GBC's style of emo rap influenced swathes of artists in the underground emo and hip hop scenes on SoundCloud, with Lil Lotus, Lil Peep and Lil Tracy, all citing the group as an influence and the latter-most two even eventually becoming members. Bones and other genre pioneers like Black Kray and 90's Bambino also drew heavily upon the influence of witch house. Mid 2010s to present: Popularity and deaths Įmo rap was pioneered by Bones, whose VHS-recorded music videos and dark production and aesthetic were so influential on the hip hop underground of the time that Dazed described him as the 'underground rap king.' In 2012, members of Thraxxhouse, a subgroup of Raider Klan, formed GothBoiClique (GBC), with the intention of drawing connections between the emo, trap, dark wave, black metal, and indie rock scenes. In 2013, Swedish rapper and member of the Sad Boys collective, Yung Lean, released ' Ginseng Strip 2002' and the highly influential mixtape Unknown Death 2002, which many have regarded as cementing Yung Lean as the 'father of emo rap'. Also in 2012, prominent pop-punk band Blink-182 featured rapper Yelawolf on the track 'Pretty Little Girl' from their Dogs Eating Dogs EP. Emo band Framing Hanley covered rapper Lil Wayne's song ' Lollipop' in 2008 and Lil Wayne went on to collaborative with pop punk band Weezer in 2011, on the song 'Can't Stop Partying'.

Fearless Records released the album Punk Goes Crunk in 2008, which was made up of emo and pop punk musicians covering popular hip hip songs. In 2006, rapper Kanye West remixed emo pop band Fall Out Boy's song ' This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race'. DCD2 signees Cobra Starship and Gym Class Heroes also merged elements of both genres. In 2005, Stump and Pete Wentz founded DCD2 Records, which signed both emo and hip hop artists, who would often collaborate and tour alongside one another. Pop punk band Good Charlotte, often stated that they took influence from hip hop and in 2007 released the album Greatest Remixes, which consisted of a number of their previously released songs being remixed by both hip hop and pop punk musicians such as Jay E, Patrick Stump, Marshall Goodman, and William Beckett. Rapper MC Lars has been making use of samples and references to emo and pop punk songs in his music since his 2004 debut album. Zebrahead have been playing a style of music that features vocalist Ali Tabatabaee rapping over pop punk instrumentals since the band's formation in 1995. Īdditionally, between the 1990s and early-2010s, there was a number of significant crossovers between the hip hop scene and the emo and pop punk scene. Huffington Post writer Kia Makarechi described American group Hollywood Undead as 'crass emo-rap' in 2012 article. The music of German rapper Casper, which was influenced by both hip hop and bands like Give up the Ghost, Modern Life is War, and Grave Digger, was often referred to as 'emo rap' early on in his career. American rapper Slug of Atmosphere claimed in 2017 that he invented the name 'emo rap' in an IR Magazine article from 1997. Prior to emo rap solidifying itself as a genre, the term was applied by critics to rappers such as Joe Budden, Kanye West, and Drake due to their emotional styles of lyric writing.

History 1990s to early 2010s: Precursors

įans of the music are sometimes referred to as 'sad boys', in reference to emo rapper Yung Lean's music group by the same name. Horse Head of the collective GothBoiClique has described the music as '.sort of nostalgic, but it's new too.no one's really done shit like this. Some emo rappers also make use of original instrumentation. Much of the sampling has been influenced by artists who inspired the genre, such as Mineral, Underoath, and the Postal Service. Sampling often uses 2000s pop punk and emo songs. The genre is characterized by its combination of musical elements commonly found in conscious hip hop with indie rock instrumentals. Įmo rap departs from the 'traditional' tones found in modern mainstream hip hop in favor of more emotional and personal lyrical content, described by the Wall Street Journal as 'giving their elders the finger.' Lyrics tend to focus on topics such as depression, loneliness, anxiety, consumption of drugs and alcohol, nihilism, suicide, heartbreak, and self-medication. Publications have described emo rap as taking influence from hip hop, emo, rap rock, trap, pop punk, nu metal, indie rock, post-hardcore, and cloud rap.

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