The worlds of electronic and ambient music have been guests within the world of hip-hop for a long time now. Artists like Travis Scott have successfully integrated these two previously separate guests into hip-hop to great effect. Though at its core, the music of a Travis was hip-hop first, with other ambient and electronic sounds added into the mix on top of that. But with the music from today’s guest, Yungwebster, the math has changed.

New York’s Yungwebster shows us what it sounds like when ambient music is the fundamental foundation, with hip-hop weaved as an addition. This leads to music, such as Yungwebster’s latest self-titled album from 2023, which is a one-of-a kind exploration of what is being dubbed “ambient rap”.

It boasts thick washed out synths, cavernous basslines, and beautiful ethereal vocals evoking some of the prettiest moments of the cloud rap era. Yungwebster’s melodic auto-tuned vocals serve as an instrument, fully submerged into the beat, yet still making an impact with its songwriting pop that is reminiscent of the best work of a Future or Young Thug.

To learn more about something so exciting and wholly fresh, I invited Dash Lewis, talented writer (Pitchfork, HipHopDX, The Guardian, PassionWeiss, and more) to co-host this conversation with Yungwebster, bringing his refined knowledge of electronic music to the table.

Listen to this episode to familiarize yourself with an artist that is surely like nothing else you’ve heard before!

The Plug (0:53).

The Interview (3:03).

The intersection between ambient and rap in Yungwebster’s music (5:47).

How Yungwebster linked up with premier electronic music label, sferic (8:49).

Yungwebster’s key influences in the ambient space (12:33).

Yungwebster’s mindstate when creating Yungwebster (14:21).

Yungwebster’s instrument-like vocals (17:11).

The inspiration behind the different time-shifted versions of songs on Yungwebster (21:40).

How Yungwebster nurtured a global network of producers on his self-titled album (24:39).

Yungwebster viewing himself as an ambient artist first (27:34).

Other ambient rappers Yungwebster recommends (29:20).

Upcoming projects from Yungwebster (30:34).

Buy/stream Yungwebster here: https://sferic.bandcamp.com/album/yungwebster 

Follow Yungwebster on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/yungwebster_/   

Follow Dash Lewis on Twitter here: https://x.com/gardenerjams?lang=en 

Follow Dash Lewis on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gardenerjams/?hl=en 

Intro/Outro beat by: BLOODBLIXING

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