What is "illbient"

n. A music genre with layered soundscapes, dub and hip-hop influences (including the use of samples), and a progressive approach to beat programming.

Illbient is a genre of electronic music. The term was allegedly coined by DJ Olive to describe the iconoclastic music being produced by a community of artists based in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York in 1994. The word "Illbient" combines the hip hop slang term "ill" (a positive expression: bad meaning good) and " ambient".

Psychedelic musician Helios Creed joked that "although Eno invented ambient music while ill in bed - 'illbient' is actually an extreme retro offshoot that demands that the listener produces a doctor's note before being allowed to purchase."

Though there are many individualistic variants of illbient, the music is characterized by interesting dub-wise layering of soundscapes, hip hop-influenced use of samples and a progressive approach to beat programming that encompasses all genres of world groove and electronic music. Usually, but not always, illbient uses beats more than purely ambient music (or dark ambient), and often illbient includes loops in the recordings.

Illbient was introduced to the public at large in 1996 through the Asphodel Records Incursions in Illbient compilation and a feature in The Wire magazine.