Redefining the ‘Soundcloud Artist’
I’m about to tell you something that might be a bit shocking, the term ‘SoundCloud artist’ does not equate to ‘horrible music’.
I know, trust me, I’ve sent my fair share of tweets mocking this particular group of people because well, it’s easy. However it’s not exactly fair.
If you’re over the age of thirty OR you only listen to vinyl because “the sound is just so much better” then let me start by educating you on what a soundcloud rapper is. Urban dictionary defines it as:
“A middle-school kid who thinks he can rap, so he hits the “studio” (the couch) and records with top notch music equipment (his iPhone mic). He usually doesn’t have any recording software, so the quality of the sound is worse than the actual lyrics. Hits like five plays then tells everyone at school that his song’s about to go platinum.”
I would personally define it as someone who just records music and posts it on SoundCloud. Forgoing the stereotype that’s pretty much all it is, nothing exciting. Yet, as a generation we’ve managed to take this seemingly innocent distribution of music and twist it into a defining character flaw much like the VSCO girl and her fucking scrunchies.
Unfortunately, generally awful people who have made their fame from soundcloud have left a bad taste in the mouths of music consumers. Believe me, I am not caping for these people, I’m just acknowledging that a kid recording over a trap beat in his basement in Wisconsin is not morally corrupt just because he’s on SoundCloud.
Soundcloud is a free to post platform, meaning that anyone from anywhere with access to the internet and a music file can pretty much use it. The importance of this is that artists from different socio-economic classes have freedom of creation on the same level as any given unsigned artist. However, That also means that literally anyone is allowed to attain the title of ‘soundcloud rapper’ including the annoying kids from your high school that sell fake lean in the parking lot.
Maxwell Tyler, a member of the cult of SoundCloud, drives an important point home with this quote:
“Soundcloud rappers are resilient as hell. Constantly getting shit on and put in a box because we release our music on the easiest platform to do so. Constantly being overlooked because the plays aren’t there yet, gets shit for self promoting even though barely anyone wants to help.
Trust me, I a lot of it isn’t great, but that’s with everything. There’s kids way better than me with way less plays because nobody wants to give them a chance, wouldn’t you want to be the first to like something rather than just on a bandwagon? And the whole ‘if you’re good enough they will come’ argument just isn’t true. You can be the best at something but if nobody ever sees or hear you do it no one will fucking know or care. With how saturated the market is HAVE to promote yourself, at least on the come up”
At the end of the day I’m going to listen to every single soundcloud link that gets dropped in my inbox, I do get some sort of strange enjoyment out of supporting struggling artists.
We’ve seen names such as Xavier Wulf and Spooky Black completely blow up overnight on this platform that is often taken for granted. Where would we be as far as music culture without it? Who knows, I’m happy to keep listening though.
“One of the most important things to realize when talking about the trend of soundcloud rappers and musicians is that Soundcloud changed the independent musician game. It gave eager musicians from all socio-economic backgrounds an opportunity to distribute their music online for free without having to go through a distribution agency and allowed for a more diverse voice to be heard. Soundcloud rappers have different experiences than other hip hop artists or even other genres and the platform allowed for free expression of self. The sound is uniquely it’s own, and that’s because it made smaller musicians and ideas more accessible. “
- Erica Nelson @voicebyerica
I really think it’s time to re-define our idea of artists as a whole disregarding where they choose to distribute their music. Continuing to hold those accountable that prove with their actions that they don’t deserve an ounce of recognition, while still giving a hand to those that do.
With this being said, support your local artists of every genre, support your friends and support what you love.
What’s your opinion on SoundCloud? Send me an email at thejackalsatlas@gmail.com or hit me on Instagram at @skyeline_
Photo by Drisigner