2020s underground music / aesthetic

[rémineur]

Hi everyone, can someone tell me what exactly are the current musical trends in the underground culture ?

In the 2010s, it was obvious to me that genres like vaporwave, synthwave or nu disco were very popular. Many artists in those communities were getting over a million of views/streams.
But at the moment I barely manage to find new independent artists that go over 10 000 views on YouTube.

During the last 2 or 3 years, there was a barber beats trend, but I have the impression that it is now running out of steam. I also saw that genres like DnB or hyperpop are appreciated at the moment, but I didn't find major artists as could be Saint-Pepsi or Telepath for vaporwave.

So, to you, what could be the underground music of the 2020s ?

 

[__legalizenukes2024__]

I dont know, would like to find out

 

[timelinker14]

Me neither, curious about future replies.

 

[pikaro]

I would absolutely say that the current underground trend/aesthetic is Jungle/Breakcore, along with everything in between, especially prevalent after artists like Sewerslvt came along (and subsequently departed)

 

[rémineur]

I would absolutely say that the current underground trend/aesthetic is Jungle/Breakcore, along with everything in between, especially prevalent after artists like Sewerslvt came along (and subsequently departed)

I agree ! I discovered Sewerslvt a few weeks ago (after having written this thread) and I realized that many artists are very popular in the breakcore scene. I'm not a big fan of the genre though, so I hope other scenes will emerge

 

[D1G1TAL]

Phonk and Dream Pop seem to be huge right now.

 

[Jessica3cho雪血⊜青意]

The posts about Phonk, Hyperpop, Breakcore and stuff are definitely on point.

I also feel like Dark Trap and Otacore have been a pretty big niche. Not sure how much they're blowing up, but sometimes I see songs with millions of listens.

 

[Boxerdog]

The bedroompunk/e-punk scene was mildly popular during 2019-2022 until it exploded itself with e-drama, The Greasetech scene had a 20k people car/motorcycle meet up festival in the middle of nowhere with people coming in from all over the world, Raiderwave rock been a thing since 2016 But now the second generation are the ones that are having some sort of popular and financial success(and are the ones that can actually make good music), I went to a Cyberriaders Jam last week and it was pretty packed especially for something that has less than 1m people on it worldwide inside an already small subculture.

 

[approaching perfection]

went to a big underground rave the other night. similar aesthetics and vibe to hardcore punk right now but with more anime, at least in the western us. lots of meme samples and just memes in general; i have friends who went to a 'shadow x sonic' house rave a few months ago.

 

[scroll]

The bedroompunk/e-punk scene was mildly popular during 2019-2022 until it exploded itself with e-drama

Wait till Gez drops a full album this hot ->
View: https://soundcloud.com/gezebellegaburgably/believe

I could see a resurgence in epunk ez, just need someone to start organizing more live shows.

 

[Boxerdog]

I could see a resurgence in epunk ez, just need someone to start organizing more live shows.

E-punk died when it started to associate itself with c tier e-celebs and wanted to become punkrock 2.0 instead of its own thing.
For it to come back it would have to sever all ties with the first gen of itself.

 

[MacchyMacchy]

I'm quite into this underground rap wave called rage, which seems to be a fusion between trap and edm/hyperpop, with productions characterized by very simple synths (usually square or saw) and melodies vaguely reminiscent of 8-bit video game soundtracks. The video clips often have this vhs glitch aesthetic, gothic and vampiric atmospheres, with obvious references to the world of retro gaming.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPLyotolzJE



View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3Y6ooU9qg8


A year ago I thought that this genre would soon become mainstream given the redundancy of trap music in recent years. Instead it remained trending exclusively among soundcloud rappers and a few exceptions in the indie environment.
Many of these artists are absolutely trashy, but musically I find it a turning point within the increasingly monotonous rap world.

 

[UCD]

The biggest songs in the underground get popular on tiktok, get 1.5 million views and 100 different sped up and slowed down versions on a tiktok music channel, and nobody ever goes to listen to a single other thing the artist did.

 

[kurtz]

Shed Theory is gettin serious steam in the underground I feel, especially Joeyy. But its worth checking out all 13 members. My favorite member right now is Tek Lintowe, he just dropped an album.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQO5sUgUiXs&list=OLAK5uy_mshAu1LNId1jQwwdBmoCrL0FNz57_CJPo

 

[h00]

If it breaches the surface its not so underground anymore is it?
I think Vaporwave became an alternative electronic genre near its peak. Millions of hits means not so underground imo.
"phonk" aint underground anymore, "breakcore" (may it rest in peace) aint underground anymore


View: https://youtu.be/enqz4brx9ZY


View: https://youtu.be/_chRBqnJyi4


View: https://youtu.be/mrgX_1V5Cn8


View: https://youtu.be/6drUFcrmSXw


View: https://youtu.be/yICq2yzjhgA

PAUL DEAD - NOMIA (PART 2)

SUPPORT - https://boosty.to/pauldeadSPOTIFY - https://open.spotify.com/artist/3V0oY6bNDGVmSYSW9cNmL1----Bandcamp - http://pauldeelaek.bandcamp.comSoundcloud ...

youtu.be

Postrock, Barberbeats, 90s style jungle / dnb, 00s style dubstep, Witchtrap have their scene and have plenty of steam
Let the tiktok kids have their oneminute wonders, hopefully they'll leave the rest alone

 

[Another Name]

Phonk ain't been underground since Juciy J got into Trap.

If it breaches the surface its not so underground anymore is it?
I think Vaporwave became an alternative electronic genre near its peak. Millions of hits means not so underground imo.
"phonk" aint underground anymore, "breakcore" (may it rest in peace) aint underground anymore


View: https://youtu.be/enqz4brx9ZY


View: https://youtu.be/_chRBqnJyi4


View: https://youtu.be/mrgX_1V5Cn8


View: https://youtu.be/6drUFcrmSXw


View: https://youtu.be/yICq2yzjhgA

PAUL DEAD - NOMIA (PART 2)

SUPPORT - https://boosty.to/pauldeadSPOTIFY - https://open.spotify.com/artist/3V0oY6bNDGVmSYSW9cNmL1----Bandcamp - http://pauldeelaek.bandcamp.comSoundcloud ...

youtu.be

Postrock, Barberbeats, 90s style jungle / dnb, 00s style dubstep, Witchtrap have their scene and have plenty of steam
Let the tiktok kids have their oneminute wonders, hopefully they'll leave the rest alone

 

[alix]

Phonk ain't been underground since Juciy J got into Trap.

TikTok, Spotify and sigma kids completely killed phonk. It literally was the most brutal death of a genre I have ever seen.
Phonk is an example of why having standards (now known as gatekeeping) is important.

View: https://youtube.com/watch?v=UAV7hnCB_ZE&feature=share9

 

[Kapizi]

I see a lot of Punk (garage punk, surf punk, synth/egg punk) and post-punl/goth resurgence mostly, shoegaze too

 

[kodeb8]

There's this thing called maidcore. I don't know that much about it, but I believe it comes from the Russian internet.

 

[pikaro]

There's this thing called maidcore. I don't know that much about it, but I believe it comes from the Russian internet.

oaouhhhh i freaking love maidcore