Illbient
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A music genre with layered soundscapes, dub and hip-hop influences (including the use of samples), and a progressive approach to beat programming. uncountable
"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."
Example
More examples"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."
Etymology
Blend of ill + ambient; coinage attributed to DJ Olive (Gregor Asch). See hip-hop slang sense of ill.
Related phrases
More for "illbient"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.