in 2012, elmo kennedy o'connor – then known professionally as th@ kid – changed his stage-name to bones and gained popularity online for moving away from cloud rap and blending different styles to create unique forms of music which included the sampling of emo bands, metal music and indie rock. bones' influence on hip hop in the underground has led to him being considered one of main pioneers of emo rap, as well as being labeled the "underground rap king." artists like lil peep, ghostemane and yung bruh (now known as lil tracy) with influences from pop punk, emo and screamo began to appear on youtube and soundcloud in 2014 and 2015.