cloud rap

Cloud rap is a hazy, melodic strand of hip-hop defined by ethereal, floaty production, expansive reverb, and vocals treated with spacey effects. It favors dreamlike, pastel-toned soundscapes over hard-hitting, club-ready percussion, often pairing melodic hooks with lo-fi textures and half-time or slowed drums. The result is a mood-first approach: a music-for-crowded rooms that feel like they’re drifting above the ground.

The genre began to cohere in the late 2000s and crystallized through the early 2010s as internet culture and SoundCloud connectivity helped producers and emcees share increasingly foggy, atmospheric beats. A key lineage runs from the underground, Miami-born scene led by SpaceGhostPurrp and his Raider Klani collective, which created dark, bassy, swept-space instrumentals that felt like they were floating above the mix. Parallel currents came from the New Jersey–born producer Clams Casino, whose cloud-tinged instrumentals (for artists such as Lil B and early collaborators with A$AP Rocky) helped popularize the airy, reverb-heavy aesthetic that would become synonymous with cloud rap. The fusion of these currents—pulsing trap drums with lush, celestial melodies—proved especially fertile once A$AP Rocky emerged as a mainstream ambassador with his 2011 debut, Live.Love.A$AP. The track Purple Swag, with its foggy, hypnotic feel, became a touchstone for the sound and helped propel cloud rap into wider attention.

Ambassadors of the sound include A$AP Rocky (and the A$AP Mob) as one of the genre’s most influential flag-bearers, Lil B as an early, prolific proponent with his expansive, mood-driven output, and SpaceGhostPurrp as a driving force behind the original, darker cloud-rap palette. Over time, regional icons expanded the vocabulary: Lucki (the Chicago/Indiana-adjacent scene) brought a more intimate, melancholic mood; and Yung Lean and the Sad Boys from Sweden infused cloud-tinged textures with cybernetic, lo-fi influence, helping to globalize the style. These artists and producers helped cloud rap cross from a niche SoundCloud curiosity into a recognizable subgenre with a dedicated following.

In terms of geography, cloud rap has been most prominent in the United States, where it originated and where its core producers and acts initially built audiences. It has also found strong, sometimes hybridized forms in Europe—most notably in Sweden (Yung Lean and the Sad Boys) and the UK/France—where listeners gravitated to its dreamlike, escapist vibe. Beyond Europe and North America, the genre has circulated worldwide via streaming platforms, appealing to listeners drawn to its emotive mood, minimalistic grooves, and cinematic textures.

Today, cloud rap remains influential in contemporary alt-hip-hop and trap-adjacent music. Its legacy is visible in the continued emphasis on atmosphere, texture, and vocal processing across many artists who seek to evoke a sense of haze, introspection, and nocturnal reverie. If you’re chasing a sonic landscape that feels like floating through a neon fog, cloud rap offers a richly atmospheric map worth exploring.