That dreamy, jazzy remix of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” with the sparkly keys and earth-shaking 808s?
But what is pluggnb, exactly, and why is everyone suddenly talking about it?
The K-pop tracks that suddenly sound like they’re floating through a cloud of reverb?
You’ve been hearing pluggnb, whether you knew it or not. The genre just posted a 342.8% surge in producer downloads in 2024, according to MIDiA Research and Splice, making it music’s fastest-growing sound.
From Atlanta bedrooms to Seoul studios, this SoundCloud-born sound is rewriting how internet music scenes go mainstream.
The genre jumped from just 21,000 downloads in 2022 to nearly 700,000 in 2024, and it’s doing something previous underground movements couldn’t: turning fan-made bootleg remixes into official chart hits whilst maintaining its DIY soul.
What Is Pluggnb and What Does It Sound Like?
Pluggnb is a sonic paradox: it’s the clash of trap’s gritty 808s with the lush, melancholic sweep of jazz chords that somehow creates something beautifully cohesive.
Take trap’s rattling hi-hats and chest-crushing 808s, strip away the aggression, then drape everything in lush jazz chords and 90s R&B nostalgia.
Add auto-tuned vocals that sing-rap about heartbreak over beats that sound like they cost £20 to make but somehow feel more expensive than anything on the radio. That’s the formula, sort of.
The production centres on electric pianos (think Rhodes or DX7-style digital keys) playing complex jazz progressions with minor sevenths and added ninths.
Producers layer these with sine wave synths, glassy bells, and what the community lovingly calls “cheap-sounding” VST leads.
The drums come from classic trap templates but programmed with more space and swing, typically around 130 BPM. Everything drowns in reverb. The vocals float rather than punch.
“Pluggnb specifically pulls a lot from ’90s R&B and gospel, which I was steeped in growing up in the church,” explains GRAMMY-winning producer Swoope. “So, to hear these repackaged and reframed in this day and age is really interesting. Pluggnb feels very familiar and very new at the same time, because it’s pulling from foundational genres.”
Unlike its predecessor (straight plugg music), pluggnb trades minimalism for density.
The leads are more melodic and layered, the drums faster and more intricate, and the atmosphere thicker.
Despite the “R&B” in its name, jazz influences actually dominate the harmonic structure.
Artists like Summrs and Autumn! pioneered this sound by pairing vulnerable, introspective lyrics with production that sounds like floating through a fever dream of childhood car rides and late-night feelings.
From Atlanta bedrooms to global phenomenon
The story starts in 2013 Atlanta with two producers: MexikoDro and StoopidXool.
They founded the BeatPluggz collective and created the iconic “PLUGG!” producer tag that would define a movement.
Drawing from Zaytoven’s gospel-influenced production style and the sparse bounce of Memphis rap, they crafted beats that felt both minimal and lush.
“I am not finna say that I created this [plugg] sound,” MexikoDro told KidsTakeOver in 2022. “You gotta tell people. Pluggz created this sound. BeatPluggz: me, dashawn, StoopidXool, PoloBoyShawty and all that were doing this sound. I ain’t even gonna take full credit.”
Playboi Carti’s “Broke Boi” in 2014 gave plugg its first mainstream moment.
The MexikoDro-produced track introduced millions to the sound’s dreamy, spaced-out aesthetic.
Rich the Kid, Lil Yachty, Famous Dex, and Kodak Black followed, but as these artists evolved, plugg retreated to SoundCloud’s underground.
That’s where it mutated. Between 2016-2018, the SlayWorld collective transformed plugg into pluggnb.
Founded originally as a skatewear brand by Kaine Carlson, SlayWorld became the epicentre for this new sound through artists like Summrs, Autumn!, Kankan, and early influences from Weiland.
Alongside producer collectives like XanGang and Surreal Gang, they added R&B melodies, jazzier chord progressions, and more emotional vocal delivery.
Producer CashCache, described as the “primary architect” of the newer sound, brought lounge and jazz influences that he called “sleepy plugg.” Dylvinci added R&B twists.
By 2018, the sound was established, and by 2020, it was ready to break through.
Drake’s “From Florida with Love” on Dark Lane Demo Tapes (produced by MexikoDro) and FLEE’s viral “SWISH/USE 2” featuring Brent Faiyaz signalled something was happening. But nobody predicted what came next.
The 342.8% explosion
Pluggnb downloads on Splice grew 647% from 2022 to 2023, then another 342.8% from 2023 to 2024, reaching 699,987 downloads.
That made it the fastest-growing genre on the platform, outpacing K-pop (328% growth), jersey club (281%), drift phonk (157%), and melodic techno (147%). In Los Angeles alone, pluggnb downloads jumped 290.3% in 2024.
Hip-hop still dominates with 48.7 million downloads (up 1.8%), and trap follows with 35 million (up 3.1%).
Pluggnb remains relatively niche by volume, but its growth trajectory suggests mainstream adoption is imminent rather than theoretical.
The Audeobox PluggnB sample pack released in April 2024 amassed over 102,000 downloads in its first month.
That’s producers around the world grabbing the same sounds, creating an instantly recognisable aesthetic that spreads like wildfire.
When Korean girl group ILLIT released “Magnetic” in March 2024 with heavy pluggnb influences, it became the fastest K-pop debut to reach 100 million streams on Spotify.
“When you see something being heavily consumed and enjoyed by fans, chances are there’s something there you should be helping along,” RCA Records COO John Fleckenstein told Billboard.
Instead of sending cease-and-desists, labels are now sending contracts, formalising the bootleg remixes that fueled the genre’s rise.
TikTok remixes and the bootleg-to-official pipeline
An 18-year-old producer named ARIZONATEARS spent two days crafting a pluggnb beat, then remixed a leaked Lil Uzi Vert song and uploaded it to SoundCloud.
Five months later, TikTokers discovered it. The remix went so viral that Atlantic Records officially released it, and the track hit the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. On November 29, 2023, it was certified platinum by the RIAA.
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The viral bootleg has become the industry’s new A&R scout.
Producers like rxi, fss.s, and chxnce built followings by creating pluggnb remixes of Y2K pop hits and K-pop tracks.
Their bootleg versions of songs like “Teenage Dream,” “Stay The Night,” and NewJeans tracks dominated TikTok throughout 2024.
When Le Sserafim’s “Easy” got the fan-made pluggnb treatment and blew up, the group released an official pluggnb remix.
“More than a musical style, pluggnb has become a gateway to tap into internet culture,” MIDiA Research noted in their Sounds of 2025 report.
The surge of fan-made remixes on TikTok created what they call “participatory fandom,” where fans don’t just consume music, they reshape it.
The scene thrives on this. YouTube overflows with hundreds of pluggnb tutorials.
SoundCloud hosts thousands of free “type beats” that aspiring rappers can use.
Discord servers like Seancord, MEXCLAMATIONS, and PLUGG EU buzz with producers sharing drum kits, MIDI files, and collaborating across continents.
Reddit’s r/pluggnb community swaps techniques and resources without gatekeeping.
MexikoDro embodied this approach from the start: “I got a keyboard, laptop, and some Apple headphones. That’s it. And still use FL [FruityLoops] and [an] old damn laptop,” he told The Hundreds in 2016. “I typically spend about 15 minutes on a beat—10 minutes for production and five minutes for mixing and mastering.”
FL Studio’s unlimited free trial democratised the sound. Any teenager with a laptop can download it, watch tutorials, grab free samples from Reddit, and make something that sounds legitimate.
Publishing is simple: upload to SoundCloud, post a screen recording on TikTok, or use DistroKid to hit Spotify. No label needed.
The community that built itself
SoundCloud remains pluggnb’s spiritual home. The SlayWorld collective defined not just a sound but a scene.
Even after the group disbanded as an active entity in 2021, its influence persists.
Summrs, often called the “king of pluggnb,” commands 1.2 million monthly Spotify listeners with tracks like “Swing Ya Pole” that showcase the genre’s emotional core: vulnerable lyrics floating over production that feels simultaneously nostalgic and futuristic.
“Pluggnb will always be remembered as the starting point for a lot of us,” wrote producer jackmani on Medium. “A way to fully express yourself on the beat and harmonise with how you truly feel. Music without ego and that’s why I’ll always appreciate it.”
The scene spawned numerous microgenres and variants. Dark plugg (or DMV plugg) from producers like Glokk40Spaz adds ominous, aggressive energy.
Diary plugg embraces Vampire Diaries aesthetics with soft production and teenage romance themes.
Asian Rock, pioneered by BenjiCold, combines dense pluggnb percussion with synthetic guitar leads. Hyperplugg adds hyperpop’s maximalist chaos.
Curators shaped the scene as much as creators. YouTube archivist Martyy McFlyy has uploaded pluggnb tracks since 2016, building nearly 20,000 subscribers and becoming essential to scene documentation.
“How you like pluggnb and never heard of Martyy McFlyy?!” became a community inside joke.
Instagram account Hyperpop Daily, with 148,000 followers, serves as the scene’s satirical news source, mixing genuine underground music coverage with elaborate shitposting that requires, as one critic noted, “its own college course” to fully understand.
This is a decentralised movement, more like a Discord server than a boardroom.
Producers in Seoul collaborate with rappers in Houston via Discord. French collective #OneTruePath (featuring producer Serane) brought plugg to Paris.
Russian artists like Face and Big Baby Tape adapted the sound for post-Soviet audiences. Ukrainian collective 044 KLAN developed their own regional variant.
“In France they say that I’ve got ‘drip auditif,’ which translates to drip you can hear and ‘drip visuel,’ which is drip you can see,” Serane told Sabukaru Online, explaining how the sound crossed the Atlantic.
Why it resonates right bloody now
So, why is pluggnb hitting so hard?
In a world of polished, focus-grouped pop, this sound is unapologetically accessible, tapping into nostalgia with a charm that doesn’t just say “I made this in my bedroom” so much as scream it with pride. This is music that values raw feeling over flawless production.
It’s all about the vibe: the soulful heart of 90s R&B, chopped up and filtered through the weird, wonderful irony of internet culture.
The timing was almost too perfect. When major-label music suddenly vanished from TikTok during the UMG dispute, pluggnb was ready.
Unbothered by copyright, a wave of producers flooded the zone with remixes, and a cultural shift clicked into place overnight.
This DIY spirit is a quiet rebellion, positioning the genre as the true antithesis of corporatised music.
The K-pop crossover that changed everything
The real mainstream explosion happened when K-pop got involved.
Suddenly, you had a two-way street between LA and Seoul: Korean producers were downloading pluggnb sample packs, while American producers were reworking K-pop tracks into viral pluggnb remixes on TikTok.
The moment it all clicked was ILLIT’s “Magnetic.” With its jazzy chords and airy, trap-lite beat, the track became the fastest K-pop debut to hit 100 million streams on Spotify.
It was proof that pluggnb could dominate the charts.
This sparked a fundamental shift in strategy. When Le Sserafim released an official pluggnb remix of “Easy” after fan-made versions blew up, it signaled a new era.
Labels had evolved from shutting down bootlegs to collaborating with them. For K-pop, it was a shot of hip-hop credibility and viral fuel.
For pluggnb, it was a ticket to the global stage.
Where It Goes From Here
The future of pluggnb sits at a crossroads. The risks are real: oversaturation, co-option by the mainstream, and fragmentation into a million microgenres could dilute its power.
But the scene is built to withstand these pressures. Its decentralized and democratic nature, distributed across thousands of producers and millions of fans, makes it nearly impossible for any corporation to fully capture.
The infrastructure is permanent: FL Studio is still free, YouTube tutorials multiply daily, and the bootleg-to-official pipeline is now a standard industry playbook. This ecosystem guarantees a constant supply of new talent.
Coupled with its genuine artistic depth and the ongoing mainstream on-ramp provided by K-pop, pluggnb has the foundation for lasting impact.
It may evolve beyond recognition, but the movement it represents is here to stay.
The Bigger Picture
Ultimately, pluggnb is not just a genre. It is a blueprint for how internet native music scenes operate in 2025. Success requires more than good songs. It demands participatory fandom, accessible production tools, and a remix friendly culture.
The numbers tell the story: from 21,000 downloads to 700,000 in two years. From Atlanta bedrooms to Seoul stadiums.
Pluggnb proved that internet scenes can achieve mainstream success without selling their soul, that fan remixes can drive official releases, and that democratised tools create real artistic movements.
Whether pluggnb becomes the next trap or remains a cult favourite is almost irrelevant. What matters is what it represents.
The internet’s ability to birth and globalise culture has never been stronger. The tools have never been more accessible. The fans have never been more empowered.
And somewhere right now, a teenager with a laptop and FL Studio’s free trial is making the beat that will soundtrack 2026. They just do not know it yet.
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