only non-Florida rapper featured—and labeled them a DIY subgenre that couldn’t be stopped.
Despite the sudden popularity of emblematic artists like Pump and X, there was more to the artists of this generation than face tats, unnatural dye-jobs, and distorted sounds. For proof, look no further than the guy who is arguably the SoundCloud generation’s first star, Bryson Tiller. In 2014, “Don’t” introduced SoundCloud listeners to Tiller’s sing-rap style, which blended hip-hop cadences with R&B melodies. The hit song became popular and memed enough that Tiller became a platinum-selling sensation soon after dropping his 2015 mixtape, Trapsoul. At the time, Tiller appeared to be an outlier because of his R&B sound and lack of collaborations with others in his class, but his breakout moment was the first sign that success in the SoundCloud rap world could translate to mainstream stardom.
When Trapsoul debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard charts, it was a wake-up call for the established music industry—it would have to adapt. The Recording Industry Association of America would soon move to change its certification to better accommodate streaming, and Trapsoul became one of the first albums to go platinum because of this rule change. This was the effect of an emerging generation that signaled the impending irrelevance of physical sales and even downloads. Later on, the Bronx’s A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie became the voice of the Northeast, releasing a goldmine of sing-rap and piano-heavy jams onto SoundCloud. A Boogie was not only an example of the diversity that was presented on SoundCloud, but was a direct beneficiary from this change that began with Tiller, as in 2019 his streaming mammoth album, Hoodie SZN, would spend three weeks at number one on the Billboard Charts despite selling a record low 823 units.
Weeks after Trapsoul came another milestone for the SoundCloud generation: Lil Uzi Vert’s Luv Is Rage. The 2015 mixtape showed off Uzi’s refined melody while introducing his Chief Keef-inspired deliveries and eye-rolling rockstar character. The Philly rapper’s tape proved that artists on SoundCloud didn’t have to dilute their sound to gain mainstream attention.
After the 2017 New York Times SoundCloud rap piece another major shift took place when Tay-K released his single “The Race” in the summer of 2017 and we saw the direct impact of controversy and the accompanying social media chatter on streaming. The teenage rapper went viral when, in an effort to escape murder charges, he removed his ankle monitor and fled his home state of Texas. On June 30, the day of his capture, Tay-K released the song and its accompanying video detailing his time on the run. The dark realism of the Tay-K story went viral on social media, and his YouTube and SoundCloud numbers skyrocketed. Within weeks Tay-K was the talk of hip-hop and though his story thankfully wasn’t replicated, he set a precedent for SoundCloud stardom alone not being enough unless it coincided with YouTube and social media popularity. Now, rap stars were born at the nexus of their popularity on streaming and social platforms.
At the same time as Tay-K’s infamy became social media virality, SoundCloud was beginning to monetize like a standard streaming service. In 2016, the platform launched a subscription streaming service, and by 2017 they began to promote it in order to compete with major services like Spotify and Apple Music. Quickly, rap on SoundCloud was not its own entity, but rather a reflection of what was popular on heavyweight video sites like WorldStarHipHop, curated local YouTube channels, and social media. This led to the SoundCloud generation seamlessly blending into the current wave of YouTube and social media stars, beginning with the currently incarcerated Tekashi 6ix9ine. With the fall 2017 single “GUMMO,” 6ix9ine became a fast-rising play machine whose virality on the Instagram Explore page correlated to his SoundCloud chart dominance. Similar success was had by the controversial Baton Rouge rapper and king of YouTube YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
Though the polarizing pair of 6ix9ine and YoungBoy operated in completely different markets—6ix9ine in New York and YoungBoy in the South—both dominated traffic on SoundCloud, YouTube, and social media in similar fashion. They kept themselves at the forefront of hip-hop’s 24/7 news cycle through antics that were often reposted and circulated by amoral news outlets like No Jumper, DJ Akademiks, and Say Cheese TV. The early coverage the SoundCloud generation enjoyed from traditional media outlets like XXL was outright meaningless to 6ix9ine and YoungBoy—their popularity and image were self-controlled.
In 2016, Lil Uzi becoming a mainstream star within months seemed sudden, but to the current generation, that kind of accelerated path to stardom is the norm. So far in 2019, we have already had NLE Choppa, who was essentially a local 16-year-old high school rapper from Memphis on a Friday afternoon who became a sensation by the following Monday morning—eventually turning down a 3 million dollar deal in favor of more independence. Social media virality is key, but only if it is followed by YouTube and SoundCloud numbers. Currently, the No. 1 song on the SoundCloud charts is a product of social media virality in YNW Melly’s “Murder on My Mind.” The nearly two-year-old song has experienced a resurgence since Melly has been charged with murder. And due to his oddball YouTube interviews circling online and his lyrics becoming a favorite of new social media essentials like TikTok, the Florida rapper is set to be a superstar if he’s found not guilty.
Hip-hop is now entering uncharted territory, as the same changes in music consumption that made the SoundCloud generation—a desire for independence, the power of streaming, and the increased influence of social media—are also what have effectively ended the era. But the SoundCloud generation did prove that the popularity and influence of these artists once dismissed as “internet rappers” is very real.
