HAARPER

HAARPER, born Richard McLaughlin, is an American rapper from the San Francisco Bay Area who emerged from the SoundCloud-era underground scene with a sound built on punk-inflected aggression, distorted trap production, and moody atmospherics. Starting to release music as a teenager, he put out his debut EP «Lapidus» in 2018 and his first full-length, «Emeralds», in 2019, quickly establishing a cult following among fans of the darker, rock-tinged corner of internet rap alongside contemporaries in that scene.

His breakthrough came with «Wtf U Mean» featuring Freddie Dredd, a track that pushed his abrasive, high-energy style to a much wider audience and has since accumulated well over a hundred million streams. Songs like «The Alchemist» and «Bungee Gum» followed a similar path, each surpassing tens of millions of plays and cementing his reputation as one of the more distinctive voices in punk-rap.

Having grown up as a military kid moving frequently, HAARPER draws on an unusually wide set of influences, citing Korean acts such as Seo Taiji alongside American touchstones like Three 6 Mafia and rock bands including Linkin Park and Korn. That mix of hip-hop grit, nu-metal heaviness, and international pop sensibility gives his catalog a versatility that sets him apart from many peers working in similar lanes.