It's still very much alive and ultimately far more resilient than anyone likely imagined in the last days of the '10s.ģ2 Levels gathers together many of the rap luminaries whose careers Clams helped launch - Lil B, A$AP Rocky, Vince Staples - alongside a host of artists whose music has had parallel trajectory to the cloud rap phenomenon. However, Clams Casino proper debut full-length, 32 Levels, out Friday, has proved the subgenre still has a pulse. A thousand airy raps later, its tracks started to feel like ponderous shells of what they once were and rappers began to move on. The 29-year-old beatsmith Clams Casino, aka Michael Volpe, enjoyed a monumental breakout back in 2011 when he pioneered a subgenre that came to be known as ' cloud rap.' Characterized by its heady, atmospheric soundscapes, drawn-out choral samples and penetrating drums, his beats were everywhere, providing a foundation for rappers like A$AP Rocky, Lil B, The Weeknd and Mac Miller to start building their careers. Ears perk up across the genre and artists rush toward it en masse, biting that style over and over again until the life in it is gone.

It's happened a million times: A producer will come up with a hot sound. At times, it seems like hip-hop - including its listeners and its artists - has the attention span of a golden retriever puppy.

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