Raider Klan (stylized as RVIDXR KLVN) was an American hip hop collective formed in

Carol City, Florida Carol City is a neighborhood in Miami Gardens, Florida, United States. The population was 61,233 at the 2010 census. It was formerly a census-designated place. History Julius Gaines, the developer, had originally planned to name it Coral City. Ho ...

, in 2008. It grew to include members from other U.S. cities, such as

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

( Thraxxhouse), and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. They are widely regarded by fans, critics, and fellow artists as one of the most influential hip hop movements of the 2010s. In 2012, ''

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' cited them as one of the key acts bringing back hip hop groups. At its peak, the collective enjoyed a period of rapid growth, emerging alongside groups such as

Odd Future Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF, was an American Hip hop music, hip-hop Musical collective, music collective formed in Los Angeles County, California in 2007. The original members were Ty ...

and

ASAP Mob ASAP Mob (stylized as A$AP Mob, ASAP being an acronym for "Always Strive And Prosper") is an American hip hop collective formed in 2006 in Harlem, New York City, that consists of rappers (most of whom carry the "ASAP" moniker), record producers, ...

. Raider Klan originally included rappers

SpaceGhostPurrp Markese Money Rolle (born April 1, 1991), known professionally as SpaceGhostPurrp, is an American rapper and record producer from Miami, Florida. He was the founder of the American hip hop group Raider Klan and Black Money Boys. Famous Raider ...

, Dough Dough Da Don, Kadafi, Muney Junior, and Jitt, before expanding to include

Denzel Curry Denzel Rae Don Curry (born February 16, 1995) is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Carol City, Florida, Curry started rapping while in the sixth grade and began working on his first mixtape in 2011. Influenced by underground Flor ...

Chris Travis Christopher Reginald Travis (born December 2, 1993) is an American rapper and record producer from Orange Mound, Memphis, Tennessee. He began his career in 2012 as a solo artist on YouTube and later on became a member of SpaceGhostPurrp's Raid ...

, Eddy Baker, Xavier Wulf, Ruben Slikk, Lofty305, and dozens more. Many former members went on to pursue successful solo careers or form new groups, such as

Seshollowaterboyz Elmo Kennedy O'Connor (born January 11, 1994), known professionally as Bones (stylized sometimes as BONES), is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Howell, Michigan. He is also the founder of the music collective TeamSESH. O'Connor is ...

and Schemaposse.

History

In 2008,

recruited Dough Dough Da Don, Kadafi, Muney Junior and Jitt to form the founding line-up of Raider Klan. SpaceGhostPurrp asked

to join the group after hearing his debut mixtape ''King Remembered Underground Tape 1991–1995'', which Curry accepted. On September 24th 2012, the group released ''2.7.5. Greatest Hits Vol.1'', a 44 track compilation of members solo and collaborative material. On March 1st 2013, they released their second compilation CD, ''BRK Greatest Hits Vol.2 : Collectors Edition''. They released their debut album ''Tales from the Underground'' on October 31st 2013. The group's final release was 2015's ''The Mixtape 2.75''.

Musical style and influence

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

described Raider Klan's

Southern hip hop Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memph ...

style as "gritty" and "macabre", and ''

Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami area and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired by Village Voic ...

'' described their music as "trad ngin the battering sounds of SoundCloud rap, a blood-raw strand of hardcore hip-hop largely pioneered in South Florida". The group often used a dark and

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

style of production. In 2018, HotNewHipHop said "For over a decade, Raider Klan has been making noise in Carol City with records featuring the same distorted bass, intentionally choppy sounds that we hear throughout Lil Pump and Ski Mask the Slump God's records today". Raider Klan's sound was derived primarily from the early work of

hip hop group

Three 6 Mafia Three 6 Mafia is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip hop group, they would eventually go on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mys ...

, while also incorporating elements of

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

hardcore hip hop Hardcore hip hop (also hardcore rap) is a genre of hip hop music that developed through the East Coast hip hop scene in the 1980s. Pioneered by such artists as Run-DMC, Schoolly D, Boogie Down Productions and Public Enemy, it is generally cha ...

, drill and

horrorcore Horrorcore, also called horror hip hop, horror rap, death hip hop, or death rap, is a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror-themed and often darkly transgressive lyrical content and imagery. Its origins derived from certain hardcore hip h ...

. In a 2019 interview, Denzel Curry cited

as an important influence on the group. Lyrically, they focused on topics ranging from drugs, sex and money to witchcraft, demons and

hotep Hotep (; also rendered ''hetep'') is an Egyptian word that roughly translates as "to be satisfied, at peace". The word also refers to an "offering" ritually presented to a deity or a dead person, hence "be pleased, be gracious, be at peace". ...

philosophy. Raider Klan were one of the first underground rap collectives to integrate the style of early-

into their music, a pattern subsequently embraced throughout the hip hop scene, namely in the form of

and

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

. In 2018 article by

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

writer Alphonse Pierre described Raider Klan members and affiliates such as Denzel Curry, Chris Travis, Xavier Wulf and

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

as pioneers of the Soundcloud rap movement. The group's form of lyrical self expression was cited by

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

as influential to emotional rappers like

XXXTentacion Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy (January 23, 1998 – June 18, 2018), known professionally as XXXTentacion, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Though a controversial figure due to his widely publicized legal troubles, XXXTentacion ga ...

and

Lil Uzi Vert Symere Bysil Woods ( ; born July 31, 1995), known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. They are characterized by their face tattoo, facial tattoos, facial piercings, eccentric hairstyles and androgynous ...

. HotNewHipHop described

Night Lovell Shermar Cuba Paul (born May 29, 1997), known professionally as Night Lovell, is a Canadian rapper, songwriter and record producer. His old record producer name was under the alias KLNV, standing for Killanov. He initially gained fame after his son ...

's style of

emo rap Emo rap is a fusion genre of hip hop and emo music. Originating in the SoundCloud rap scene in the mid-2010s, the genre fuses characteristics of hip hop music, such as beats and rapping, with the lyrical themes, instrumentals, and vocals commo ...

as heavily influenced by the music of the group.

Ronny J Ronald Oneil Spence, Jr. (born September 14, 1992), professionally known as Ronny J (formerly stylized as RONNYJLI$TENUP), is an American record producer, singer, rapper, and songwriter. He has worked with well-known artists such as Denzel Curr ...

's style of production was heavily inspired by Raider Klan, incorporating their style into tracks for rappers like XXXTentacion,

Lil Pump Gazzy Garcia (born August 17, 2000), better known professionally as Lil Pump, is an American rapper. He is one of the most prominent artists of the SoundCloud rap scene and is known for his minimalist music and hyperactive public persona. Li ...

Smokepurpp Omar Jeffery Pineiro (born May 15, 1997), known professionally as Smokepurpp, is an American rapper. Originally a record producer, Pineiro later found success on the audio distribution platform SoundCloud in 2017 from his surge in popularity due ...

and

Ski Mask the Slump God Stokeley Clevon Goulbourne (born April 18, 1996), known professionally as Ski Mask the Slump God (formerly stylized as $ki Mask "The Slump God"), is an American rapper. He initially rose to prominence alongside XXXTentacion and their collectiv ...

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

described the music of Soundcloud rappers XXXTentacion, Lil Pump, Ski Mask the Slump God, Smokepurpp and WifisFuneral as derived from Raider Klan's material.

Aesthetics

From the beginning of their career, Raider Klan made use of

hieroglyphs A hieroglyph (Greek for "sacred carvings") was a character of the ancient Egyptian writing system. Logographic scripts that are pictographic in form in a way reminiscent of ancient Egyptian are also sometimes called "hieroglyphs". In Neoplatonis ...

-inspired text, in which most vowels were substituted with "V" or "X", and stylized in all capitals. The origin of the style came about through SpaceGhostPurrp's fascination with

Kemetism Kemetism (also Kemeticism; both from the Egyptian ', usually voweled Kemet, the native name of ancient Egypt), also sometimes referred to as Neterism (from ' ( Coptic ''noute'') "deity"), or Egyptian Neopaganism, is a revival of ancient Egy ...

and

Egyptian mythology Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world around them. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part of ancient Egyp ...

, and as a way of having a language only members and fans of the group could understand. This style would eventually come to be used by other groups such as

. The group's album covers often include features such as cannabis leaves, skulls and

Horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

inspired fonts. Raider Klan members often wore all black clothing, which SpaceGhostPurrp explained as being to represent their "black hearts". Because of this, in a 2012 article by

, writer Kieran Yates described them as "rap

goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...

Members

Discography

;Albums *''Tales From the Underground'' (2013) ;Compilations *''2.7.5. Greatest Hits Vol.1'' (2012) *''BRK Greatest Hits Vol. 2: Collectors Edition'' (2013) ;Mixtapes *''The Mixtape 2.75'' (2015)

References

{{SpaceGhostPurrp Hip hop collectives African-American musical groups Musical groups established in 2008 2008 establishments in Florida