SoundCloud has taken over modern day hip-hop/rap and has even created and inspired young artists within the school. As a platform for sharing music independently, many students have started to make music and post it on SoundCloud.

Most student musicians are rappers that use beats they find on the internet or they create them themselves. SoundCloud has built a community and a culture of its own. But who and what is inspiring students to create music at such an early age?

“Kid Cudi inspires me; he’s inspired so many people and worked with so many great artists, like Kanye [West],” senior Sebastian Bendigo said.

Students seem to be inspired mostly by hip-hop/”trap” artists.

“After hearing some Metro Boomin songs, I was like, ‘Hey, I wanna do that,” junior Noah Feno said.

Sure pop-culture has had both positive and negative effects on kids, but nowadays it seems it’s been inspiring them left and right. The term “SoundCloud rappers” has gained a negative image from the more traditional hip-hop fans, who are sometimes referred to as “old heads.” But how many of these “rappers” actually rap? Feno explained why he is considered a producer.

“I make the beats, and I lay it down,” Feno said. “I tell the rapper to spit it and he goes off.”

In earlier years, the producers of songs didn’t get as much recognition as the main talent. But with the rise of popularity on Soundcloud, producers have been receiving more credit in mainstream media.

“I sometimes rap; I kinda like creating a Frank Ocean vibe,” Bendigo said. “I sometimes use guitars and pick out samples but my friend makes the beats.”

Sure, many students create music as a hobby, but the probability of one of these prodigies actually making it big in the music industry is slim.

“Honestly, from our school, I think someone will become successful because we’ve had Kettle Run students become successful before,” Bendigo said. “Of course I have hopes, everybody does,” Feno said. “Anyone who makes music hopes to make it big.”

With the amount of talent in Kettle Run currently, one of these students is bound to blow up. Connor Burnett, an alumni of the 2016-2017 class, has experienced a great amount of success through music in the past few years.

“I’ve released three albums so far but I’ve made way more than three,” Burnett said.

Now that Burnett is on iTunes, Spotify, and other music streaming platforms, he decided to take himself off of SoundCloud after it being his only platform in the beginning.

“I wanted to get off of SoundCloud because the genre of music I’m making no longer fits on that platform,” Burnett said. “SoundCloud is mainly a high volume hip-hop/rap platform now so whenever people even see a link, they assume you’re a rapper.”

Although Burnett does have a good point that SoundCloud is mostly rap, there’s still a wide variety of music on the platform.

“I produce all of my music now, but in the past, I’ve worked with producers like Jaden Smith, Yuki and Wonderlust.” said Burnett.

Hopefully Burnett’s success inspires aspiring musicians in our school to create bigger names for themselves and thrive in the industry.