Cloud Rap

The spacey, hazed-out sound known as “cloud rap” got its name from an interview with Bay Area eccentric Lil B, who once described the music he wanted to make by pointing to an image of a CGI castle floating on a cloud: cloud, rap. Though sometimes painted as a weird glitch in hip-hop history, the subgenre—pioneered by Lil B, early A$AP Rocky, the producer Clams Casino and others—actually had pretty strong roots, mixing the dub-like atmospheres of 2000s Southern trap with '90s indie rap and a little bit of sound collage thrown in: hip-hop as lucid dream. And for as goofy as the term seemed when it first vaporised around 2010, the style it embodied—blissed-out, vibe-first—continues to percolate throughout both rap's mainstream and its underground. Here's a snapshot of its past and a glimpse into its future. We regularly update this playlist. If you like a track, add it to your library.