Cloud Rap is a subgenre of hip-hop developed in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s. Cloud rap is said to gets its name from its ethereal sound, online origins, and an interview Lil B the BasedGod gave in which he responded to an image of a castle in clouds by calling it “the kind of music I want to make.” The subgenre is characterized by its hazy, relaxed, dreamlike, reverb-heavy, ethereal production.

Precursors to cloud rap include ​cLOUDDEAD’s 2001 self-titled album and Viper’s 2006 sophomore album. Cloud rap’s inception was also heavily influenced by the witch house and chillwave genres. The rapper Lil B and the producer Clams Casino are cited as the true pioneers of the subgenre beginning with their 2010 collaborative efforts.

Cloud rap would explode in popularity quickly from there, with A$AP Rocky’s landmark 2011 mixtape Live. Love. A$AP becoming an instant classic while bearing 5 beats from Clams Casino and more influence. Cloud rap was also influenced by the Memphis Revival scene, especially by the hip-hop collective Raider Klan, whose leader, SpaceGhostPurrp, also lent production to Rocky’s innovative record.

Cloud rap was further popularized in 2013 by Swedish rapper Yung Lean, whose song “Ginseng Strip 2002” went viral on YouTube, catapulting Lean to stardom. Yung Lean’s Sad Boys group, his friend and fellow Swedish rapper Bladee’s Drain Gang, and Team SESH American rappers like BONES would all prove to be extremely influential within cloud rap and hip-hop as a whole through the 2010’s. One especially notable example of cloud rap’s influence is trap superstar Travis Scott, who was featured on Lean’s debut album Unknown Memory in 2014 prior to breaking out himself in 2015 with Rodeo.

• A$AP Rocky
• Clams Casino
• Lil B
• Yung Lean
• Bladee