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August 30th: Soundcloud Rap


On Tuesday night I had a very vivid dream. I remembered the premise of the dream after I woke up, along with a few details. This is rare for me, so I knew it must be an important dream. In my dream, the rapper Lil Pump died. He did not die of a drug overdose, a murder, or anything so sudden. He died of cancer over a period of several months. Everyone was overcome with sadness. People all over the world came together to support him and his family, whether they had been fans of his music or not.
When I woke up, I had to google him to make sure his Wikipedia page was still in the present tense. I exhaled deeply in relief when the search results said he had been arrested for driving without a license and not that he had died tragically. As the day went on, I took a step back to consider why this had been so important to me. I had never cared or even thought much about Lil Pump before. Besides that, I thought his music was terrible.
I came to two realizations about what my dream meant. The first was that regardless of whether I think someone is talented, their life still matters. No one should have to suffer through what Lil Pump suffered through in my dream.
The second realization was that we only have so much time to appreciate Lil Pump and other artists like him. They are part of a unique bubble genre called “soundcloud rap.” This style of music could not exist without the unusual society we live in, nor could it exist without the free and open internet on which it formed. Nothing quite like it has existed before, and nothing like it will ever exist again. The current generation of  “soundcloud rappers” will be the only one, and they may not be around much longer. Just in the past year XXXTentacion and Lil Peep, two well-known artists, died. Regardless of if you think it’s great or if you think it’s trash, you should give this unusual music a listen before it is buried under the next wave of trendy music and internet memes.

Comments

  1. WillSeptember 4, 2018 at 12:16 PM

    I remember you telling me about this dream, and I find it funny that you remembered this dream in particular. And while the subject is a little absurd, I like that you connected it to a more serious theme. While this kind of music is treated like trash by a lot of people, and the artists who make it aren't taken seriously, they are real people and it's very sad that X and Lil Peep died this past year.

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  2. MajerusSeptember 5, 2018 at 12:56 PM

    This is a really interesting dream, and I find the reaction it created in you, and even more the thoughts that evolved for you out of that reaction, interesting and meaningful. I think there's something to be said for checking out a subculture or sub-genre, even if you're pretty sure it will not be your cup of tea. First of all, you truly never know. And second, any example of culture is part of human life on this planet we share, and it never hurts to learn something about what our fellow humans are up to, even if those humans might seem inexplicable to us in certain ways. Many things that are inexplicable at first become much more comprehensible once we take the time to get to know them.

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  3. samSeptember 11, 2018 at 8:08 AM

    I'm very quick to write off music i don't like, so when i heard about all these rappers dying didn't really care because i knew nothing about them, but after reading this i will listen to some even if i am sure i wont be into it, it is always good to experience new music.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AkashOctober 4, 2018 at 8:51 PM

    Interesting post Henry! I agree that the art these people are producing is unique to our current society. We only have so much time to support and celebrate them, so we should give their music a shot.

    ReplyDelete

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