Rap and hip hop are big-time deals these days. Everyone’s trying to get into the game, but it’s kinda tough to rise above the noise.
A lot of ya’ll are asking: “How do you really get your music heard these days?”
Don’t sweat it though, because SoundCloud hip hop tags are your secret weapon. These are key to popping off on social media like Instagram and TikTok.
We’re gonna look at some popular tags to get your music that attention, but first, let’s sweat some SoundCloud hashtag technique:
SoundCloud popularity can feel like a lockbox sometimes, with just no way in, so finding the right hashtag strategy is the key to getting your rap and hip hop tracks noticed on Soundcloud!
Here are a few ways to do just that:
If you wanna start to promote your hip hop music on SoundCloud, try starting with these broad hashtags:
#rapperswanted is a cool way to connect with others in the rap scene and create collaboration opportunities. With this hashtag, you can network, find new talent, build a fanbase and stand out in a busy market.
It’s a must-have tool for promoting your music on SoundCloud. This hashtag, combined with others like #rap or #hiphop, can increase your chances of being noticed by industry professionals.
Being a #soundcloudartist makes it easier to get noticed in the music industry.
The #soundcloudartist hashtag can help hip hop and rap artists stand out in a tough scene. This tag encourages creativity and helps you connect with other artists who share your goals.
Obviously, this hashtag is for musicians who are not yet signed to a record label. It is an avenue for aspiring musicians to share their work and potentially catch the attention of music producers, record labels, managers, and music fans alike.
When using the #unsigntalent hashtag you want to stick to:
This includes the first examples of hip hop that came from New York in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Although they were categorized with different sub-genres later, most hip hop tunes from this era are called old-school hip hop. Some of the most famous artists from that era were The Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Flash and Slick Rick.
Named after the drum production style of drum boom and snare bap, Boom-Bap is a famous rap style from the 90s. It features soul and funk influences, a moderate tempo, and rhyming with hard-hitting drums. Having inspired other sub-genres, it is still one of the most loved rap styles.
Rap music is heavily shaped by gangster life and those posing as gangstas. Gangsta Rap takes the gangsta and street life as its narrative and Boom Bap rap style as its base. As one of the most significant and famous rap styles, Gangsta Rap is considered an honest document of life in the everyday street game out there.
A step forward from the Boom-Bap is Jazz Rap, which uses many samples from jazz and soul music. In the 2000s, hip hop artists pushed the limits of samples and production styles with complex rhyme schemes, creating a hip hop/jazz fusion.
The most popular hip hop style since the 2010s is Trap, which influenced almost all mainstream genres with its unique trap-beat style. It’s got a punchy bass sound and fast hi-hat use with triplets that began in Atlanta with artists Metro Boomin and Zaytoven.
Born in Chicago during the early 2010s, Drill is a sub-genre of Trap music. The music is very similar to trap with speedy hi-hat triplet grooves, synth pads, and horns samples, but the attitude and narrative are highly different. With violent lyrics, Drill talks about guns and gangsta street life.
UK Drill combines the UK Grime lyrics with the Chicago-originated Drill’s trap music, creating a synthesis of genres. UK Drill was born in the late 2010s, and the main artists of the genre are Stickz and Skribz. The most distinctive aspect of the genre is, again, the rhymes about violent crimes.
Born in the U.K. during the early 2000s, Grime is a combination of electronic dance music and beat-driven hip hop music production. In Grime songs, British slang from London is used with a unique lyrical style. The music features a synth-and-pads-focused groove with influences from U.K. garage music.
As the synthesis of Nashville pop-country and Atlanta trap, Country Trap is a relatively new genre. With trap grooves and hats combined with 808 claps from party-style pop-country music, the sub-genre has a unique combination. The first hit of the genre is considered Lil Nas X with Old Town Road.
Latin Trap is a relatively new subgenre which born from the marriage of reggaeton and trap music. It features a classic Dembow of reggaeton combined with fast trap hats. The lyrics are in Spanish and have both rapped and sung parts. The genre is highly popular in Latin countries.
Characterized by airy-sounding abstract sounds and atmospheric tones with more introspective melodies, Cloud Rap differs heavily from traditional hip hop’s dancy percussive grooves. The main artists of the genre are Clams Casino, Oakland duo Main Attrakionz, and A$AP Rocky.
One of the rare instrumental hip hop styles is Lo-Fi hip hop, which got highly popular thanks to YouTube playlists. It features jazz-rap-style drums, moody and low-key samples, and eccentric melodies with boom-bap-inspired beats.
Rooted in the 90s, rap-rock gets the high energy and sound of rock music with a rapping style together. The genre has rock bands like Linkin Park incorporating rapping next to their singing, as well as hip hop artists like Jay-Z sampling rock songs for their rapping.
Frat Rap is a more casual rap style that focuses on the party lifestyle of mainly U.S.A. college fraternities, which is the origin of the style’s name. The songs are carefree and uplifting, which are pretty different from the rest of hip hop culture.
One of the most famous subgenres of hip hop is G-Funk, with globally famous names like Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. G-Funk was created in the late 90s with the fusion of hip hop electronic drum beats with funky grooves.
Mainly known for its strong influence on other subgenres like G-Funk, Hyphy was the main player on the west coast in the 90s. It is a fun music style with funky rhythms and a laid-back feel. Hyphy inspired Dr. Dre significantly, who created G-Funk, one of the most popular hip hop styles.
Footwork is a unique hip hop subgenre, which shines with its peculiar grooves and melodies in very high B.P.M.s. The style is similar to trap but with a faster and more groovy feel. The drums and rhythm are the main players, along with jazzy and soul samples.
One of the darkest sub-genres of hip hop is Horrorcore, transgressive and dark gangsta rap with occult imagery and graphic lyrics. The genre has southern roots in Memphis and Houston, while the music features a unique trap style and is an inspiration for trap music.
In the early ’90s, the South had a different hip hop scene in New Orleans called Bounce. It was a more fun-sounding sub-genre compared to the gritty and harsh tone of New York rap. It had a fusion of soul and R&B sounds along with a dance groove. Bounce was famous for its female MCs.
Conscious Hip Hop is the response of hip hop to police brutality against African-Americans. Born with the boom-bap during the 90s, conscious hip hop is more characterized by the lyrical content that shows the anger of the black communities and politically speaks the truth. Public Enemy would be the premier example of Conscious Hip Hop.
Came to life during the early 1990s in the southwest U.S.A, Crunk is one of the unique sub-genre of hip hop. Crunk means getting excited and hyped in the South slang. With its unique gnarly vocals, fast hi-hat use, and punchy bass lines, Crunk is one of the most distinct-sounding hip hop styles.
In the late 90s, a new wave of rap was born called Backpack, which rejected the polished mainstream rap, creating an underground hip hop scene with Afrocentric and conscious rap origins. The artists and fans had backpacks with books, rhyme pads, spray paint, or vinyl inside.
Emo Rap peculiarly combines nihilistic lyrics, melancholy melodies of the emo world, and neo-R&B grooves and production styles. The main characteristics of the genre are the lyrics about pain and the aesthetics of emo and grunge costumes.
Mumble rap is a direct approach to rap with trap-style beats and very fast rhyming with absurd words that mainly do not mean anything. That is where the name is derived from and the most important characteristic of the genre.
Wrapping up, the right hashtags can be your ticket to getting noticed and blowing up on social media.
Use them wisely, my friend.
100%. Doing it smartly with hashtags can get you more followers and raise the buzz on other socials like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. Be tactical and fresh with your hashtag game and your tracks will land on the ears they’re meant for.
Well, depends on how fast the music scene changes. To keep your edge and reach as many as possible, try sprucing up your Soundcloud hashtag list, maybe once a month. Keep the tags current, keep ’em relevant.
Skipping on hashtag research might not go down too well; visibility can take a hit or worse, your hashtags might be used all wrong.
Too much tagging, or tagging all wrong, can spell trouble. You can see a serious engagement dip, or, worst-case, SoundCloud might suspend your account.