In the recent years we have seen popularity grow in a lot of new genres of music. One of these new genres is the punk rap / alternative trap music or what we like to call it "sad rap". This genre led by artists such as Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Peep, Ski Mask the Slump God, Juice WRLD, and so many more.
This genre of "sad trap" has gained immense popularity in both the hip hop and alternative music communities. These genres come together to create a really interesting and angsty sound. It has almost become the anthem of this decade, but what is it and where did it come from?
Punk Rap music is a blend of hip hop and emo music. Usually taking trap beats and mixing them with alternative and sad lyric themes.
Usually, the genre has upbeat hip hop sounds with sad lyrics usually containing themes of loneliness, heartbreak, drug abuse, & sadness. Despite these gloomy and dark lyrics, songs in this category are known to be very lively and fun to listen to.
This genre is fairly new and is just getting started. We can look back and see the mixing of hip hop and alternative music starting back in the 2000s.
Hip Hop artists started to take inspiration from emo music for their lyrics; Artists such as Eminem, Gym Class Heroes, and it's biggest year 2000 influence: Kid Cudi, who was our first glimpse into this exciting new music.
This music was never popularized really until the mid-2010s. It first became recognized as its own genre on a popular music sharing platform called Soundcloud. The term "Soundcloud Rappers" soon became a pop culture reference usually linked to this musical category.
New rappers took to the platform to start creating alternative trap music which ended up mixing quite a bit with mumble rap. Soon rappers in this genre started to blow up.
Rappers such as Juice WRLD, Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, Lil Xan, Lil Peep, Ski Mask the Slump God, Xxxtentacion, Yung Lean and Trippie Redd. Eventually other rappers Mac Miller & Kanye West took on parts of the genre as well.
Unfortunately, the sad rap scene has seen many tragedies. Starting with the death of Lil Peep (aka Gustav Ahr) (21), a singer-songwriter who is known as one of the biggest names of Soundcloud rappers.
Sporting face tattoos, multicolored hair, and painted nails, he was almost seen as the face of sad rap music. He "overdosed" on Xanax laced with fentanyl in November of 2017.
Not too long after controversial rapper Xxxtentacion (aka Jahseh Onfroy) (20) was shot in his car in June of 2018. Despite his many charges and many arrests, he grew a very big fan base since starting on SoundCloud.
He was very close to other rappers Ski Mask the Slump God. Lastly, our most recent loss in this community was rapper Mac Miller (Malcolm McCormick) (26) who died of an overdose in September of 2018. Mac Miller was very popular in the hip hop industry and linked with artists such as Ariana Grande and Tyler the Creator.
Sad Rap is still up and coming and is one of the most exciting new genres. With it's new and upcoming artists blowing up, you're bound to find some of this music in your playlists. It seems to be everywhere. It truly is starting to take over the music industry, and despite its name, sad rap has created joy for so many listeners and created an angsty anthem for our youth.