Rare phonk is a Hip Hop production style pioneered in the early-to-mid 2010s by DJ Smokey, a Canadian DJ and producer who would remain the major figurehead and most popular artist in the genre even as it developed further. Emerging from a pool of influences originally associated with the Memphis Rap revival of the early 2010s, the style quickly rose to popularity in online scenes, and Soundcloud in particular, where it was adopted by producers from all over the globe. Rare phonk primarily features drum programming and rhythms derived from styles of 2010s Trap music, which it frequently blends with the aforementioned percussion sounds and vocal samples of Memphis rap, and less prominently - Cloud Rap, Chopped and Screwed, and Lo-Fi Hip Hop's laid-back Jazz samples and Downtempo undertones aren't uncommon as well. Certain other forms of Electronic music are occasionally present, in addition to influences and samples from other forms of classic Hip Hop, and Southern Hip Hop in particular, though influences from the West and East coast may be present too.

Rare phonk was established and popularized in the mid 2010s with the rise of other artists such as DJ Yung Vamp, Soudiere, Mythic, Emune and SwuM.. A significant French scene focused on the sound would particularly aid its growth. Many YouTube-based mix makers became popular for promoting and compiling mixes of the genre, typically featuring surrealist imagery influenced by 1990s-2000s cartoons like The Simpsons and SpongeBob, in addition to other nostalgia-inducing visuals. Online labels and producer collectives dedicated to rare phonk, like Holy Mob and PURPLEPOSSE, formed in the mid-2010s with the genre's growing popularity. These are sometimes meant to evoke a sense of nostalgia, as with other 2010s online trends. A remixing culture in SoundCloud dedicated to flipping existing trap tracks with phonk production and jazzy samples would also emerge in the mid-to-late 2010s.

The term 'phonk' came to be used for a number of associated-yet-separate scenes that convergently developed throughout the 2010s. Smokey's comparably lighter, more "screwed" and jazzier sound, distinguished itself from other competing trends, such as the Bandcamp-centric phonk genre, which extensively focused on intentionally lo-fi, noisy and atmospheric Memphis rap production. This branch of phonk would develop into Drift Phonk, a sound that reached worldwide popularity in the 2020s; as drift phonk became more and more popular, a growing distinction between the different "phonk" genres would emerge as well, with Smokey's style becoming increasingly known as "rare phonk" rather than just "phonk". The term, which has its origins in YouTube mixes of the genre and was likely coined by a mixer named R y a n C e l s i u s °, would be further popularized by the "rare" channel, a popular YouTube channel dedicated to the sound.