Phonk

A massive hit with online gym and drift videos, phonk thrives on a highly bassy and warped, chiptune- and cowbell-driven smorgasbord of sounds that sometimes barely echoes the genre’s lineage in ’90s southern hip-hop and trap. These new and recent essentials shine a light on the producers driving digital phonk—and variants like aggressive, drift, house phonk and beyond. They alternate high-octane, electronics-heavy mixtures and moody, low-lit atmospheres strewn with choppy vocals and distorted rhymes. This is the perfect soundtrack to an ingenuously synthesised, thrill-seeking ride.