walking upstream…
iLoveMakonnen
photo: swimfinfan · cc by-sa 2.0 ↗iLoveMakonnen
sourcesiLoveMakonnen — Wikipedia
Makonnen Kamali Sheran, performing as iLoveMakonnen, is an Atlanta-based rapper and singer whose woozy, half-sung 2014 breakout "Tuesday" (with a late-arriving Drake feature) helped define the melodic, mood-first strain of cloud rap that took over mixtape culture that decade. Raised partly among indie-rock-loving cousins before landing in Atlanta's trap scene, he became known for blurring genre and identity lines rather than following a blueprint, later signing to Drake's OVO Sound.
the sound in question
2014
TuesdayiLoveMakonnen
walk the tributaries ↓
Bloc Party2000s · Indie rock / Post-punk revival / Dance-punk
Makonnen told The FADER he grew up listening to "Bloc Party, Black Kids, electronic stuff from Sweden" via his indie-rock-loving cousins, and it surfaces as a taste for jittery, guitar-adjacent synth hooks laid under his trap-adjacent production.
listen: upstream & heresource: The FADER — Makonnen ↗
2004
BanquetBloc Party
2014
Trust Me DannyiLoveMakonnen
listen forThe nervy, insistent synth pulse driving Makonnen's 'Trust Me Danny' echoes the clipped, motorik guitar-and-drum urgency of Bloc Party's 'Banquet.'
Black Kids2000s · Indie pop / Dance-punk
Alongside Bloc Party, Makonnen named Black Kids in the same FADER interview as formative listening — a taste for bright, new-wave-inflected synth pop that runs against type for a trap artist.
listen: upstream & heresource: The FADER — Makonnen ↗
2007
I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with YouBlack Kids
2014
Dance With YouiLoveMakonnen
listen forThe sugary, keyboard-driven bounce on Makonnen's 'Dance With You' shares DNA with the new-wave shimmer of Black Kids' 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You' — even the title rhymes with the idea.
Gucci Mane2000s · Trap / Hip hop
Makonnen's early tapes are steeped in Atlanta trap's street-narrative mode and ad-lib-heavy delivery, a lane Gucci Mane had already carved out for a decade before Makonnen's 2014 breakout; the two later cut "Spendin" together.
listen: upstream & heresource: DJBooth — "The Genius & Influence of iLoveMakonnen" (Gucci Mane connection, collaborators' account) ↗
2006
Freaky GurlGucci Mane
2014
I Don't Sell Molly No MoreiLoveMakonnen
listen forThe unhurried, conversational flow and street-corner subject matter on Makonnen's 'I Don't Sell Molly No More' sits in the same tradition as Gucci's matter-of-fact hustler narration on 'Freaky Gurl.'