Hip-Hop's Most Forgotten Subgenre - A Deep Dive Into Cloud Rap

[@sonikku956]

I think that cloud rap didn't die, it just evolved into modern subgenres like tread, HexD/Surge, digicore, emo rap (to a degree), and rage.

[@trench900]

Exactly

[@nativemerc]

Absolutely edit: also plugg/pluggnb

[@ryanmoore7283]

How the fuck do y’all know these random stupid ass names for these genres

[@RetroEternal]

Pi’erre still carrying the torch with his euphoric, entrancing trap melodies

[@youngcrickee2201]

Which channels or website can I go to, to consistently hear these music's ?

[@ZyberGotSwag]

Abe James should make a cloud rap mixtape and try to single handedly bring back the genre

[@abejames7529]

Facts!

[@cyphen7879]

@@abejames7529 they ask me how I never miss

[@Blissthree3]

@@cyphen7879 [???] On this lucki type beat spittin musical facts

[@chvrliebrowwn]

That’s what I’m doing

[@b3witthawop64]

Fire vid idea

[@duel2803]

i love cloud rap bruh

[@scoots6700]

It's not dead the genre has just been elevated into so much more. What Rocky did with cloudrap mixing it with psychedelic rap was genius and I think he truly elevated cloud rap into an entire new level. What XXX and peep did feeding more into the emo rap side. Lucki as well has a very interesting relationship with trap and cloud rap. Carti also has such an interesting relationship with the genre. I think more people should start focusing on the cloud rap genre and acknowledge the elements it has brought into main stream music.

[@yeah6496]

stop dickeating rocky he stole his entire swag from sgp

[@what-rf5kj]

Only Lucki of those you mentioned still makes cloud rap music & respectfully Lucki ain't a good rapper so he can't really keep this genre alive. Peep was never a real hip-hop act. Just a depressed goon who used cloudy beats and had a pop spin on them on occassion which gained him popularity.

[@masterchiefer35]

Dawg cloud rap is already psychedelic rap

[@jameson1465]

@@what-rf5kjLucki is better than Tupac

[@what-rf5kj]

@@jameson1465 Pac is overrated but Lucki definitely isn't clear. Lucki has the most boring delivery of any rapper I've heard

[@immcb2812]

I never had listened to cloud rap then randomly found codeine and pizza and it really surprised me how good it is. It is legit perfect music to just chill out and vibe to.

[@rahmafadhil3453]

Damn, is that Chris Travis mixtape right?

[@AdamsLTFC420]

​@@rahmafadhil3453 yeqh

[@Hollowsesh]

Young Kenshin Travis do his thaang, bitch!

[@motoravidaloka4805]

PLEASE HELP ME, I'M LOOKING FOR 2 YEARS OLD FOR A GIRL WHO SINGS CLOUD RAP, SHE SEEMS NOT TO BE VERY FAMOUS. SHE IS VERY SKINNY AND HAS CURLY HAIR IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, AND HAS A DEPRESSED FACE

[@unkleyungblood]

One producer that NEVER gets his flowers is Key Nyata from raider klan. If you haven’t listened to him please do so

[@NateAlyn]

Yung Lean and Sadboyz era is underrated. I was heavily into the Dota 2 community and a Canadian streamer named Arteezy would constantly stream his music. What an amazing time to be alive.

[@whatburnsneverreturns]

bruh what do you mean we in the sadboyz era still yung lean still makes music

[@ryanmoore7283]

@@whatburnsneverreturns the music is still fire but the sadboyz aesthetic era was nearly a decade ago brother

[@ronaldoZB]

Damn, the Best hc rtz, i never knew this

[@motoravidaloka4805]

PLEASE HELP ME, I'M LOOKING FOR 2 YEARS OLD FOR A GIRL WHO SINGS CLOUD RAP, SHE SEEMS NOT TO BE VERY FAMOUS. SHE IS VERY SKINNY AND HAS CURLY HAIR IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, AND HAS A DEPRESSED FACE

[@buck8959]

my favorite rap subgenre

[@Jay-pc2ev]

I honestly love this genre so much. It just feels like I'm ascending out of my body every time I listen. The vibes are so chill and the trap beats are immaculate. Best genre to play at 2 am while sipping on some drink. 🔥

[@motoravidaloka4805]

PLEASE HELP ME, I'M LOOKING FOR 2 YEARS OLD FOR A GIRL WHO SINGS CLOUD RAP, SHE SEEMS NOT TO BE VERY FAMOUS. SHE IS VERY SKINNY AND HAS CURLY HAIR IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, AND HAS A DEPRESSED FACE

[@user-pv7vc9kp9k]

cloud rap is a nice way to feel like youre high without taking shidd

[@withnail-and-i]

Bro just went on and told his listeners to skip the great cLOUDDEAD album 💀 Thing is you have to see it as ambient hip-hop in the vein of artists like Brian Eno, doing some type of post-rap, so it's a whole different listening experience to the other albums mentioned.

[@SnoopLazersnake]

Was hard to take the video seriously after that cLOUDDEAD comment.

[@Sporkonafork1]

Cashy Kesh, Icytwat & Divine Council, even Spooky Black

[@thebalockhead6698]

Listen while cLOUDDEAD isn’t cloud rap like we know it today don’t sleep on there self-titled album. The album is a huge grower and when it clicks, IT CLICKS. It’s almost like ambient music mixed with very abstract rap verses mixed with a very sound collage type of pacing where songs will go in and out very easily. It’s one of the best Hiphop albums of all time in my opinion. The easiest songs to get into this album is Apt A (1) and I Promise (1) they’re by far the most accessible songs on the album

[@endrocreactive]

bro the production is heavenly

[@jimmy-breeze]

perfect album

[@KiddRyzeDaGawd]

Fantastic video. Covered alot of ground and its clear that you're well versed in the topic. Glad people still cover this era. It was a time brimming with creativity and intrigue. There was a certain mystique about the music and the artists while alos maintaining a relatable "basement" feel. A lot of my favorite artists come from this period, and I can only hope the pendulum swings and a resurgence occurs. Only time will tell...

[@DavidHoughton17]

That's a really good deep dive into Cloud Rap. I do think what was missed here came from the Bay area artist MAIN ATTRAKIONZ & FRENDZONE (producers) If you recall Main Attrakionz were featured in that A£AP Rocky song, "leaf" and yeah i think prodcuers Friendzone and Claims were tight ?? Other notable artist owrthing mentioning . are Flatbush Zombies. and maybe The Underachievers. but i would not class Beast Coast collective as "cloud rap". ~ I use to listen to cLOUDDEAD, but yeah i guess i would bucket them in the "anticon" era of Hip Hop but i can see why they could be this "proto cloud" . anyway nice upload and content on this much loved genre.

[@DavidHoughton17]

also i am happy that Spotify uploaded Freindzone instrumentals under the album "Collection ii! . You will see an early A$AP Rocky tune 🙂

[@paingamingv2208]

Ong bro. There so underrated

[@motoravidaloka4805]

PLEASE HELP ME, I'M LOOKING FOR 2 YEARS OLD FOR A GIRL WHO SINGS CLOUD RAP, SHE SEEMS NOT TO BE VERY FAMOUS. SHE IS VERY SKINNY AND HAS CURLY HAIR IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, AND HAS A DEPRESSED FACE

[@since_leo]

Great video, as a rocky and peep fan i can say that rocky is super underrated, people will forever compare it to travis without even understanding that they are different, and if you really want to compare them rocky in my opinion is on another level. Speaking of Peep I will never understand the hate he gets, I understand he made a lot of sad music but it was evolving, on the other hand I am glad you mentioned lil peep part one, that is an album full of bangers.

[@Mr.watashi]

Rocky wayyyy better too

[@yunfun.8893]

Not really. Rocky dug his own grave 🤷‍♂ He wasn't as passionate about music as Travis was and was also tied to a group which was responsible for his fame and then he went back to the group for 2 years and abandoned his solo career. That's why Travis overtook him. Rocky USED to be the "Travis Scott" of the rap game, then after 2016 he generally decided he was more into fashion and only dropped 1 album in 8 years. Even in a 2012 interview, Rocky said his goal was "to be a fashion icon" not to be "the best rapper". That's why when Kendrick name dropped Rocky in the Control verse, Rocky didn't care because he isn't actually hungry about rapping and being the best, he just wants to be seen as a mysterious innovator / influencer that makes music sporadically. So no, Rocky is not "underrated" with his questionable work ethic, especially when his best work is his first mixtape that came out 10 years ago. That being said, Live Love ASAP is far better than Rodeo is. But Rocky completely abandoned the cloud rap sound that was all over that mixtape and made it unique. He went the generic mainstream route when promoting Long Live ASAP by doing that song with Skrillex and making Fuckin Problems a lead single for his album which is just a generic catchy club song. LVL was the only track on the album that was remotely similar to his mixtape work prior.

[@since_leo]

@@yunfun.8893 with underrated i meant an underrated lyricist, he's underappreciated, he should have take music so much seriously cause he's amazing at it. He's one of the better artist of this generation period, so much better than travis and others, he has everything, flow, versatility, lyrics, production and charisma. All that said now he has 30 mln listeners on spotify and that is pretty good, in my opinion he could have a come back with don't be dumb

[@yunfun.8893]

@@since_leo Uhw...Rocky doesn't consistently rap with good lyricism. Many times he prefers to prioritise rap flow over lyricism and whilst that's a better stylistic choice as rhythm is more important than lyrics when making good music, Rocky has not often balanced the two together. It would be delusional to suggest that Rocky has displayed good lyricism on Testing. Tony Tone and Distorted Records for example are lazy lyrically. But I get it, that wasn't what Rocky was going for on the album. But casual listeners who are trying to get into Rocky's music will have to listen to an album to see what he's about and they will not be under the impression that Rocky is a good lyricist because the album isn't accessible to the majority of rap fans. It neither displays any sort of lyrical talent nor does it even showcase how good his rap flow is. Plus the beat selection is not actually impressive like it was with his earlier work. And even lyrically, Rocky has good wordplay but lacks quality rhymes. He also often incorporates redundant lists in his rap lyrics which can be quite repetitive to some listeners. As a lyricist, Rocky is DECENT at best. I watched a 2010 cypher of "female" Rocky freestyling and he was killing it but he's never lived up to his 2010 cypher in his commercial music. It's watered down compared to his freestyles back in the day. Even when he tried to freestyle in 2015 and all that it wasn't nearly as good as how he used to be back in the day. That being said, as a lyricist I do believe Rocky is one of the best of his era, only because the 2010s era is extremely weak lyrically. If Rocky was in the 90s he'd be a below average lyricist for sure because MCs were way better back then. As for the 30m monthly listeners he's only got that because of the Am I Dreaming song which he gained about 5 million listeners off of and a remix of his 2011 track Demons is trending on TikTok and Gen Z is not familar with ASAP Rocky due to a lack of recent material so he will get new listeners off that song trending alone and maybe the rest of the mixtape's streams will improve as well but this has no bearing on how successful his next album will be because I personally think he doesn't really want to actually drop music and is pretty much forced to make it.

[@since_leo]

@@yunfun.8893 man i don't have time to read all that, i'll just say that when he wants he ca be a very good lyricist; he's one of my goats.

[@nick-hw7qv]

You should do another deep dive video. They are entertaining to watch and it puts others onto more music.

[@robdarlo]

this is a really good breakdown but you definitely missed Main Attrakionz

[@lmfao5427]

Bones really influenced yung lean in the beginning

[@auspicious7974]

You missed the og of cloud rap

[@BasedFrequency]

How was main attrakionz and friendzone not mentioned :(

[@yoooo3263]

great video abe! love the doc-esc style and can’t wait for other videos like this

[@abejames7529]

Glad u like it! The next video I’ll make in this style will be explaining the concept of Almighty So by Chief Keef

[@yoooo3263]

@@abejames7529 bro finally! thought the concept was a myth or something. i found ur channel out from the GKMC concept vid and now we finally getting the concept for almighty so

[@Ggs22]

@@abejames7529 u sure it’s ever gonna actually drop?

[@vampchannel]

Ya gotta bump Gatorade and Hurt by yung lean. Peak cloud rap

[@cmecachin44202I]

tru

[@motoravidaloka4805]

PLEASE HELP ME, I'M LOOKING FOR 2 YEARS OLD FOR A GIRL WHO SINGS CLOUD RAP, SHE SEEMS NOT TO BE VERY FAMOUS. SHE IS VERY SKINNY AND HAS CURLY HAIR IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, AND HAS A DEPRESSED FACE

[@Rvxigga]

this video broadened my knowledge, literally used to think cloud rap was soundcloud rap smh so much new music and inspiration for making music

[@pepejaar702]

$uicideboy$ deserve mainstream appreciation. Their early work such as Soul Seek, Tsunami Saga, Gray/Grey and 7th or St. Tammany are pure cloud rap. Their whole discography is heavily overlooked.

[@dabs.47]

Bones too, idk how you gonna mention cloud rap without G59 and SESH .

[@elijahk.7828]

@@dabs.47 true

[@JETHEREALXIV]

Their whole discography has at least millions of streams

[@ovazflame149]

Bro, you literally changed my whole music taste in couple months and im forever grateful for that.You put me on to a lot of great artists that i didnt even know.Cant wait till you gone drop videos more often

[@cuh8571]

Im not gonna lie i feel the same way, but i don't know if i am proud now that i listen to bladee and peggy and shit

[@etmiragexvi2472]

@@cuh8571 bladee is iffy but peggy is literally amazing do not be ashamed

[@cuh8571]

@@etmiragexvi2472 yeh peggy is great but there is no way im gonna tell anyone that i be listening to baby im bleeding or rainbow six lol

[@izaiyahsmith9423]

Unpopular opinion Houston started cloud rap

[@IkayyThaProducer]

low key yeah

[@OhDTEK]

Great vid , wish u touched on Pizza and Codeine more tbh I think it’s extremely influential in todays hip hop as well as Rocky’s discography.

[@rockyrockefeller7159]

Yeah I love that album and pretty much all of SHWB

[@doctordai-tenshi1405]

Bro thank you for all the recommendations, I'm literally in heaven

[@wesleygarcia8363]

Mentioning Denzel curry’s early work would’ve been great. His mixtapes before Nostalgic 64 have some great highlights and Nostalgic 64 and even parts of imperial still have cloud rap at its core.

[@cxramelty242]

we needa bring it back

[@grapeswithcapes8314]

finally some new content

[@samanthapmaldonado]

They could never make me hate cloud rap

[@waluigi521]

cloud rap is my favorite subgenre, so many great projects and artist to come out of the scene. incredibly influential

[@lucaskleinbeck]

Great video, Cloud Rap is def one of my favorite sounds. Lil Peep; Part One is such a fire mixtape and a great way to get into Peep.

[@matteosposato2688]

How did you not talk about black kray

[@steezgawdextraswa6906]

frrr

[@lilduff]

finally someone talking about cloud rap. this shit was all i listened to a year ago lil b, yung lean, seshollowaterboyz, and raider klan

[@RetroEternal]

Pi’erre Bourne is still keeping cloud rap alive with his next level melodies. His retro, euphoric, spacey melodic beats gives off entrancingly atmospheric and ethereal vibes that sound simultaneously nostalgic yet futuristic. Pi’erre heavily slept on

[@purptube678]

pierre bourne isnt cloud rap, he incorporates nostalgic sounds like some video game type sounds but his sound is trap

[@Demonicintrovert666]

wtf lol what are you on hes not cloud rap

[@purptube678]

@@1997AZ no its not, getting off similar feelings from different genres doesn't mean they're the same, with cloud rap being rather slow, lo-fi and hazy sounding with samples sometimes like listen to ginseng strip

[@luca.freestyle]

W video, should’ve talked more about krays influence tho

[@ros_berth]

the nasa mixtape by spaceghostpurrp is also a cloud rap classic

[@14thninja]

Shoutout Lil B the Bay Area never gets credit for all the trends in rap that originated from us

[@jom4535]

tracy and cartier god definitely deserve mentions, but great vid ‼️

[@yvvngbruh6224]

On squad

[@Sporkonafork1]

Forgot to mention Metro Zu...

[@ambidextrouss4857]

What’s crazy is I’ve been listening to lil b since 2010 and rvidxr klvn and asap but never knew was called cloud rap lmao 😅

[@pogga4460]

yabujin is one of my favorite artist rn. do you have any other videos where you talk about him? love the video btw

[@abejames7529]

Nah I haven’t talked about him much but hes fire, thanks for the support

[@rohinsequeira6931]

yabujin is so underrated, havent heard a bad song so far

[@xyink3783]

I think the most underrated and more recent album that is a great cloud rap album is foreign exchange by rx papi and producer gud

[@BreezyJC]

you told me to listen to eversince during a stream once and i am forever grateful

[@abejames7529]

Let’s goooooo glad u liked it

[@BreezyJC]

@@abejames7529 bladee is my second most listened to artist only behind kanye now😂

[@youssef3341]

@@BreezyJC same bro and I started listening to him like 7 months ago

[@konitheprophet]

Devon Hendrix unmentioned is kinda sad

[@MrAwesomehappy]

7:16 this transition was crazy

[@arthurw1096]

So glad you are back making amazing content!

[@yungzar]

In Russia cloud rap is really big since 2015 and still. You can see Bones and Lil Peep were naming their songs on russian because they are so popular there. Actually Bones and Yung Lean are more popular in russia than somewhere else

[@mahoi172]

you should do a video on abstract hiphop. great video btw

[@abejames7529]

Thanks! That’s a good idea I love abstract hiphop

[@aXeL-qr9xs]

0:01 this Inst is Green Tea - Black Smurf

[@xion3090]

March 16,2023 18k views 18.6k subs 1.4k likes 238 comments

[@dead_meat8362]

nice haircut boy, yo this cloud rap shit bussin fr fr

[@markrush5013]

viper making the news for other reasons

[@adielar12]

Some other really good cloud rap artists are main attrakionz, yung bruh and cartier god

[@abejames7529]

Ooh cartier

[@adielar12]

@@abejames7529 hell ya he’s great

[@ovazflame149]

Abe James yeah cartier god and soulja boy are the ogs

[@DavidHoughton17]

Def main attrakionz !!

[@evanncore]

Who here after the viper news😅😅

[@ScottR3389]

I feel like Sesh didn’t get enough love. There would be no Suicide Boyz without SESH.

[@FamooWahVe]

Just listened to Yabujin for the first time thanks to u, I think I possibly found another 10 or maybe a 9 idk yet

[@s-amg0delite944]

This was a great video Broo just put me on an educated me on so much music and culture

[@SnarledJoker84]

You da man Abe w video essay

[@abejames7529]

Appreciate u

[@wtmusic515]

Beautiful video. It’s been an absolute blast to have listened to trap music’s evolvement, listened since Lil B and Clams Casino first started to pop off🔥

[@maikkelimuikkeli471]

Just wanted to say i love your videos Keep it up

[@startervisions]

Main Attrakionz "Perfect Skies" / "Chuch" (Prod. by Friendzone) 2011

[@abejames7529]

Been meaning to check out more Main Attrakions, I’ll listen to this thanks

[@startervisions]

@@abejames7529 I got the perfect playlist / archive for you! Mind if I send you a Twitter DM?

[@startervisions]

@@abejames7529 alright

[@DavidHoughton17]

I love that song ! I agree with Main Attrakionz,

[@startervisions]

@@DavidHoughton17 yeah, Friendzone led the way for Emo Rap production, there's others too, but Friendzone deserves just as much credit, as Clams Casino gets...

[@pickleparadox5379]

Incredible video

[@dule5327]

amazing video covering cloud rap. you definetly covered the pioneers and creators of cloud rap but i still believe you missed to talk about people such as black kray, chris travis, yabujin and thaiboy (you did talk about them but i believe not really enough) as theyve also been gods of the genre. overall a great video to inform newcomers to cloud rap

[@zen-xv3wg]

Black kray has to be one of my favorite artists of all time

[@tritont2362]

Main attrakionz, Antwon, and metro zu always get left out but are all super influential

[@PsiloSage]

Lil B is The BasedGod !!!

[@PsiloSage]

dont forget KeyboardKid created Cloud Rap !!!

[@ForgivenessOfGodSeeker]

Black kray is just membre of raider klan for skating or so...forgot the info He's literally made the cloud rap as it is + he's like the best lyricist in this wave, weird but beautiful flows, the greatest vocal performances + the most cloud and the catchiest production ever He started the goth era which is one of the best eras oat

[@delvin9425]

Nah fr black kray my fav cloudrap artist and has prolly a top 5 fav voice and delivery in hip hop for me

[@malibumotions]

did not even mention Main Attrakionz Green Ova 4-EVER James Laurence R.I.P Brother we miss you so

[@lordfizzz]

Viper is so slept on many memes but Hiram Clarke Hustler is unironically in my top 10 first two tracks are a spiritual experience

[@Xavierhanacki]

Great video man was exactly what I was looking for

[@johnwayne7201]

If you think cloud rap is dead, you aint lookin

[@dom9057]

Would you recommend any newer cloud rap projects?

[@Demonicintrovert666]

it is dead unfortuantely imo

[@wolverineforce2068]

Unotheactivist, do too much and alot on my mind . Also bryan cheru ​@@dom9057

[@Почемучка-т6в]

perfect video!!! Thanks so much!!! Also for the suggestions at the end!!!!!

[@peaks781]

this boutta be a banger vid

[@silasfloyd5511]

great video

[@startervisions]

2016 is the 1969 of the 21st century. Our nostalgia is based in the revolution itself, rather than the evolution that came after. The FM radio classic rock evolution of the early 70's was a result of the late 60's revolution. The summer of '69 was the peak moment of that movment, because their collective consciousness became aware of the social climate...and the same thing happened with us. I believe that the late 2010's music was arguably better, but it arguably was not greater. Meaning, timing is important. Was rock music better in the late 1960's, in the early 1970's? What's more influential and or inspiring, the moment or the movement? The social media music revolution, led us into realizing that something was changing, and what I like to call the "SoundCloud to NoJumper" transition, was our moment of realization. An epiphany a revelation. Drake may not have been apart of it, but when he put it words, "all summer sixteen" it sparked the electricity and lit a light bulb in our minds. It was lit.

[@simonw4683]

Thank you for mentioning Viper ❤️

[@kevinhirschowitz8550]

THANK YOU, the one day youll see me again shoutout is so sick. such a good compilation of a man delving into a whole new sound by himself, packed with awesome songs

[@tempraindrop3992]

I think Hi-C is also worth mentioning

[@rohinsequeira6931]

hi-c is so underrated

[@yvvngbruh6224]

@@rohinsequeira6931 Onbbb

[@gabedepaul5407]

Love your content! A great mind of the internet music community

[@epixstarxxv]

the only cloud rap albums i’ve listened to/liked are live love asap, faces, playboi carti self titled, almighty so and suprisingly lil b’s God’s Father. The rest of the genre isn’t rlly for me respectfully but all those albums listed above are absolute gems.

[@pddimez8485]

most of those aren’t cloud rap

[@youssef3341]

almighty so and faces aren't cloud rap

[@beckeu9177]

@@youssef3341 almighty so is

[@youssef3341]

@@beckeu9177 almighty so is trap

[@epixstarxxv]

@@pddimez8485 oh rlly? im just saying it based on the picture of albums he showed

[@metis7534]

Icytwat revived this genre hard but he ended up switching to a mephis flow

[@youssef3341]

can you do a series where you review old albums?

[@abejames7529]

Yeah I was thinking of making that a series pretty soon

[@Vos4002]

Another fantastic video

[@YuTiOfficail]

Lil B Also Created Meme Rap

[@GVSHvids]

what about icytwat and thouxanbanfauni

[@Wallblue21]

BRO THIS VID WAS AMAing

[@quinnruiz1992]

Calcium on DEADBOY is the best song I’ve ever heard

[@vincentpaino534]

Yet another classic by Abe

[@dkndnfff]

spaceghostpurp best cloud rapper

[@abejames7529]

Bladee imo but fair

[@antiarezzo7630]

​@@abejames7529Ecco 2k carries half of his tracks. And he's so sexy omg I'm becoming bisexual 🥵🥵🥵

[@aXeL-qr9xs]

His production influence is still literally everywhere

[@truubluu3330]

fauni in 2015-17 did some of the best cloud rap

[@wuspatterwukd9104]

biweekly uploads?!?! Let’s goo

[@musicenjoyer420]

shouldve talked about bones and black kray more. pioneers of the genre.

[@rwy-ug6pl]

W, also do the powers that b concept video bro

[@superMarwin12345]

nice presentation. I liked it

[@luca.freestyle]

Best sub genre

[@jdanks]

yo if you are going to look up viper def roll up and put on the song my hops.

[@luhdj6544]

freeware 1 by lucki is also a great cloud rap album to consider