Earlier this year, the U.S. Congress named November the official Hip-Hop History Month. To celebrate, organizations like the Universal Hip-Hop Museum have made exhibits and tributes to rappers to start the month.
SoundCloud decides to hop in on the fun, as they launched their #SoundCloudGreats campaign on Nov. 1, starting with Lil Uzi Vert. In the post, they explained they were honoring artists who built their career on SoundCloud, by listing their milestones on the app: “To celebrate #HipHopHistoryMonth, we’re paying homage to SoundCloud Greats by highlighting milestones from their journey on SoundCloud. @LILUZIVERT is equal parts a hip-hop trendsetter and rockstar. It all started on 12/25/2013.”
Uzi’s post included his first song uploaded to SoundCloud titled “White Shit” on Christmas 2013, as well as his top track, “XO TOUR Llif3,” and which city listened to him the most, Chicago.
Subsequently, they honored Trippie Redd on Nov. 3, as his first upload was “Dirty Redd” in 2015, with his top song being “Love Scars/You Hurt Me” and his top city being Los Angeles.
The next two artists they honored were major. On Saturday (Nov. 6), they posted the tribute for Young Thug, saying: “Boundaries are meant to be broken. From his threads to his delivery, the distinct style of @youngthug stands out vividly. His work and legacy serves as a reminder of the power of originality and experimentation in music.”
Jean Baptiste Lacroix/Getty Images
Thugger’s first upload was his legendary track “2 Bitches,” with his top song being “Digits” and his top city being Houston.
XXTENTACION’s tribute was special, as they reflected on his unique impact on the SoundCloud scene and his presence in the rap game that cannot be replicated: “No matter how you look at it, @xxxtentacion‘s music changed the scene. Through real and vulnerable lyrics with a raw sound – Jah was able to strike a chord and connect with listeners in a profound way. #LLJ”
Bennett Raglin/Getty Images
Most recently SoundCloud honored Ski Mask the Slump God yesterday (Nov. 9) and Smokepurpp today (Nov. 10). Overall, this is a wholesome virtual exhibit SoundCloud is doing, showing love to the artists that helped build up the platform. They plan to continue honoring artists for the rest of the month.
Check out all the tributes so far below.