Jerk (music genre)

Jerk is a music subgenre blending hip-hop and internet rap that emerged in New York City during the early 2020s. It draws inspiration from the original 2000s wave of jerk rap and street dance culture.

Notable artists associated with the scene include Xaviersobased, Phreshboyswag, Nettspend, Fakemink, Islurwhenitalk, YT, EsDeeKid, Yhapojj and Jim Legxacy. The genre achieved particularly significant success in the United Kingdom, where it helped give rise to the UK Underground scene.

Characteristics

Writing for British magazine The Face, music journalist Kieran Press-Reynolds described jerk as "fidgety rhythms, staggered snares and mangled vocals", and noted that a variety of jerk rappers "boast" but also showcase "a quirky and sensitive lyrical undercurrent [that] tends to lurk beneath the tough-guy facade".

According to New York magazine The Fader, although Xaviersobased and his collective 1c34 are credited with spearheading the jerk genre, he never listened to the original wave of jerk rap and is more inspired by Milwaukee hip-hop's lowend scene in his "percussion choices".

History

Origins

In 2021, New York rapper Xaviersobased formed the collective 1c34, who reimagined the sound of jerk rap into a completely different style, adapting its framework to fit the evolving aesthetics of underground rap. They are credited with spearheading and popularizing the movement which was then further developed by Californian producer kashpaint. This new style of jerk rap blended elements of cloud rap, digicore, lowend and plugg.

Writing for The Face, music critic Kieran Press-Reynolds labelled tracks such as Xaviersobased's "Patchmade" (2022), Phreshboyswag's "Inspire" (2023), and Nettspend's "Shine N Peace" (2023) as "jerk anthems".