Digicore

Digicore (originally known as draincore) is an Internet microgenre of hip-hop and electronic music that developed alongside hyperpop in the late 2010s to early 2020s. The genre is typically made up

Etymology#

The term “digicore” is a portmanteau of “digital” and “-core” (derived from hardcore), and originally appeared in the 2000s as a shortening for the genre “digital hardcore”. In the late 2010s, an online community of teenage musicians, communicating through Discord, coined the modern usage of the term “digicore” to distinguish themselves from the preexisting hyperpop scene. The style was originally seen as a subgenre of hyperpop, though later described as developing alongside the movement. In late 2019, artist lonelee, the founder of the record label teardrop digital, coined the modern usage of the term “digicore” to replace draincore,

Characteristics#

Pioneering artists were typically between the ages of 15 to 18 at the microgenre’s inception. Digicore differs from hyperpop mainly by its primary focus on trap-based influences but there remains a degree of crossover between the scenes. The genre is characterised by heavy autotune, layered melodies and instrumentation, high-pitched, breathy vocals, sing-rapping, sharp 808s, and frequent hi-hats. Writer Billie Bugara describes that artists of the scene “pull from genres as wide-reaching as midwestern emo, trance, and even Chicago drill”. Other influences include the work of Duwap Kaine, BBY Goyard, Sybyr and Charli XCX. BrooklynVegan credited the pair as “responsible for the Soundcloud scene’s transition from emo rap to hyperpop”. Alongside, stylistic and aesthetic influences from internet memes and culture, internet aesthetics, old internet nostalgia, and online short-form content, with lyrics usually being introspective, depressive or ironic. Several key artists identify as gay, non-binary, or transgender. The microgenre’s emphasis on vocal modulation has allowed artists to experiment with gender presentation and androgyny in their voices. According to Rolling Stone magazine, collectives such as Novagang and Helix Tears “feature artists of variously different styles and sounds, but find community with each other in their shared rejection of stylistic limits.”

2010s–2020s: Origins#

In 2018, Dalton, a figure in the digicore scene, started a Minecraft and Discord server called “Loser’s Club”, which became a hub for several of the most popular artists within the digicore scene such as Quinn, Kmoe, and Midwxst. These artists drew primary influence from Bladee and his collective Drain Gang, which inspired a microgenre known as “draincore”. The early scene was centered around various SoundCloud collectives such as Helix Tears, Novagang, bloodhounds, slowsilver03, Varsity, Graveem1nd, Co-op and Goonncity. In 2020, the style saw a rise in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, with teenage artists who were out of school primarily making music during the lockdowns. According to British magazine The Face: played a key role in popularising the scene, through video edits to two viral songs “NEVER MET!” by CMTEN and Glitch Gum and “Pressure” by Yungster Jack and David Shawty. In 2021, the digicore album Frailty by Jane Remover (who previously pioneered the dariacore microgenre) received praise on mainstream music sites Pitchfork and Paste, with the Fader stating the album established Jane Remover as “the face of digicore”. Jane Remover has also been described as a “digicore pioneer” by the NME. Writing for Pitchfork, music journalist Kieran Press-Reynolds featured several songs in a list titled “A Deeply Incomplete Canon of Hyperpop-Digicore”, the list included Oaf1, Dreamcache, Valentine, Capoxxo, Twikipedia, Lei, Kurtains, I9bonsai, Kmoe, Brakence, D0llywood1, Quannnic, Dante Red, Angelus, Fortuneswan, Funeral, Blxty, Tropes.

Diversification#

The influence of the genre extended to other artists such as New York rapper Xaviersobased, who has been described as emerging out of the digicore scene through his early work. Additionally, rapper 2hollis draws influences from artists associated with digicore, but has since rejected the label. Additionally, rage artists such as Che and Prettifun have been described as drawing influence from digicore. In 2025, Sheldon Pearce of NPR stated, “The post-100 gecs iterations of this music have assimilated rap as they have everything else, particularly mining the SoundCloud era of the 2010s, which is obviously foundational for many born in the 2000s”. In 2026, the publication No Bells published an article which cited rapper zayok as “the future of digicore”. According to the Fader, Philadelphia rapper Slayr makes “heart-on-his-sleeve digicore”.

Helix Tears#

Helix Tears is an American-Canadian digicore collective formed in 2018 by Blackwinterwells. Notable members include Blackwinterwells, Twikipedia, Babs, 8485, Quinn, Quannnic, Kuru and Midwxst. In April 2021, Alternative Press magazine labelled the collective as glitchcore, stating, “The blackwinterwells-led helix tears collective is SoundCloud’s most exciting rabbit hole of glitchcore/hexD emo-rap transcendentalists”. In an interview with Dazed magazine, rapper Midwxst stated, “Everyone in helix tears and NOVAGANG” were performing with “different styles, sounds, aesthetics and lives, but having a group of musically gifted people allows us to make music without boundaries.”

Novagang#

Novagang (stylized in uppercase) is an American digicore collective which was formed between 2018-19 by artist Prblm. The group’s name was a portmanteau between his alias “Nova” and “gang”. Writing for The Fader, music journalist Jordan Darville noted that “Prblm under the dj yzma alias, deconstructs modern music’s obsession with pop-punk and so-called ’emo rap’ into shards of spacious and compelling sound art.”

Glitchcore#

Glitchcore is a microgenre that originally developed alongside hyperpop and digicore. Although glitchcore first appeared as a term in the breakcore scene, it later came to describe a style of music associated with the digicore scene. The 2020 single “Pressure” by Yungster Jack and David Shawty has been described as glitchcore. Glitchcore is sometimes conflated with hyperpop due to their similarities.

Visual aesthetic#

Additionally, glitchcore also developed a distinct internet visual aesthetic, that drew primary influence from glitch art, with videos featuring fast-paced, and cluttered edits, often colorful and occasionally marked with flash warnings. This visual style frequently made use of an editing technique known as “datamoshing.” Alt TikTok, played a key role in popularising glitchcore, through video edits to two viral glitchcore/digicore songs “NEVER MET!” by CMTEN and Glitch Gum and “Pressure” by David Shawty and Yungster Jack.

Robloxcore#

Robloxcore is a microgenre that was pioneered in late 2020 by artists such as lungskull and lieu, both of whom began by uploading and “bypassing” music into the popular online game Roblox, with their songs “Foreign” and “Threat” gaining popularity online.

Genre family: 2010s in music, 2020s in music, 21st-century music genres, Hip-hop genres, Internet music genres, Internet rap genres