Jerk (also known as jerknb) is a microgenre of hip-hop that emerged in New York City during the early 2020s, drawing inspiration from the original wave of jerk rap, known as jerkin' in the street dance culture, that gained popularity in the early 2010s.
Notable artists who have contributed to the genre include Xaviersobased, Nettspend, Yhapojj, brodiebased, glost, Tenkay, st47ic, phreshboyswag, Subiibabii, len333, ksuuvi, and feardorian. Alongside works by producers chaosysl, cru, 444jet, noli, ss3bby, bbuggin, cranes, elibanss, nyli, kenocide and cj808.
In 2021, New York rapper Xaviersobased formed the collective 1c34 with founding members st47ic, glost and cranes, who reimagined the sound of jerk rap into a completely different style, adapting its framework to fit the evolving aesthetics of underground rap.[2] 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, Milwaukee lowend and plugg, with songs being released and proliferated on music streaming services like SoundCloud, and on social media platforms such as TikTok.[1][3][4]
Xavier's 2022 track “Patchmade” produced by kashpaint is widely regarded as a foundational moment. The movement was later carried forward by artists such as Yhapojj and Nettspend. Notable underground rappers like Duwap Kaine later drew influence from the style, releasing the album DuwapSoBased in 2023.[1][5] Artists Islurwhenitalk who formed the collective jewelxxet and Subiibabii were later credited for pioneering the "vampjerk" style, which drew from the genre sigilkore.[1]
While rooted in the US, the jerk scene gained further momentum in the UK, with the movement being regarded as a "new UK rap revolution".[6][7] Although originally pioneered in the early 2020s by British rapper Phreshboyswag,[8][9][1] who had previously been a member of 1c34, the UK's jerk scene only saw further proliferation in late 2024, as spearheaded by artists like YT[10][11] with the singles, "Black and Tan" and "Prada or Celine."[12][13] These singles were later followed by releases in the genre by artists such as Fakemink,[14][15][16]Jim Legxacy, Len and Fimiguerrero.[8][17][18]
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