Genre
Melodic Rap
7 artists
What is melodic rap? Melodic rap blurs the line between rapping and singing. Artists sing their hooks and often their verses too, usually with Auto-Tune, and melody is just as important as the words.
Where it comes from. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Nate Dogg showed early on how melody and rap could merge. Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak (2008) and Drake's So Far Gone (2009) made it the new standard. In the 2010s a whole generation followed, from Young Thug and Future to Lil Yachty and Quavo, while artists like Brent Faiyaz came at it from the R&B side.
The sound. Auto-Tuned vocals, catchy melodic flows and emotional, often vulnerable lyrics, usually over trap or atmospheric R&B beats.
Key albums
- 808s & Heartbreak, Kanye West (2008)
- So Far Gone, Drake (2009)
- Lil Boat, Lil Yachty (2016)
- Quavo Huncho, Quavo (2018)
- Wasteland, Brent Faiyaz (2022)
