Dark plugg is a form of Plugg that emerged in the late 2010s when the production of Surreal Gang producers XanGang, Orcery, and Eddie Gianni converged with the stylistic traits of the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia area) trap scene. The style is characterized by ominous, sinister synth pads and lead melodies, typically arranged into simple passages, evoking an eerie, unsettling quality. It additionally tends to feature more busy and dense percussion, including rapid, "claustrophobic," skittering hi-hats, and fast snare rolls. Dark plugg would present a major departure from the earlier, laid-back and mellow sound of BeatPluggz. In addition, the genre is prominently inspired by DMV rap and production styles - exemplified by artists like Lil Dude, XanMan, and GooNew, and is thus occasionally known as "DMV plugg" too. Stock piano melodies, a feature inherited from the trap production typical of the DMV scene, are especially prominent in early dark plugg. Unlike later subgenres of plugg. Dark plugg is typically produced using plugins and drum kits attributed to prior plugg producers, namely synth VSTs like Purity, and familiar drum samples.

Dark plugg was first established by rappers like Slimesito and Fluhkunxhkos, whose influential work featured an off-beat, punch-in flow inspired by DMV artists, as well as violent, Gangsta Rap-inspired lyrics on crime and harsh street life, contrasting with the melodic, often auto-tuned vocals of other plugg styles. These lyrical tendencies and rapping style would remain commonplace in dark plugg even as the genre diversified, though later rappers introduced different deliveries.

Rising in popularity in the early 2020s, dark plugg would see the advent of newer artists and styles, like Smokingskul and Glokk40Spaz. Producers like boolymon and rappers Squillo and Mxlachi (among others) would introduce increasingly harsher and noisier styles, featuring distorted, "screechy" 808s. Another development includes the "weightless," side-chained style of producers like TDF and perc40, which builds on dark plugg motifs. Though it mostly exists separate from other plugg styles, dark plugg has seen considerable cross-over with PluggnB, and certain producers have created beats inspired by both sounds.