imported>Aradicus77 at 16:28, 20 September 2025

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{{Short description|Music genre}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name = Illbient
| stylistic_origins = * [[Ambient music]]
* [[downtempo]]
* [[trip hop]]
* [[East Coast hip hop]]
* [[dub music]]
* [[Jungle music|jungle]]
* [[Post-industrial music|post-industrial]]
* [[Avant-garde music|avant-garde]]
| cultural_origins = Early 1990s, [[New York City]]
| other_topics = * [[Nu jazz]]
* [[Intelligent dance music|IDM]]
* [[Psychedelic trance|psybient]]
* [[Hauntology (music)|hauntology]]
* [[dark ambient]]
* [[dubstep]]
}}
'''Illbient''' is a genre of [[electronic music]] and an [[art movement]] that originated among [[Hip hop music|hip hop]]-influenced [[Experimental music|experimental]] musicians from [[New York City]] in the early 1990s.<ref name="fintoni">{{cite news | first=Laurent| last=Fintoni|title=Detuning the City: An Oral History of Illbient| year = 2014}}</ref><ref name="allmusic">{{Cite web
| url = http://www.allmusic.com/style/illbient-ma0000012348
| title = Electronic » Downtempo » Illbient
| website = [[AllMusic]]
| access-date = October 29, 2014
| quote = Centered in New York City (Brooklyn in particular), illbient is a distinctly and consciously urban form of electronic music, aiming to express both the cultural variety and grimy decay of its surroundings.
}}</ref> The word "illbient" combines the [[hip hop]] [[slang]] term "ill" and "ambient"; [[DJ Olive]] and [[DJ Spooky]], pioneers of the genre, have claimed to have coined the term.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Katz |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zv8JzuFW-l8C&dq=illbient+%22dj+olive%22+term&pg=PT210 |title=Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-Hop DJ |date=2012-04-01 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-991301-5 |language=en}}</ref>

Though there are many individualistic variants of illbient, the music is characterized by [[Dub music|dub]]- and [[Industrial music|industrial]]-influenced<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mixmag.net/feature/how-your-favourite-genre-got-its-name/39|title = How your favourite genre got its name}}</ref> layering of beats and [[soundscape]]s,<ref>{{Cite book
| last = Reynolds
| first = Simon
| title = Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture
| year = 2013
| publisher = Soft Skull Press
| quote = Unlike the UK's marijuana-infused ambient culture, New York's 'illbient' scene is less about wombing soundbaths and vegetative bliss, more about creating audio-sculptures and environmental soundscapes.
}}</ref> [[Hip hop music|hip hop]]-influenced use of [[Break (music)|break]]s and [[Sampling (music)|samples]], and a progressive approach to beat programming that encompasses many forms of [[world music]] and electronic music.

Besides DJ Olive and DJ Spooky, other notable names and acts that were part of the original illbient scene included [[Raz Mesinai]], [[We (illbient group)|We™]], [[Byzar]], [[Spectre (musician)|Spectre]] and the artists that were released on his ''WordSound'' label around that time. Subsequent illbient artists have included [[Techno Animal]], [[Sixtoo]] and [[Odd Nosdam]].<ref name="fintoni"/>

==See also==
* [[Soundlab]]
* [[Psybient]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930153900/http://bostonphoenix.com/archive/music/97/09/11/ILLBIENT.html ''Boston Phoenix'' article]
*[http://www.discogs.com/search/?limit=250&style_exact=Illbient 3,500+ releases tagged as Illbient on Discogs]
{{Ambient music-footer}}
{{Electronica}}
{{Hip hop}}

[[Category:Illbient| ]]
[[Category:Ambient music]]
[[Category:Trip hop]]

Illbient - Revision history

imported>Aradicus77 at 16:28, 20 September 2025