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GENRE: PHONK

CONTEXT & HISTORY

Phonk is a subgenre of hip hop and trap music directly inspired by 1990s Memphis rap. The style is characterized by vocals from old Memphis rap tapes and samples from early 1990s hip hop, especially cowbell samples resembling that of the Roland TR-808 drum machine.

a gen z take on 'chopped and screwed' (slowed & reverbed, phonk).

Chopped and screwed is a music genre and technique of remixing music that involves slowing down the tempo and DJing. It was developed in the Houston hip hop scene in the early 1990s by DJ Screw.

this genre has been trending on youtube, continuing to produce content ganing millions of views in short amounts of time...

KEY LABELS Black17 KEY ARTISTS KEY WORDS aggressive drift gym cars brazilian demonic anime dark KEY CREATORS SEARCH TERMS phonk phonk music phonky town TRASH ryan celcius TAKEAWAYS - there is a surprising and disappointing amount of fake / auto generated / content farmy stuff going on in this category. i was pretty curious about this trend but to it feels like all hype and no quality. almost impossible to find things that feel genuine in this category, and to sift past the mass content creation. - the channel TRASH is one i've been following thats run by a genuine group of guys but it was showing up so deep down the searches, under 'phonky town' of anything because of a famous track they have uploaded called that. playa phonk - phonky town [trash] - there is too much anime copyright issues for us to really dig into this unless creators are open to trying a new and different approach, but even then, not noticing a lot of creators out there we would want to work with in this area. question: how can we identify actual quality in this genre?

PART I: THE BAD

YT search term: phonk

first short result (after clearing all astrology related searches and history...)

intersting to notice that a lottt of the first search results for phonk show pretty auto-generated / farmed looking content. had to sift thru quite a bit to find something that felt more human.

even though the numbers are big, it feels off because of the very repetitive titles, amount of posting, ai / anime type covers. also in browing starting to notice a lot of similar about sections, titles, and images...

soulz music group from vietnaam seems to be monopolizing the search results and drowning out anything else.

left: phonk // right: phonktime

https://www.youtube.com/@PhonkSenpaiMusic/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@phonkclub99/videos

the titling, images, and about descriptions on these channels is enough to make me think all 4 channels are from the same group...

FINALLY a human seeming channel in the search reults

(or wait maybe not)

so far this is the first single track oriented channel, based on an artist HISTED... but to be honest i am feeling suspicious now and thinking this may also be AI or generated...

MAYBE FOR REAL THIS TIME...

@naomisakut0‧123K subscribers‧393 videos

single track focused and holding the big/fast numbers. uncleared anime visuals carrying this channel. here we see: brazilian phonk / slowed + reverbed. performs very well but clearly problematic with the visuals.

below: 4.4M views 2 months ago #slowedandreverb #slowedphonk #brazilianphonk

from naomi's channel i went to the spotify pages they had linked as there was two: naomi and dj naomi. the way they are formatted are as artist pages rather than hosting playlists. under 'fans also like' as a never ending array of 'artist' with purple / red anime profile photos, that lead me to continue questioning the authenticiy of this entire space...

https://www.youtube.com/@NeZzSongs/videos

search term: phonk music

https://www.youtube.com/@blue_chocolate/videos

seems to be sending me to anime vibes / nightcore (still all feeling super fake)

at least this one has different photos: https://www.youtube.com/@SlowedBabe

https://www.youtube.com/@cursedevilplaylists/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@ZaaxPhonk/featured

overall, pretty bad and pretty disappointing. all that still stands out are the OG ones like TRASH and Ryan Celcius. even though its a massiev trend, it's completely lacking quality and genuinity.

Ryan Celcius forever!

PART II: THE GOOD

overall, everything outlined in PI is pretty bad and disappointing. all that still stands out are the OG ones like TRASH, Ryan Celcius, Black17. even though its a massive trend, it's completely lacking quality and genuity.

PHONK DOMAIN (by Black17)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BLACK 17 MEDIA (@black17media)

secondary channel by TRASH: https://www.youtube.com/@scroll-gang/videos

PART III: TIKTOK PHONK

1.8M Followers https://www.tiktok.com/@carphonkbr

1.4M Followers https://www.tiktok.com/@phonkmusicl?

1.2M Followers https://www.tiktok.com/@ph0nk0ne

431.5K https://www.tiktok.com/@deathphonk666

wicked phonk: tt & yt. lots of subscribers but low views

150K Followers https://www.tiktok.com/@wickedphonk

245K subscribers https://www.youtube.com/@WICKEDPHONK

PART IV: EVERYTHING ELSE

https://www.youtube.com/@brazilianphonkco

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UPCOMING EXPLORATIONS

genre: wave / downtempo / phonk / brazilian phonk

genre: footwork jungle / dnb / dubstep / "idm"

genre: uk vibes: ukg, drill etc

genre: techno

genre: country?

genre: k pop genre: afro

creator: femme lifestyle vloggers

creator: musicians

long form / short form

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CREATOR CATEGORY 002: DARK / LIGHT ACADEMIA

quoted from a video found on what dark academia is: "the fantasy/dream of an old-school type education where the purspose is for expansion of the mind, rather than only as a tool to get a job.'

KEYWORDS: piano music study music classical music sadness dark academia light academia romanticism poetic existential pomodoro SEARCH TERMS dark academia dark academia playlist dark academia music dark academia lofi study music TAKEAWAYS mostly long-form playlist format. opportunity to explore classical and ambient genres. sad, solitude, emotional, aspiring young student vibes high views across the board in this category very specific visual vibe. grainy, film, vintage, old architecture some clearly AI made channels in this category, they feel easy to spot based on format, text, and images shorts in this category feature lots of fashion videos. aesthetic apartment, books... there could be an opportunity here to collaborate with sony and their classical catalog (i believe they mentioned they have one) there is a lot of ai/content farm generated content to sift through. the channels i include below are the ones that to me seem to most 'human'. //

search term: dark academia lofi

'study with me' playlists / ambient music.

search term: study music

this is almost getting into a whole other word, however i wanted to know how closely relatable it would be to dark academia, and the crossover to the massive realm of lofi/study music (or not).

this channel, focused on binaural beats showed up a lot in the results:

"Welcome to Study Sonic Focus! Your go-to destination for unlocking your academic potential and mastering the art of effective studying. Led by Gia, a recent STEM graduate and valedictorian, our channel is dedicated to providing science-backed strategies and practical tips to enhance your focus, concentration, and productivity..."

2M+ views in 2 months:

//

stand out creators:

other links to explore:

https://www.youtube.com/@nympheosbert

https://www.youtube.com/@little_soul/videos

what is light academia? this video explains it very well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bwi4MVEgA8

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CREATOR CATEGORY 001: ASTROLOGY & MYSTICISM [PART II]

SEARCH TERMS astrology creators music for astrology mystic music TAKEAWAYS Astrology Music searches led into suggestions of witch/mystic/forest fairy/fantasy/ambient type music which I wasn’t necessarily expecting, and is honestly a bit overwhelming. From here it also led to the discovery of an internet aesthetic that emerged during covid, for students called ‘dark academia, it combines goth and old school preppy fashion with passion for academia, poetry, philosophy, older forms of study. This seems to also relate to a vibe of music. Piano, lofi, classical. Found an interesting channel of a med student doing study vlogs with videos of her studying, with playlists in this ‘dark academia’ theme. Music for astrology also led into ambient sounds, ‘healing’ sounds, hand pan / sound bath long form type content. Also hints of ASMR content which will be for another day… lots of long form content. haven't seen anything yet that uses the current district single track format.

KEY TERMS astrology mysticism ambient healing asmr dark academia wicca celtic fairy ethereal

search term: mystic music

Weird elven / lord of the rings / forest ‘ambient’ music findings.

‘Deep chill’ atmospheric electronic. ‘Fludified’ stands out and a channel i’ve seen before

led me to the below...

stand out creator: sleepyhead

creator / singer/ composer…. At first i thought this was some weird AI stuff but i looked her up on IG and i stand corrected.

“My name is Burcu Gönül and I compose enchanting humming songs, and hauntingly beautiful siren, mermaid, and fairy songs on my channel. I aim to make you feel relaxed, help you sleep and give you peace while I also inspire you. My main instrument is my voice and I love experimenting with my voice a lot. “

// this ends the search section.

stand out creator: oath oracle

Instagram main platform

Main focus astrology business, but she is an entrepreneur. She is partially local and has performed dance at bass coast. I think she would likely have interest in based on this in a music channel to compliment her other practises.

https://www.instagram.com/oath.oracle

to explore further:

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CREATOR CATEGORY 001: ASTROLOGY & MYSTICISM [PART I]

I see potential to bridge astrology creators and their practices into audiovisual experience offerings that compliment their other art forms. By developing secondary music channels for their followers to dive into pre, post or during session to compliment the experience of exploring yourself through astrology.

it's a theme i've bene noticing lately, somewhat unintentionally.

dj manuka honey is a perfect example of someone embodying the connection between astrology, spirituality and music.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by sabukaru.online (@sabukaru.online)

search terms

search term: astrology creators

provided some weak results featuring sort of tacky creators, clickbatey dating help type stuff...

next i wanted to search some successful ones i’m personally aware of and like, to see where that would lead me:

chris corsini

queer creator who expresses everything verbally and also via ASL, american sign language, creating accessible content. he can engage a unique audience that a lot of others don’t.

@chriscorsinitarot‧78.9K subscribers‧700 videos

They have a music project discovered on their astro channel as well

@mdlchldmusic‧1.6K subscribers‧15 videos

search term: music for astrology

healing vibrations... a guilty pleasure personal favourite. they generally do sound baths (long form content) but i would be very curious to see what music they would ‘curate’ in our format.

Cocorrina - small channel but the concept of this video is kind of what I see potential for with creators in this lane

suggeted video exploration from here...:

hard to tell if this is an AI channel or not..^

20.5K subscribers - 74 videos: long form, celtic / witch / wiccan inspired ambient esque mixes with very ethereal/forest/fairy/witch vibes. Popular videos have 300k-100k views.

...this is where i started to notice the dark academia theme.

my notes on the discovery...

What is dark academia… i had to know lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDjEGVOelp0

Led me to this guy.. 

Robin Waldun - @RCWaldun -376K subscribers -212 videos

“Young people dressing like old people” lol

Dark academia is an internet aesthetic and subculture concerned with higher education, the arts, and literature, or an idealized version thereof.

we're going to save that deepdive for another day...

END PART ONE.