illbient en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈɪl.bi.ənt/ (UK, US)
Etymology
Blend of ill + ambient; coinage attributed to DJ Olive (Gregor Asch). See hip-hop slang sense of ill.
Meanings
-
(uncountable) A music genre with layered soundscapes, dub and hip-hop influences (including the use of samples), and a progressive approach to beat programming.
This describes the sound of what is known as illbient, a genre of electronic music that arose in New York in the mid-1990s. The first illbient compilations were released by the Asphodel label—Crooklyn Dub Consortium Vol. 1 in 1995 and Incursions in Illbient in 1996—and Olive was involved with both projects.
2012, Mark Katz, Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-Hop DJ, Oxford University Press, →ISBN: