Shark Boy

Released in September 2016, Shark Boy stands as a central pillar in Chris Travis's extensive discography and a landmark for the 'Water Boyz' movement. Following his departure from Raider Klan, Travis refined a specific sub-genre of cloud rap that emphasized aquatic textures and Memphis-inspired flows. This album is particularly noted for its cohesive production, largely eschewing the aggressive 'phonk' phonetics of his earlier work for a more melodic, ethereal, and 'submerged' sound. It features standout production that utilizes heavy side-chaining and low-pass filters to achieve its signature murky feel. Critically, it is viewed by fans as one of his most consistent projects, bridging the gap between the raw lo-fi aesthetics of the early Soundcloud era and a more polished, atmospheric vision of trap music. Its influence can be heard in the subsequent wave of 'ambient' trap and lo-fi hip-hop that dominated internet music circles in the late 2010s.