the first time it really became a THING THING was last year when Kanye put that early mix of "Real Friends" out on his Soundcloud, a rapper named Rory Fresco had one of the most streamed songs in the country primarily because it was chosen by the app's algorithm to automatically play after "Real Friends" finished. I still haven't heard dude's name since.

This article, from when Soundcloud was facing a shutdown until Chance the Rapper (and whatever invisible VCs he worked with) swooped in and saved it, is a very illuminating read:

https://www.theringer.com/2017/7/7/16078018/soundcloud-layoffs-streaming-music-experience-338c23400a26

But a big part of the reason all these dudes sound so similar is that they want to literally catch the wave of the artist people are hitting that site to listen to, and hoping that the algorithm picks them to be next based on BPMs, followers, tags and sonic signatures.

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"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz