{{Short description|Mixing style and microgenre}} {{Distinguish|text=HxD, a hex editor}} {{Use American English|date=November 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox music genre | name = HexD | native_name = | etymology = | other_names = * Hex<ref name=":4" /> * hexxed * hexcore<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-03 |title=Notes on My Grandpa Dying Vol. I: HexD, Magic(k) and Cosmopolitan Intimacy. – Mute Presence |url=https://mutepresence.com/notes-on-my-grandpa-dying-vol-i-hexd-magick-and-cosmopolitan-intimacy/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017053336/https://mutepresence.com/notes-on-my-grandpa-dying-vol-i-hexd-magick-and-cosmopolitan-intimacy/ |archive-date=2021-10-17 |access-date=2026-03-29 |website=mutepresence.com |language=en-US}}</ref> | image = | alt = | caption = | stylistic_origins = * Hyperpop<ref name=":102" /> * trap<ref name=":102" /> * breakbeat<ref name=":102" /> * emo rap<ref>{{Cite web |last=Adams |first=Luke |title=Waves of Mutilation {{!}} “Catacombs 2007” by Drixxo Lords |url=https://impact89fm.org/93871/music/waves-of-mutilation-catacombs-2007-by-drixxo-lords/ |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=Impact 89FM {{!}} WDBM-FM}}</ref> * lo-fi * electronic<ref name=":102" /> * trance<ref name=":3" /> * cloud rap<ref name=":3" /> * nightcore<ref name=":102" /><ref name=":3" /> * digicore<ref name=":102" /> | cultural_origins = Late 2010s to early 2020s; United States | instruments = {{hlist|Drum machine|autotune|synthesizer|pitch shifter|sampler|hi-hats}} | derivatives = * Crushed trap * surge * sigilkore | subgenrelist = | subgenres = * Krushclub<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=30 April 2024 |title=THE FACE's guide to the American rap underground |last=Press-Reynolds |first=Kieran |url=https://theface.com/music/underground-internet-rap-rage-carti-yeat-ambient-plugg-iokera-terror-jerk-krushclub-lumi-athena |access-date=30 June 2025 |website=The Face |language=en-gb |archive-date=6 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250706014354/https://theface.com/music/underground-internet-rap-rage-carti-yeat-ambient-plugg-iokera-terror-jerk-krushclub-lumi-athena |url-status=live }}</ref> | fusiongenres = * Sextrance<ref>{{Cite news |last=Petridis |first=Alexis |date=2023-12-22 |title=Blank space: how Taylor Swift – and an aching sense of loss – dominated music in 2023 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/dec/22/blank-space-how-taylor-swift-and-an-aching-sense-of-loss-dominated-music-in-2023 |access-date=2026-04-07 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> | local_scenes = | other_topics = {{hlist|Internet rap|microgenre|internet aesthetic|zoomergaze|glitch|vaporwave}} | footnotes = }} [[File:Surge Compilation.png|thumb|The compilation album ''Surge Compilation Vol. 1'' (2020) released by the netlabel Dismiss Yourself]]'''HexD''' is an Internet microgenre of electronic music and style of audio mixing that emerged in the late 2010s to early 2020s. The term "hexD" was originally coined by the music collective Hexcastcrew. The style is defined by a form of DJ mixing which uses heavy bitcrushing, sped-up and pitched-up effects to create a distorted "glitched-out" sound, which is commonly referred to as "hexxing" a song. The mixing style is primarily applied to trance and cloud rap genres along with other styles.
In 2019, the release of the album ''Rare RCB hexD.mp3'' by Stacy Minajj under the alias tomoe_theundy1ng marked the crystallization of the scene. The mix sampled songs by the American Internet rap collective Reptilian Club Boyz, the group's founder Hi-C has been noted as influential to the development of the style. The album gained notoriety through the netlabel Dismiss Yourself which contributed to the scene's development.
HexD birthed subgenres such as crushed trap and surge which were initially used synonymously. It also influenced the development of microgenres such as sigilkore, which uses extensive bitcrushing effects. Artists associated with the hexD scene include Yabujin, Fax Gang, ZBITO18, $pirit Gurlz and the group HelloKittyWaffenDivision.
== Etymology and characteristics == According to Sticki, the founder of the netlabel Dismiss Yourself, the term "hexD" originally emerged through the music collective Hexcastcrew, who "hex songs—in their words, they cast spells [via] bitcrushing the music."<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2021-07-08 |title=How Dismiss Yourself Became a Hub for Internet Weirdness |last=Press-Reynolds |first=Kieran |url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/label-profile/dismiss-yourself-label-profile |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=Bandcamp Daily |archive-date=2021-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221012710/https://daily.bandcamp.com/label-profile/dismiss-yourself-label-profile |url-status=live }}</ref> The process of "hexxing" a song involves a style of DJ mixing that makes heavy use of bitcrushing and digital effects.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=chalcopyrite |date=2024-03-07 |title=A Brief History of Lobit Music |url=https://wknc.org/2024/03/07/a-brief-history-of-lobit-music/ |access-date=2025-07-27 |website=WKNC 88.1 FM - North Carolina State University Student Radio |language=en-US |archive-date=2025-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250810153033/https://wknc.org/2024/03/07/a-brief-history-of-lobit-music/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1" />
During the early 2020s, hexD was briefly known as "surge",<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Zhang |first=Cat |date=2021-12-14 |title=The Year in Music on TikTok 2021 |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/tiktok-songs-2021/ |access-date=2025-07-27 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref>''<ref name=":102" />''<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Matulaityte |first=Giedre |title=10 musicians who are shaping the underground scene on SoundCloud |url=https://www.altpress.com/soundcloud-underground-scene-artists/ |access-date=2025-07-28 |website=Alternative Press Magazine |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417221527/https://www.altpress.com/soundcloud-underground-scene-artists/ |url-status=live}}</ref> after the Dismiss Yourself compilation album ''Surge Compilation Vol. 1'' (2020).<ref name=":4" /> The term "crushed trap" had also been an early synonym for the style.''<ref name=":102" /><ref name=":23">{{Cite web |title=Issue 62: Meme Music: An Integral Bond Between Meme Culture and Pop Music|url=https://issuu.com/tastemakersmag/docs/tmm_issue_62/s/11467907|access-date=2026-03-29|website=Issuu|language=en}}</ref>'' The visual aesthetics of hexD draw influence from anime, internet aesthetics, and early Web 2.0 era iconography and artwork primarily associated with the 2006 online GIF editor Blingee as a form of childhood nostalgia that has been compared to the vaporwave microgenre.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Press-Reynolds |first=Kieran |date=2026-02-26 |title=Luci4 Unleashed a Generation of Glitchy Underground Rap |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/luci4-unleashed-a-generation-of-glitchy-underground-rap/ |access-date=2026-02-26 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref> According to WKNC-FM, the mixing style is reminiscent of early Internet "low quality trance/adjacent EDM" anime AMVs.<ref name=":3" />
HexD is primarily characterized by its style of DJ mixing which is primarily applied to trance and cloud rap genres.<ref name=":3" /> Similarly to nightcore, the style is also applied to other genres .<ref name=":3" /> HexD is defined by the use of bitcrushing, a production technique that produces distortion through the reduction of bandwidth and digital audio data.<ref name=":2" /> Artists usually apply bitcrushing to specific instruments or the entire master track, speeding and pitching up vocals as well as overall instrumentation.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Press-Reynolds |first=Kieran |date=2025-07-23 |title=Meet the Most Cracked Music Archivist Online |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/meet-the-most-cracked-music-archivist-online/ |access-date=2025-07-27 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US |archive-date=2025-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250726180259/https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/meet-the-most-cracked-music-archivist-online/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Alternative Press'' magazine described the style as "sped up, bitcrushed and glitched out".<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Matulaityte |first=Giedre |title=15 bands and solo artists who are rewriting the emo rulebook |url=https://www.altpress.com/artists-rewriting-emo-rulebook-post-emo/ |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=Alternative Press Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
== History ==
=== Precursors === In 2011, Untrance released a mixtape titled "Deleted Seniors", which featured EDM music mixed with heavy bitcrushing, marking one of the first times the extreme use of the effect was incorporated as an aesthetic quality in music.<ref name=":3" /> Writing for ''Complex'', music journalist Kieran Press-Reynolds stated that the scene had roots in the work of rappers SpaceGhostPurrp and Cartier God.''<ref name=":102" />'' West Coast producer she_skin had earlier explored bitcrushing trap songs by Virginia rapper Diamondsonmydick, which influenced the Hexcastcrew collective.{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}}
=== Late 2010s–2020s: Origins === The hexD scene initially emerged in June 2019 with the release of the DJ mix ''Rare RCB hexD.mp3'' by Stacy Minajj under the alias "tomoe_theundy1ng".''<ref name=":102" />''<ref name=":1" /> It sampled and remixed songs from the influential Internet rap collective Reptilian Club Boyz.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cover Story: xaviersobased |url=https://www.thefader.com/2026/02/03/xaviersobased-fader-cover-story-intervew-album-dj-rennessy |access-date=2026-03-31 |website=The FADER |language=en}}</ref>''<ref name=":102" />''<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Meyer |first=Tom |date=14 September 2020 |title=The Influence of Rare RCB + HexD MP3 |url=https://www.passionweiss.com/2020/09/14/the-influence-of-rare-rcb-hexd-mp3/ |access-date=30 June 2025 |website=Passion of the Weiss |archive-date=30 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250630191438/https://www.passionweiss.com/2020/09/14/the-influence-of-rare-rcb-hexd-mp3/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Writing for ''Pitchfork'', music critic Kieran Press-Reynolds stated that the underground scene in the early 2020s was "splintering every which way, from wailing digicore to bitcrushed hexD."<ref name=":8" /> They{{efn|Kieran Press-Reynolds uses they/them pronouns.|name=hey}} credited Reptilian Club Boyz as being alongside other groups in "the nexus for a new vanguard".<ref name=":8" /> According to ''the Fader'', Nashville rapper Hi-C who founded the collective is noted as "a key influence on the development of HexD".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Discover Blogly: Listen to new music from Chuquimamani-Condori, Hi-C, and more |url=https://www.thefader.com/2023/12/19/discover-blogly-listen-to-new-music-from-chuquimamani-condori-hi-c-and-more |access-date=2026-02-26 |website=The FADER |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite web |last=Basualdo |first=Bernarda |title=Evanora (truly) Unlimited |url=https://staticmag.org/bernarda-basualdo/evanora-truly-unlimited/ |access-date=February 20, 2026 |website=Static Mag |quote=In 2016, DOMD founded Reptilian Club Boyz, a rap collective that produced names like Hi-C and Cartier God.}}</ref>
Subsequently, the netlabel Dismiss Yourself, which focused on obscure Internet music, uploaded the Stacy Minajj mix to their YouTube channel on August 23, 2019, which became instrumental to the wider proliferation of the hexD genre.''<ref name=":23" />''<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2" /> ''Pitchfork'' credited the label with helping to "kickstart the hexD scene".<ref name=":4" /> In April 2020, the label released the various artists compilation album ''Surge Compilation Vol. 1'', where artists in the scene "found a collective identity".<ref name=":4" />
By March 2021, ''Alternative Press'' magazine labelled the group Fax Gang as "hexDers" and merging the style with shoegaze.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Matulaityte |first=Giedre |title=10 bands who are reimagining everything you know about shoegaze |url=https://www.altpress.com/best-new-shoegaze-bands-blackgaze-emo-rap-trap/ |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=Alternative Press Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> They were also compared to the act $pirit Gurlz.<ref name=":5" /> The publication added, "ZBITO18 and the rest of HELLOKITTYWAFFENDIVISION provide a comprehensive catalog of hexD-ed (aka sped up, bitcrushed and glitched out) neon Myspace-core rave insanity."<ref name=":5" /> Followed by an article from April that year stating, "The Blackwinterwells-led Helix Tears collective is SoundCloud's most exciting rabbit hole of glitchcore/hexD emo-rap transcendentalists".<ref name=":6" /> Lithuanian rapper Yabujin has been associated with the scene.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Press-Reynolds |first=Kieran |date=2022-05-27 |title=How the cult of Drain Gang rose from meme to myth |url=https://nobells.blog/cult-of-drain-gang/ |access-date=2026-04-05 |website=No Bells |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Related terms ==
=== Surge === '''Surge''' is an Internet microgenre of hip-hop that emerged in the early 2010s and late 2020s. The term was initially used synonymously with crushed trap and hexD.<ref name=":102">{{Cite web |last=Press-Reynolds|first=Kieran|date=August 13, 2020|title=Gorgeous Glitches and Nightcored Melodies: The New Generation of SoundCloud Music is Here|url=https://www.complex.com/pigeons-and-planes/2020/08/glitchcore-surge-rap-soundcloud|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820095349/https://www.complex.com/pigeons-and-planes/2020/08/glitchcore-surge-rap-soundcloud|archive-date=2020-08-20|access-date=2026-03-31|website=Complex|language=en}}</ref>''<ref name=":23" />'' The style was named after the Dismiss Yourself compilation album ''Surge Compilation Vol. 1'' (2020).<ref name=":7" /> The term "surge" was coined by a Discord friend of Sticki, the founder of the label, who created a fictional cover, which was later used as the official cover art for the compilation.<ref name=":4" />
Writing for ''Complex'', music journalist Kieran Press-Reynolds described the style as "mellow and murky, a sort of lo-fi trap sound loaded with retro sound effects and compressed to sound like it was recorded on an old laptop microphone". Adding that the scene did not crystallize until the release of ''Rare RCB hexD.mp3'' in June 2019, a mix produced by tomoe_theundy1ng sampling a set of singles by the group Reptilian Club Boyz''.<ref name=":102" /><ref name=":23" />''
== See also == * Hyperpop * Digicore * Sigilkore * Internet rap * Zoomergaze * Underground hip-hop
== Notes == {{Notelist}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Electronica}} {{Hip-hop}} {{Hyperpop and digicore}}
Category:HexD Category:2010s in music Category:2020s in music Category:21st-century music genres Category:Counterculture of the 2010s Category:Counterculture of the 2020s Category:Hip-hop genres Category:Microgenres Category:Internet music genres Category:Internet rap genres