Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies
rappingRapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. It developed as part of
hip hopHip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/
rappingRapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
,
DJingA disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
/
scratchingScratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the late 1980s, it has been used...
, breaking/dancing, and
graffiti writingGraffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
. Other elements include
samplingIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
(or synthesis), and
beatboxingBeatboxing is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice. It may also involve singing, vocal imitation of turntablism, and the simulation of horns, strings, and other musical instruments...
.
While often used to refer to
rappingRapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the
entire subcultureHip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
. The term hip-hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip-hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of hip-hop culture, including
DJingA disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
and
scratchingScratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the late 1980s, it has been used...
,
beatboxingBeatboxing is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice. It may also involve singing, vocal imitation of turntablism, and the simulation of horns, strings, and other musical instruments...
, and
instrumental tracksHip hop production is the creation of hip hop music. Though the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music, it's most commonly used to refer to the instrumental, non-lyrical aspects of hip hop. This means that hip hop producers are the instrumentalists involved in a work...
.
Origin of the term
Creation of the term
hip hopHip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
is often credited to Keith Cowboy, rapper with
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious FiveGrandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was an influential American hip-hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. Composed of one DJ and five rappers Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was an influential American hip-hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in...
. However,
Lovebug StarskiLovebug Starski is an American MC, musician and record producer. He began his career as a record boy in 1971 as hip-hop first appeared in the Bronx, and he eventually became a DJ at the Disco Fever club in 1978.Starski recorded his first single, "Positive Life," on the Tayster record label in 1981...
, Keith Cowboy, and
DJ HollywoodDJ Hollywood is an American old school hip hop DJ and rapper. According to Kurtis Blow, Hollywood was the first rapper in the hip-hop style. His rhymes are from the top of the dome, he has never written anything down...
used the term when the music was still known as
discoDisco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
rap. It is believed that Cowboy created the term while teasing a friend who had just joined the U.S. Army, by
scat singingIn vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of soldiers marching. Cowboy later worked the "hip hop" cadence into a part of his stage performance, which was quickly used by other artists such as
The Sugarhill GangThe Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group, known mostly for their 1979 hit, "Rapper's Delight", the first hip hop single to become a Top 40 hit. The song uses the instrumental track from the classic hit "Good Times" by Chic as its foundation....
in "
Rapper's Delight"Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 single by American hip hop trio The Sugarhill Gang. While it was not the first single to feature rapping, it is generally considered to be the song that first popularized hip hop in the United States and around the world. The song's opening lyric "I said a hip hop, a...
".
Universal Zulu Nation|rightThe Universal Zulu Nation is an international hip hop awareness group formed and headed by hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. Originally known simply as the Organization, it arose in the 1970s as reformed New York City gang members began to organize cultural events for youths, combining local...
founder
Afrika BambaataaAfrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...
is credited with first using the term to describe the
subcultureIn sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
in which the music belonged; although it is also suggested that it was a derogatory term to describe the type of music. The first use of the term in print was in
The Village VoiceThe Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, by Steven Hager, later author of a 1984 history of hip hop.
Hip hop music originated as improvisations made to existing music by party DJs. Although hip hop music predates the introduction of rapping into hip hop culture, the majority of the genre is accompanied by rap vocals. However, rap vocals are absent from many hip hop tracks, such as "Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don’t Stop)" by
Man ParrishMan Parrish is an American composer, songwriter, vocalist and producer. He, along with artists such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Art of Noise, Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, John Robie, Jellybean Benitez and Aldo Marin helped create and define electro in the early 1980s...
;
"Chinese Arithmetic"Paid in Full is the debut album of American hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, released July 7, 1987, on the Island-subsidiary label 4th & B'way Records. The duo recorded the album at hip hop producer Marley Marl's home studio and Power Play Studios in New York City, following Rakim's response to Eric...
by
Eric B. & RakimEric B. & Rakim were a hip-hop duo composed of DJ Eric Barrier and MC Rakim .Hailing from Long Island, New York, the pair are generally considered by hip hop enthusiasts to be one of the most influential and innovative groups in the genre...
; "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)" and "We're Rocking the Planet" by
HashimJerry Calliste Jr. , also known as Hashim, is an American musician, producer and businessman who is best known for the 1983 hip hop recording "Al-Naafiysh ."...
; "and "Destination Earth" by
NewcleusNewcleus is an American electro and old school hip hop group that gained popularity in the early 1980s. They are primarily known for their 12-inch singles "Jam-On's Revenge", re-released as "Jam on Revenge " , and "Jam on It" ....
.
Origins
Much like
dub musicDub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
, hip hop as a DJing form started with no vocals and was purely of an
electronicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
nature. However, the roots of spoken hip hop music are found in African-American music and ultimately
African musicAfrica is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....
, particularly that of the griots of West African culture. The African-American traditions of signifyin',
the dozensThe Dozens is a game that has its origins in African American slavery. The game originates from the devaluing and bargaining off of deformed or defective slaves in auction houses. This element of the African American oral tradition in which two competitors, usually males, go head-to-head in a...
, and
jazz poetryJazz poetry is poetry that "demonstrates jazz-like rhythm or the feel of improvisation". During the 1920s, several poets began to eschew the conventions of rhythm and style; among these were Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, and E. E. Cummings...
all influence hip hop music, as well as the
call and responseCall and response is a form of "spontaneous verbal and non-verbal interaction between speaker and listener in which all of the statements are punctuated by expressions from the listener."...
patterns of African and African-American religious ceremonies. Soul singer
James BrownJames Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, and musical 'comedy' acts such as
Rudy Ray MooreRudy Ray Moore was an American comedian, musician, singer, film actor, and film producer. He was perhaps best known as Dolemite , the uniquely articulate pimp from the 1975 film Dolemite, and its sequel, The Human Tornado...
and
BlowflyBlowfly is the stage name and alternate persona of Clarence Reid , who was a songwriter for many hit R&B acts in the 1960s and 1970s. As Blowfly, he has recorded numerous albums, mostly of sex-based parodies of other songs, as well as original raps themed around sex...
are often considered "godfathers" of hip hop music.
Within New York City, performances of spoken-word poetry and music by artists such as
The Last PoetsThe Last Poets is a group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African American civil rights movement's black nationalist thread...
,
Gil Scott-HeronGilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s...
and
Jalal Mansur NuriddinJalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin, born in Brooklyn, New York, 1944, is one of the founding members of The Last Poets, a group of poets and musicians that evolved in the 1960s out of the Harlem Writers Workshop in New York City.-Biography:...
had a significant impact on the post-civil rights era
cultureCulture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
of the 1960s and 1970s, and thus the social environment in which hip hop music was created.
Hip hop as music and culture formed during the 1970s when block parties became increasingly popular in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, particularly among
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
and
LatinoThe demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
youth residing in the Bronx. Block parties incorporated DJs who played popular genres of music, especially
funkFunk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
and
soul musicSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
. Due to the positive reception, DJs began isolating the percussion breaks of popular songs. This technique was then common in Jamaican
dub musicDub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
. Because the percussive breaks in funk, soul and
discoDisco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
records were generally short,
DJ Kool HercClive Campbell , also known as Kool Herc, DJ Kool Herc and Kool DJ Herc, is a Jamaican-born DJ who is credited with originating hip hop music, in The Bronx, New York City...
and other DJs began using such techniques with two turntables to extend the breaks.
Turntablist techniques, such as scratching (attributed to Grand Wizzard Theodore), beat mixing/matching, and beat juggling eventually developed along with the breaks, creating a base that could be rapped over, in a manner similar to
signifying-Origin and features:According to Black literary scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., the practice derived from the Trickster archetype found in much African mythology, folklore, and religion: a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal...
, as well as the art of toasting, another influence found in Jamaican dub music.
Rapping, also referred to as MCing or emceeing, is a vocal style in which the artist speaks lyrically, in rhyme and verse, generally to an instrumental or synthesized
beatThe beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
. Beats, almost always in 4/4
time signatureThe time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
, can be created by
samplingIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
and/or sequencing portions of other songs by a
producerHip hop production is the creation of hip hop music. Though the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music, it's most commonly used to refer to the instrumental, non-lyrical aspects of hip hop. This means that hip hop producers are the instrumentalists involved in a work...
. They also incorporate synthesizers, drum machines, and live bands. Rappers may write, memorize, or
improvise their lyricsFreestyle rap commonly refers to rap lyrics which are improvised through a acapella or with instrumental beats, i.e. performed with no previously composed lyrics, or "off the top of the head"...
and perform their works
a cappellaA cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
or to a beat.
DJ Kool Herc and
Coke La RockCoke La Rock is an old school New York City rapper who is often credited as being the first MC in the history of hip-hop.In November, 2010, Coke La Rock was inducted into the High Times Counterculture Hall of Fame at the annual ceremonies at the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam...
provided an influence on the vocal style of rapping by delivering simple poetry verses over funk music breaks, after party-goers showed little interest in their previous attempts to integrate reggae-infused toasting into musical sets. DJs and MCs would often add call and response chants, often consisting of a basic chorus, to allow the performer to gather his thoughts (e.g. "one, two, three, y'all, to the beat").
Later, the MCs grew more varied in their vocal and rhythmic delivery, incorporating brief rhymes, often with a sexual or scatological theme, in an effort to differentiate themselves and to entertain the audience. These early raps incorporated the dozens, a product of African American culture. Kool Herc & the Herculoids were the first hip hop group to gain recognition in New York, but the number of MC teams increased over time.
Often these were collaborations between former gangs, such as Afrikaa Bambaataa's
Universal Zulu Nation|rightThe Universal Zulu Nation is an international hip hop awareness group formed and headed by hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. Originally known simply as the Organization, it arose in the 1970s as reformed New York City gang members began to organize cultural events for youths, combining local...
—now an international organization.
Melle MelGrandmaster Mele Mel , also known as Melle Mel , is an American hip-hop musician — one of the pioneers of old school hip hop as lead rapper and main songwriter for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.- Biography :...
, a rapper with The Furious Five is often credited with being the first rap lyricist to call himself an "MC." During the early 1970s
B-boyingB-boying, often called "breakdancing", is a popular style of street dance that was created and developed as part of hip-hop culture among African Americans and Latino youths in New York City. The dance consists of four primary elements: toprock, downrock, power moves and freezes...
arose during block parties, as b-boys and b-girls got in front of the audience to dance in a distinctive and frenetic style. The style was documented for release to a world wide audience for the first time in documentaries and movies such as
Style WarsStyle Wars is a 1983 documentary on hip hop culture, directed by Tony Silver and produced by Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant. The film has an emphasis on graffiti, although bboying and rapping are covered to a lesser extent...
,
Wild StyleWild Style is a 1983 hip hop film produced by Charlie Ahearn. Released theatrically in 1983 by First Run Features and later re-released for home video by Rhino Home Video, it is regarded as the first hip hop motion picture...
, and
Beat StreetBeat Street is a 1984 drama film, following Wild Style in featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s; breakdancing, DJing, and graffiti.-Plot:...
. The term "B-boy" was coined by DJ Kool Herc to describe the people who would wait for the
breakIn popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section or interlude during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece....
section of the song, getting in front of the audience to dance in a distinctive, frenetic style.
Although there were many early MCs that recorded solo projects of note, such as
DJ HollywoodDJ Hollywood is an American old school hip hop DJ and rapper. According to Kurtis Blow, Hollywood was the first rapper in the hip-hop style. His rhymes are from the top of the dome, he has never written anything down...
,
Kurtis BlowKurt Walker , better known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the first commercially successful rappers and the first to sign with a major record label...
and
Spoonie GeeSpoonie Gee is one of the earliest rap artists, and one of few rap artists to release records in the 1970s. He has been credited with originating the term 'hip hop' and some the themes in his music were precursors of Gangsta rap....
, the frequency of solo artists did not increase until later with the rise of soloists with stage presence and drama, such as
LL Cool JJames Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
. Most early hip hop was dominated by groups where collaboration between the members was integral to the show. An example would be the early hip hop group
Funky Four Plus OneFunky Four Plus One was the first Hip-Hop/Rap group from The Bronx, New York, United States to receive a recording deal. They were notable for having a female MC, and were the first rap group to perform live on a national television broadcast...
, who performed in such a manner on
Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
in 1981.
Hip hop music in its infancy has be described as an outlet and a "voice" for the disenfranchised youth of low-economic areas, as the culture reflected the social, economic and political realities of their lives.
Influence of disco
Hip hop music was both influenced by
discoDisco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
and a backlash against it. According to
Kurtis BlowKurt Walker , better known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the first commercially successful rappers and the first to sign with a major record label...
, the early days of hip hop were characterized by divisions between fans and detractors of disco music. Hip hop had largely emerged as "a direct response to the watered down, Europeanised, disco music that permeated the airwaves", and the earliest hip hop was mainly based on hard funk loops. However, by 1979,
discoDisco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
instrumental loops/tracks had become the basis of much hip hop music. This genre got the name of "disco rap". Ironically, hip hop music was also a proponent in the eventual decline in disco popularity.
DJ Pete Jones, Eddie Cheeba,
DJ HollywoodDJ Hollywood is an American old school hip hop DJ and rapper. According to Kurtis Blow, Hollywood was the first rapper in the hip-hop style. His rhymes are from the top of the dome, he has never written anything down...
, and Love Bug Starski were disco-influenced hip hop DJs. Their styles differed from other hip hop musicians who focused on rapid-fire rhymes and more complex rhythmic schemes.
Afrika BambaataaAfrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...
, Paul Winley,
Grandmaster FlashJoseph Saddler better known as King Grandmaster Flash, is an American hip hop musician and DJ; one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJing, cutting, and mixing....
, and
Bobby RobinsonBobby Robinson was an African-American independent record producer and songwriter in New York, most active from the 1950s through the mid 1980s. He produced hits by Wilbert Harrison, The Shirelles, Dave "Baby" Cortez, Elmore James, Lee Dorsey, Gladys Knight & The Pips, King Curtis, Spoonie Gee,...
were all members of this latter group.
In
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
go-go emerged as a reaction against disco and eventually incorporated characteristics of hip hop during the early 1980s. The genre of
electronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
behaved similarly, eventually evolving into what is known as
house musicHouse music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and techno in Detroit.
Transition to recording
Prior to 1979, recorded hip hop music consisted mainly of PA system recordings of parties and early hip hop mixtapes by DJs. Puerto Rican
DJ Disco WizDJ Disco Wiz in the Bronx, New York, USA, to a Puerto Rican father and a mother from Cuba. He is also credited with being the first Latino DJ in Hip-Hop music.- Old School :...
is credited as the first hip hop DJ to create a "mixed plate," or mixed dub recording, when, in 1977, he combined sound bites, special effects and paused beats to technically produce a sound recording.
The first hip hop record is widely regarded to be
The Sugarhill GangThe Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group, known mostly for their 1979 hit, "Rapper's Delight", the first hip hop single to become a Top 40 hit. The song uses the instrumental track from the classic hit "Good Times" by Chic as its foundation....
's "
Rapper's Delight"Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 single by American hip hop trio The Sugarhill Gang. While it was not the first single to feature rapping, it is generally considered to be the song that first popularized hip hop in the United States and around the world. The song's opening lyric "I said a hip hop, a...
", from 1979. However, much controversy surrounds this assertion as some regard "
King Tim III (Personality Jock)"King Tim III " is a 1979 song by the Fatback Band from the disco album XII. Released on July 25, 1979, several weeks before "Rapper's Delight" , this song is often cited as the beginning of recorded hip hop...
" by The Fatback Band, which was released a few weeks before "Rapper's Delight", as a rap record. There are various other claimants for the title of first hip hop record.
By the early 1980s, all the major elements and techniques of the hip hop genre were in place. Though not yet mainstream, hip hop had permeated outside of New York City; it could be found in cities as diverse as Atlanta,
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
,
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
,
BaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Dallas,
Kansas CityKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, San Antonio, Miami, Seattle, St. Louis, New Orleans, Houston, and
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. Indeed, "
Funk You Up"Funk You Up" is a 1979 rap song by The Sequence. Dr. Dre used interpolations for his 1995 hit "Keep Their Heads Ringin'". In 2003, a semi-remake entitled "Love of My Life Worldwide" appeared on Erykah Badu's album, Worldwide Underground...
" (1979), the first hip hop record released by a female group, and the second single released by
Sugar Hill RecordsSugar Hill Records was the name of a rap music record label that was founded in 1979 by husband and wife Joe and Sylvia Robinson with Milton Malden and financial funding of Morris Levy, the owner of Roulette Records.-History:...
, was performed by
The SequenceThe Sequence is a former female old school hip hop trio signed to the Sugar Hill label in the early-1980s. The group consisted of Cheryl Cook , Gwendolyn Chisolm , and lead singer/rapper Angie Brown Stone...
, a group from
Columbia, South CarolinaColumbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
which featured
Angie StoneAngie Stone is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She has been nominated for three Grammy Award. She is more successful on the charts R&B charts, with four Top 10 albums, forms including a number one album and 10 singles on the R&B chart,...
.
Despite the genre's growing popularity, Philadelphia was, for many years, the only city whose contributions could be compared to New York City's. Hip hop music became popular in Philadelphia in the late 1970s. The first released record was titled "Rhythm Talk", by Jocko Henderson.
The New York Times had dubbed Philadelphia the "Graffiti Capital of the World" in 1971. Philadelphia native DJ
Lady BWendy "Lady B" Clark is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is one of the earliest female rappers in hip hop history, and one of the first to record a studio album...
recorded "To the Beat Y'All" in 1979, and became the first female solo hip hop artist to record music.
Schoolly DJesse B. Weaver Jr. , better known by the stage name Schoolly D, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.- Career :...
, starting in 1984 and also from Philadelphia, began creating a style that would later be known as
gangsta rapGangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
.
1980s
The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles. Early examples of the diversification process can be identified through such tracks as Grandmaster Flash's "
The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel"The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" is a single released by Grandmaster Flash in 1981. It is a live DJ mix recording of Flash scratching and mixing records from various groups using three turntables...
" (1981), a single consisting entirely of sampled tracks as well as
Afrika BambaataaAfrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...
's "
Planet Rock"Planet Rock" is a 1982 song by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force. In the background and hooks featured Marvella Murray, Yvette Murray, Melissa Johnson and Sandra Wheeler. Although it was only a minor hit in the US, Canada, and UK, it helped change the foundations of hip-hop and dance music...
" (1982), which signified the fusion of hip hop music with electro. In addition,
RammellzeeRammellzee was a visual artist, graffiti writer, performance artist, hip hop musician, art theoretician and sculptor from New York.-Life and work:...
&
K-RobMalik Johnson, better known as K-Rob, is an American rapper, most famous for providing vocals for "Beat Bop" with Rammellzee in 1983 and "I'm a Homeboy", a single under his own name, in 1986. "The Day K-Rob Came Back" was also released in 1986...
's "Beat Bop" (1983) was a 'slow jam' which had a
dubDub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
influence with its use of reverb and
echoIn audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound, arriving at the listener some time after the direct sound. Typical examples are the echo produced by the bottom of a well, by a building, or by the walls of an enclosed room and an empty room. A true echo is a single...
as texture and playful sound effects. The mid-1980s was marked by the influence of
rock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, with the release of such albums as
King of RockKing of Rock is the second album by hip hop trio Run–D.M.C.. Produced in 1985, the album sees the group adopting a more rock-influenced sound, with several tracks prominently featuring heavy guitar riffs....
and
Licensed to IllIn 1998, the album was selected as one of The Sources 100 Best Rap Albums.It is still the only album by a white hip-hop act to receive the coveted 5 mics from The Source....
.
Heavy usage of the new generation of drum machines such as the
Oberheim DMXThe DMX is a programmable digital drum machine introduced in 1981 by Oberheim Electronics.The Oberheim DMX was the second digital drum computer ever to be sold to the public as a product, following the Linn LM-1 in 1980...
and Roland 808 models was a characteristic of many 1980s songs. To this day the 808 kickdrum is traditionally used by hip hop producers. Over time
samplingIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
technology became more advanced; however earlier producers such as
Marley MarlMarlon Williams , better known as Marley Marl, is an American DJ and record producer, who is considered one of the most important and influential hip-hop producers in the history of hip hop.-Biography:...
used drum machines to construct their beats from small excerpts of other beats in synchronisation, in his case, triggering 3
Korgis a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners...
sampling-delay units through a 808. Later,
samplersA sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
such as the
E-mu SP-1200E-mu SP-1200 is a classic drum machine and sampler released in August 1987 by E-mu Systems, Inc. as an update of the SP-12, which was originally created for dance music producers...
allowed not only more memory but more flexibility for creative production. This allowed the filtration and layering different hits, and with a possibility of re-sequencing them into a single piece.
With the emergence of a new generation of samplers such as the AKAI S900 in the late 1980s, producers did not require the aid of tape loops. Public Enemy's first album was created with the help of large tape loops. The process of looping break into a breakbeat now became more common with a sampler, now doing the job which so far had been done manually by the DJ. In 1989, DJ Mark James under the moniker "45 King", released "The 900 Number", a breakbeat track created by synchronizing samplers and vinyl.
The lyrical content of hip hop evolved as well. The early styles presented in the 1970s soon were replaced with metaphorical lyrics over more complex, multi-layered instrumentals. Artists such as
Melle MelGrandmaster Mele Mel , also known as Melle Mel , is an American hip-hop musician — one of the pioneers of old school hip hop as lead rapper and main songwriter for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.- Biography :...
,
RakimWilliam Michael Griffin Jr. , known by his stage names Rakim , Rakim Allah, R.A.K.I.M., and The Master, is an American rapper. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and most skilled emcees of all time. Eric B...
,
Chuck DCarlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York...
, and
KRS-OneLawrence Krisna Parker , better known by his stage names KRS-One , and Teacha, is an American rapper...
revolutionized hip hop by transforming it into a more mature art form. The influential single "The Message" (1982) by
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious FiveGrandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was an influential American hip-hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. Composed of one DJ and five rappers Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was an influential American hip-hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in...
is widely considered to be the pioneering force for conscious rap.
During the early 1980s, electro music was fused with elements of the hip hop movement, largely led by artists such as Cybotron, Hashim,
Planet PatrolPlanet Patrol is an American electro group from the 1980s. The members were Arthur Baker, John Robie, and a quintet of vocalists led by Herbert J. Jackson: lead singer Joseph Lites, Rodney Butler, Michael Anthony Jones, and the late Melvin Franklin...
and
NewcleusNewcleus is an American electro and old school hip hop group that gained popularity in the early 1980s. They are primarily known for their 12-inch singles "Jam-On's Revenge", re-released as "Jam on Revenge " , and "Jam on It" ....
. The most notable proponent was
Afrika BambaataaAfrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...
who produced the single "
Planet Rock"Planet Rock" is a 1982 song by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force. In the background and hooks featured Marvella Murray, Yvette Murray, Melissa Johnson and Sandra Wheeler. Although it was only a minor hit in the US, Canada, and UK, it helped change the foundations of hip-hop and dance music...
".
Some rappers eventually became mainstream pop performers.
Kurtis BlowKurt Walker , better known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the first commercially successful rappers and the first to sign with a major record label...
's appearance in a Sprite commercial marked the first hip hop musician to represent a major product. The 1981 songs "
Rapture"Rapture" is a single by the American new wave band Blondie. It was released in January 1981 and was the second and final song to be released from the band's 1980 top 10 album Autoamerican, the first being "The Tide Is High", which had topped the chart in the US and UK. "Rapture" went on to reach...
" by
BlondieBlondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
and "
Christmas Wrapping"Christmas Wrapping" is a Christmas song written by Chris Butler and recorded in 1981 by The Waitresses, featuring vocals by Patty Donahue. It was first released in 1981 on the compilation album A Christmas Record on ZE Records. The group also included the track on their 1982 EP I Could Rule the...
" by the new-wave band
The WaitressesThe Waitresses were an experimental new wave band from Akron, Ohio. The group was led by guitarist/songwriter Chris Butler with lead vocals performed by Patty Donahue.-Career:...
were one of the first pop songs to use some rapping in the delivery.
Prior to the 1980s, hip hop music was largely confined within the context of the United States. However, during the 1980s, it began its spread and became a part of the music scene in dozens of countries.
Katz Rap" by JaJaJa (1982, Ata Tak- WR 14) was the first rap song recorded by a female in Europe. American Julie Ashcraft A.K.A. Julie Jigsaw wrote and rapped the lyrics to "Katz Rap" after co-founding JaJaJa in Düsseldorf with German drummer, Frank Samba, and Swiss bass player, Wietn Wito. The track was engineered and mastered by Kurt Dahlke A.K.A. Pyrolator at the Ata Tak studio. With the release of "Graffiti Artists International" on JaJaJa's self-titled LP album (1982, Ata Tak - WR16), Julie Jigsaw became the first rapper to record a song about
graffitiGraffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
in Europe. JaJaJa toured with a large graffiti canvas she spray painted with the band's name and a giant reptile/dragon/dinosaur. JaJaJa's "I Am An Animal" video featured breakdancing youths costumed as dinosaurs.
In the early part of the decade,
B-boyingB-boying, often called "breakdancing", is a popular style of street dance that was created and developed as part of hip-hop culture among African Americans and Latino youths in New York City. The dance consists of four primary elements: toprock, downrock, power moves and freezes...
became the first aspect of hip hop culture to reach
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, where the crew Black Noise established the practice before beginning to rap later in the decade. Musician and presenter
SidneySidney Duteil , better known as Sidney, is a French musician, rapper, DJ, television and radio host, and occasional actor. He is well known in France for his connection with the beginnings of the French hip hop scene. In 1984, he was the host of the popular weekly French Rap television show...
became France's first black TV presenter with his show
H.I.P. H.O.P.H.I.P. H.O.P. was the world's very first television show to be dedicated to the hip hop culture. It was broadcast each Sunday afternoon on the French national channel TF1 in 1984, for 43 weeks. The host was Sidney along with the Paris City Breakers. They had guests such as Sugarhill Gang, Kurtis...
which screened on TF1 during 1984, a first for the genre worldwide.
Radio NovaRadio Nova is a radio station broadcast from Paris, created in 1981 by Jean-François Bizot.Its playlist is characterized by non-mainstream or underground artists of various music genres, such as electro, new wave, reggae, jazz, hip hop and world music....
helped launch other French stars including
Dee NastyDee Nasty is a DJ, producer, and Hip-Hop pioneer in Paris, France. Dee Nasty, the Parisian father of Hip Hop, is one of Radio Nova’s original DJs. Dee Nasty is best known for producing France’s first Hip Hop record.- Career :...
whose 1984 album Paname City Rappin along with compilations Rapattitude 1 and 2 contributed to a general awareness of Hip Hop in France.
Hip hop has always kept a very close relationship with the Latino community in New York.
DJ Disco WizDJ Disco Wiz in the Bronx, New York, USA, to a Puerto Rican father and a mother from Cuba. He is also credited with being the first Latino DJ in Hip-Hop music.- Old School :...
and the
Rock Steady CrewRock Steady Crew is a b-boying crew and hip hop group that was established in the Bronx, New York City in 1977. The group was initially formed by b-boys named Jimmy D and Jojo. In subsequent years, Rock Steady Crew became a franchise name for groups in other locations. The Manhattan branch was...
were among early innovators from
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. combining English and Spanish in the lyrics.
The Mean MachineThe Mean Machine was a rap group composed of Puerto Ricans who rapped in both English and Spanish. They are known for the single Disco Dream, released as a 12" 33 RPM single in 1981 on the Sugar Hill Records label. In 1986, They recorded a single called "At The Party" on the Honey Hush label...
recorded their first song under the label "Disco Dreams" in 1981, while
Kid FrostArturo Molina Jr. , better known as Frost , is a Mexican American hip hop artist.-Early life:...
from Los Angeles began his career in 1982.
Cypress HillCypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
was formed in 1988 in the suburb of South Gate outside Los Angeles when Senen Reyes (born in Havana) and his younger brother Ulpiano Sergio (
Mellow Man AceUlpiano Sergio Reyes , better known as Mellow Man Ace, is an American rapper. He is best known for his hit single "Mentirosa"...
) moved from Cuba to South Gate with his family in 1971. They teamed up with DVX from Queens (New York), Lawrence Muggerud (
DJ MuggsLawrence Muggerud , better known as DJ Muggs, is Cypress Hill's DJ and producer. He also produced tracks for Funkdoobiest on the albums Which Doobie U B? and Brothas Doobie.-Cypress Hill :...
) and Louis Freese (
B-RealLouis Freese, better known by his stage name B-Real, is an American rapper of Cuban and Mexican heritage, and a film and TV actor...
), a Mexican/Cuban-American native of Los Angeles. After the departure of "Ace" to begin his solo career the group adopted the name of
Cypress HillCypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
named after a street running through a neighborhood nearby in South Los Angeles.
Japanese hip hop is said to have begun when Hiroshi Fujiwara returned to Japan and started playing Hip-Hop records in the early 1980s. Japanese hip hop generally tends to be most directly influenced by old school hip hop, taking from the era's catchy beats, dance culture, and overall fun and carefree nature and incorporating it into their music. As a result, hip hop stands as one of the most commercially viable mainstream music genres in Japan, and the line between it and pop music is frequently blurred.
New school hip hop
The new school of hip hop was the second wave of hip hop music, originating in 1983–84 with the early records of
Run-D.M.C.Run–D.M.C. was an American hip hop group from Hollis, in the Queens borough of New York City. Founded by Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, and Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell, the group is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture.Run–D.M.C...
and
LL Cool JJames Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
. As with the hip hop preceding it, the new school came predominately from
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The new school was initially characterized in form by
drum machineA drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
-led minimalism, with influences from
rock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. It was notable for taunts and boasts about rapping, and socio-political commentary, both delivered in an aggressive, self-assertive style. In image as in song its artists projected a tough, cool, street b-boy attitude. These elements contrasted sharply with the funk and disco influenced outfits, novelty hits, live bands, synthesizers and party rhymes of artists prevalent prior to 1984, and rendered them old-school. New school artists made shorter songs that could more easily gain radio play, and more cohesive LPs than their old school counterparts. By 1986 their releases began to establish the hip hop album as a fixture of the mainstream. Hip hop music became commercially successful, as exemplified by the
Beastie BoysBeastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
' 1986 album
Licensed to IllIn 1998, the album was selected as one of The Sources 100 Best Rap Albums.It is still the only album by a white hip-hop act to receive the coveted 5 mics from The Source....
, which was the first rap album to hit #1 on the Billboard charts.
Golden age hip hop
Hip hop's "golden age" (or "golden era") is a name given to a period in mainstream hip hop—usually cited as between the mid 1980s and the early 1990s—said to be characterized by its diversity, quality, innovation and influence. There were strong themes of Afrocentricity and political militancy, while the music was experimental and the
samplingIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
, eclectic. There was often a strong
jazz influenceJazz rap is a sub-genre of hip hop which incorporates jazz influences, developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The lyrics are often based on political consciousness, Afrocentricity, and general positivism...
. The artists most often associated with the phrase are Public Enemy,
Boogie Down ProductionsBoogie Down Productions was a hip hop group that was originally composed of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, months after the release of BDP's debut album, Criminal Minded. The name of the group, Boogie Down, derives from a nickname for the...
,
Eric B. & RakimEric B. & Rakim were a hip-hop duo composed of DJ Eric Barrier and MC Rakim .Hailing from Long Island, New York, the pair are generally considered by hip hop enthusiasts to be one of the most influential and innovative groups in the genre...
,
De La SoulDe La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The band is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...
,
A Tribe Called QuestA Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...
,
Gang StarrGang Starr was an influential East Coast hip hop duo that consisted of the late MC Guru and DJ/producer DJ Premier. Their style combined elements of New York jazz and hip hop.-Background:...
,
Big Daddy KaneAntonio Hardy better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who started his career in 1986 as a member of the rap group the Juice Crew. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential and skilled MC's in Hip Hop...
and the
Jungle BrothersThe Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop group that pioneered the fusion of jazz and hip-hop and also became the first hip-hop group to use a house-music producer. The group began performing in the mid-1980s and released its first album, Straight Out the Jungle, in July 1988...
.
The golden age is noted for its innovation – a time “when it seemed that every new single reinvented the genre” according to
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
. Referring to “hip-hop in its golden age”,
SpinSpin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
’s editor-in-chief Sia Michel says, “there were so many important, groundbreaking albums coming out right about that time”,
and
MTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
’s
Sway CallowaySway Calloway, usually credited as Sway, born August 23rd, 1976, is a reporter and executive producer for MTV News. He is also the co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show The Wake Up Show...
adds: "The thing that made that era so great is that nothing was contrived. Everything was still being discovered and everything was still innovative and new”. Writer William Jelani Cobb says "what made the era they inaugurated worthy of the term golden was the sheer number of stylistic innovations that came into existence... in these golden years, a critical mass of mic prodigies were literally creating themselves and their art form at the same time".
The specific time period that the golden age covers varies little from different sources.
MSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
states, “the “Golden Age” of hip-hop music: The ’80s”. Allmusic writes “Hip-hop's golden age is bookended by the commercial breakthrough of
Run-D.M.C.Run–D.M.C. was an American hip hop group from Hollis, in the Queens borough of New York City. Founded by Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, and Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell, the group is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture.Run–D.M.C...
in 1986 and the explosion of gangsta rap with 1993's The Chronic by Dr. Dre.”
Gangsta rap and West Coast hip hop
Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop that reflects the violent lifestyles of inner-city American black youths. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word
gangsterA gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
. The genre was pioneered in the mid 1980s by rappers such as
Schoolly DJesse B. Weaver Jr. , better known by the stage name Schoolly D, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.- Career :...
and
Ice TTracy Marrow , better known by his stage name Ice-T, is an American musician and actor.He was born in Newark, New Jersey and moved to the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles when he was in the 7th grade. After graduating from high school he served in the United States Army for four years...
, and was popularized in the later part of the 1980s by groups like N.W.A. Ice-T released "
6 in the Mornin'"6 in the Mornin'" is a song by Ice-T. Released in 1986 as the B-side of "Dog 'N the Wax ", the song is considered to be one of the defining tracks of the gangsta rap genre. The song appeared on Ice T's debut album, Rhyme Pays , in 1987...
", which is often regarded as the first gangsta rap song, in 1986. After the national attention that Ice-T and N.W.A created in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gangsta rap became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop.
N.W.A is the group most frequently associated with the founding of gangsta rap. Their lyrics were more violent, openly confrontational, and shocking than those of established rap acts, featuring incessant profanity and, controversially, use of the word "nigger". These lyrics were placed over rough, rock guitar-driven beats, contributing to the music's hard-edged feel. The first blockbuster gangsta rap album was N.W.A's
Straight Outta ComptonThe lyrics on the album were mainly written by Ice Cube and MC Ren. Critics of the album expressed their view that the record glamorized Black-on-Black crime, but the emcees stated that the group was simply showing the reality of living in the areas of Compton, California, and South Central Los...
, released in 1988. Straight Outta Compton would establish
West Coast hip hopWest Coast hip hop is a hip hop music subgenre that encompasses any artists or music that originates in the westernmost region of the United States, as opposed to East Coast hip hop, based originally in New York alone...
as a vital genre, and establish
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
as a legitimate rival to hip hop's long-time capital, New York City. Straight Outta Compton sparked the first major controversy regarding hip hop lyrics when their song "
Fuck Tha Police"Fuck tha Police" is a protest song by the gangsta rap group N.W.A that appears on the album Straight Outta Compton. Despite not being a single, it ranked #425 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time....
" earned a letter from FBI Assistant Director, Milt Ahlerich, strongly expressing
law enforcementThe police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
's resentment of the song. Due to the influence of Ice T and N.W.A, gangsta rap is often credited as being an originally West Coast phenomenon, despite the contributions of East Coast acts like
Boogie Down ProductionsBoogie Down Productions was a hip hop group that was originally composed of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, months after the release of BDP's debut album, Criminal Minded. The name of the group, Boogie Down, derives from a nickname for the...
in shaping the genre.
The subject matter inherent in gangsta rap has caused a great deal of controversy. Criticism has come from both left wing and right wing commentators, and
religious leadersReligion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
. Gangsta rappers often defend themselves by saying that they are describing the reality of inner-city life, and that they are only adopting a character, like an actor playing a role, which behaves in ways that they may not necessarily endorse.
1990s
In 1990,
MC HammerStanley Kirk Burrell , better known by his stage name MC Hammer , is an American rapper, entertainer, business entrepreneur, dancer and actor. He had his greatest commercial success and popularity from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s...
hit mainstream success with the multi platinum album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em. The record reached #1 and the first single, "
U Can't Touch This"U Can't Touch This" is MC Hammer's 1990 super hit signature song, from his album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em. The album sold more than 10 million copies, due primarily to this single, and gaining multi-platinum certifications from the RIAA, and other Recording Industries.Rick James sued Hammer...
" charted on the top ten of the
billboard hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. MC Hammer became one of the most successful rappers of the early nineties and one of the first household names in the genre. The album raised
rap musicRapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
to a new level of popularity. It was the first hip-hop album
certifiedIn the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
diamond by the RIAA for sales of over ten million. It remains one of the genre's all-time best-selling albums. To date, the album has sold as many as 18 million units.
In 1992,
Dr. DreAndre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...
released
The ChronicThe Chronic is the solo debut album of American hip hop artist Dr. Dre, released December 15, 1992, on his own record label Death Row Records, and distributed by Priority Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in June 1992 at Death Row Studios in Los Angeles and at Bernie Grundman...
. As well as helping to establish West Coast gangsta rap as more commercially viable than East Coast hip hop, this album founded a style called G Funk, which soon came to dominate West Coast hip hop. The style was further developed and popularized by
Snoop DoggCalvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
's 1993 album Doggystyle.
Hip hop became the best selling music genre by the mid 1990s. By the late 1990s hip hop was artistically dominated by the
Wu-Tang ClanThe Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
. The Beastie Boys continued their success throughout the decade crossing color lines and gaining respect from many different artists.
Record labels based out of Atlanta, St. Louis, and New Orleans gained fame for their local scenes. The midwest rap scene was also notable, with the fast vocal styles from artists such as
Bone Thugs-n-HarmonyBone Thugs-N-Harmony is an American Hip-Hop/R'n'B band from Cleveland, Ohio formed in 1991. It originally consisted of rappers Layzie Bone, Flesh-n-Bone, Bizzy Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Wish Bone. Rapper Eazy-E of the group N.W.A signed Bone Thugs-N-Harmony to Ruthless Records in 1994, when Bone...
,
Tech N9neAaron Dontez Yates , better known by his stage name Tech N9ne , is an American rapper from Kansas City, Missouri. In 1999, Yates and Travis O'Guin founded the record label Strange Music. Throughout his career, Yates has sold over one million albums and has had his music featured in film,...
, and
TwistaCarl Terrell Mitchell , better known by his stage name Twista, is an American rapper. He is known for once holding the title of fastest rapper in the world according to Guinness World Records in 1992, being able to pronounce 598 syllables in 55 seconds...
. By the end of the decade, hip hop was an integral part of popular music, and many American pop songs had hip hop components.
World hip hop
In
HaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, hip hop was developed in the early 1980s, and is mostly accredited to Master Dji and his songs "Vakans" and "Politik Pa m". What later became known as "Rap Kreyòl" grew in popularity in the late 1990s with King Posse and Original Rap Stuff. Due to cheaper recording technology and flows of equipment to Haiti, more Rap Kreyòl groups are recording songs, even after the January 12th earthquake.
In the
Dominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, a recording by Santi Y Sus Duendes and
Lisa MMarlisa Marrero Vázquez better known by her stage name Lisa M or her nicknames "The Queen of Spanish Rap" or "La Suprema" , is a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, record producer and dancer who fuses genres such as pop, merengue, rap, and reggaetón. She is known as one of first female rap artists...
became the first single of
merenrapMerenhouse/Merenrap, is a hip hop music style formed by blending Dominican merengue music with rap, dancehall reggae and hip hop.-History:...
, a fusion of hip hop and
merengueMerengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
.
New York City experienced a heavy Jamaican hip hop influence during the 1990s. This influence was brought on by cultural shifts particularly because of the heightened immigration of Jamaicans to New York City and the American-born Jamaican youth who were coming of age during the 1990s.
In Europe, Africa, and Asia, hip hop began to move from the underground to mainstream audiences. In Europe, hip hop was the domain of both ethnic nationals and immigrants.
British hip hopBritish hip hop is a genre of music, and a culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. It is generally classified as one of a number of styles of urban music...
, for example, became a genre of its own and spawned many artists such as
WileyRichard Kylea Cowie , better known by his stage name Wiley is a prolific British music producer, MC and recording artist, and rapper with roots from Trinidad...
,
Dizzee RascalDylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
,
The StreetsThe Streets were a British rap/garage project from Birmingham, United Kingdom, led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner and has included a myriad of other contributors most notably drummer Johnny Drum Machine, vocalist Kevin Mark Trail and the Italian-American beatmaker Leroy.The...
and many more.
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
produced the well-known
Die Fantastischen VierDie Fantastischen Vier , also known as Fanta 4, is a German hip hop group from Stuttgart, Germany. The members are Michael Bernd Schmidt alias Smudo, Andreas Rieke alias And.Ypsilon, Thomas Dürr alias Hausmeister Thomas D and Michael 'Michi' Beck alias Dee Jot Hausmarke...
as well as several
TurkishTurkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
performers like the controversial
CartelCartel is a 1995 Turkish hip hop group that received attention and popularity in both Turkey and Germany. They were famous for pioneering the use of traditional Turkish music instruments in Hip Hop music...
,
Kool SavaşSavas Yurderi also known as Kool Savas , is a German rapper and hip hop artist. Savas is mostly referred to as "King of Rap" or "King of German Rap"."Savaş" is the Turkish word for "war"....
, and
AzadAzad Azadpour is a German rapper of Kurdish descent based in Frankfurt am Main.-Career:After having arrived in Germany from Iran as young as 10, he was into hip hop, rap, beatboxing and graffiti. In 1988 he joined D-Flame , A-Bomb, and Combad in Cold-N-Locco...
. Similarly,
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
has produced a number of native-born stars, such as
IAMIAM is a French hip hop band from Marseille, created in 1989, and composed of Akhenaton , Shurik'n , Khéops , Imhotep , and Kephren . 'IAM' has several meanings, including 'Invasion Arrivée de Mars'...
and
Suprême NTMSuprême NTM is a French hip hop group formed in 1989 in the Seine-Saint-Denis département. The group comprises rappers Joey Starr and Kool Shen...
,
MC SolaarMC Solaar is a francophone hip hop and rap artist. He is one of the most internationally popular and influential French rappers....
,
RohffRohff - « Rimeur Original Hardcore Flow Fluide » is a French rapper from Vitry-sur-Seine, in Val-de-Marne, south of Paris. Rohff was born in Comoros and immigrated to the Parisian suburbs in 1985.A fan of 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., NWA, Game, and others, Rohff began rapping around 1994...
,
Rim'KAbdelkrim Brahmi-Benalla a.k.a. Rim'K is a French rapper of Algerian descent. Rim'K was born and raised in the Parisian suburb of Vitry-sur-Seine...
or
BoobaElie Yaffa better known under his stage name Booba, is a French rapper from Paris. He is half Senegalese from his father's side and half French of Moroccan origin from his mother's side...
. In the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, important nineties rappers include The
Osdorp PosseOsdorp Posse was one of the first rap groups to produce rap music in Dutch language. ‘The Posse’ was formed in 1989 by Def-P , King , IJsblok and Seda...
, a crew from
AmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
,
ExtinceExtince is one of the first Dutch language rappers to appear in the Dutch music charts.Extince was born as Peter Kops in Oosterhout, Netherlands...
, from
OosterhoutOosterhout is a municipality and a city in the South of the Netherlands. At June, 2008, the city population was 54,015.-History:Oosterhout is mentioned for the first time in 1277, although archaeological excavations showed the existence of human settlements in the area in prehistoric times. The...
, and
PostmenPostmen was a reggae/hip hop band from the Netherlands. After their split up, former member The Anonymous Mis continued as Postman.The group was founded by The Anonymous Mis and G-Boah in 1993. They were influenced by Kool G Rap, Eric B & Rakim, Burning Spear and Bob Marley...
.
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
found its own rappers, including
JovanottiLorenzo Cherubini, better known as Jovanotti, is an Italian singer-songwriter and rapper.The name Jovanotti derives from the plural form of the Italian word giovanotto , i.e. giovanotti. Lorenzo Cherubini originally auditioned a band with the name "I Giovanotti", but the record producer only was...
and
Articolo 31Articolo 31 is a popular band from Milan, Italy, melding hip hop, funk, pop and traditional Italian musical forms. They are one of the most popular Italian rock/hip hop groups.-Band history:...
, grow nationally renowned, while the Polish scene began in earnest early in the decade with the rise of PM Cool Lee. In
RomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
,
B.U.G. MafiaB.U.G. Mafia is a Romanian hip hop group from Pantelimon, Bucharest, widely regarded as one of the seminal acts of gangsta rap in Romania. Founded in 1993, it was among the first Romanian hip hop acts.The original line-up consisted of Vlad "Tataee" Irimia, Dragoş "Caddillac" Vlad-Neagu and two...
came out of
BucharestBucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
's
PantelimonPantelimon is a working-class neighborhood located in south-eastern Bucharest, Romania, in Sector 2. Outside Bucharest, there is an adjacent town named Pantelimon, administered separately....
neighborhood, and their brand of gangsta rap underlines the parallels between life in Romania's Communist-era apartment blocks and in the housing projects of America's ghettos.
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's hip hop grew greatly in popularity at the end of the decade, with several stars both
PalestinianThe Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
(Tamer Nafer) and Israeli (
SubliminalYa'akov "Kobi" Shimoni , generally known by his stage name Subliminal , is an Israeli hip hop artist and music producer.-Background:...
). In
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
hip hop has his own kind of rapping, which is more political and underground scene, they are known for
ValeteValete is a Portuguese language political hip hop artist named Keidje Lima that has enjoyed some critical success in his home country of Portugal.-Life & music career:...
,
DealemaDealema is one of the oldest Rap groups from Portugal. They started with the group Factor X with Mundo Segundo, Mike, DJ Guze and a mix with Fullashit, Pina and Morpheus groups....
and
HalloweenHallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
.
Russian hip hopRussian hip hop is hip hop music produced in Russia or in the Russian language in other countries, including former Soviet states as Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.-General summary:...
emerged during last years of
Soviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and cemented later, with groups like
MalchishnikMalchishnik is a sex rap group from Russia who were the first Russian rap artists to gain mainstream popularity during earlier 1990s.-Formation:...
and
Bad BalanceBad Balance is a Russian rap group considered to be one of the first rap acts in USSR. The group maintained a devoted underground following during the 1990s.-Formation:...
enjoying mainstream popularity in the 1990s, while Ligalize and
KastaKasta is Russian rap band from Rostov-on-Don. Group is led by MC and beatmaker Vlady. Other members include MC's Shim, Hamil and Zmey, as well as DJ Hobot. Although Kasta is notably influenced by New York rap tradition, especially Wu-Tang Clan, they have always written in Russian.- History :Vlady,...
were popular in the 2000s.
In Asia, mainstream stars rose to prominence in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, led by
Francis MagalonaFrancis Michael Durango Magalona , also known as FrancisM, Master Rapper, MC The Mouth and The Man From Manila, was a Filipino rapper, entrepreneur, songwriter, producer, actor, director, and photographer. He was the first Filipino rapper in the Philippines to cross over to the mainstream...
, Rap Asia, MC Lara and Lady Diane. In Japan, where underground rappers had previously found a limited audience, and popular
teen idolA teen idol is a celebrity who is widely idolized by teenagers; he or she is often young but not necessarily teenaged. Often teen idols are actors or pop singers, but some sports figures have an appeal to teenagers. Some teen idols began their careers as child actors...
s brought a style called J-rap to the top of the charts in the middle of the 1990s.
Latinos had played an integral role in the early development of hip hop, and the style had spread to parts of Latin America, such as Cuba, early in its history. In
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, popular hip hop began with the success of
CaloCalo, Caló, or Calò may refer to:* Caló language, the language of the Iberian Romani**Iberian Kale :***Romani people in Spain, more frequently called gitanos***Romani people in Portugal, more frequently called ciganos...
in the early 1990s. Later in the decade, with Latin rap groups like
Cypress HillCypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
on the American charts, Mexican rap rock groups, such as
Control MacheteControl Machete is a Mexican hip hop group from Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. Its members are Fermin IV , Patricio "Pato" Chapa Elizalde, and Toy Kenobi .-History:...
, rose to prominence in their native land. An annual Cuban hip hop concert held at
AlamarAlamar is a district in east part of the city of La Habana in Cuba. This district is constituted with prefabrication construction in the sovietic architectural style.- Hip-Hop Scene :...
in
HavanaHavana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
helped popularize Cuban hip hop, beginning in 1995. Hip hop grew steadily more popular in Cuba, because of official governmental support for musicians.
Brazilian hip hopBrazilian hip hop is one of the world's major hip hop scenes, with active rap, break dance, and graffiti scenes, especially in São Paulo, where groups tend to have a more international style, influenced by old school hip hop and gangsta rap.-History:...
is heavily associated with racial and economic issues in the country, where a lot of
black peopleIn Brazil, the term "preto" is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" , "pardo" , "amarelo" and "indígena"...
live in a bad situation in the violent slums, known in
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
as
favelaA favela is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 18th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos . This was the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in...
s.
São PauloSão Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
is where
hip hopHip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
began in the country, but it soon spread all over Brazil, and today, almost every big Brazilian city, such as
Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
,
SalvadorSalvador is the largest city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first...
,
CuritibaCuritiba is the capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is the largest city with the biggest economy of both Paraná and southern Brazil. The population of Curitiba numbers approximately 1.75 million people and the latest GDP figures for the city surpass US$61 billion according to...
,
Porto AlegrePorto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...
,
Belo HorizonteBelo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...
,
RecifeRecife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
and
BrasiliaBrasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
, has a
hip hopHip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
scene. Some notable artists include:
Racionais MC'sRacionais MC's is a hip hop group based in São Paulo, Brazil. Mano Brown , Ice Blue , Edy Rock and DJ KL Jay formed the group in 1988. Each member hails from the ring of favelas around São Paulo locally called the periferia...
, Thaide, and
Marcelo D2Marcelo D2 is a Brazilian rapper.- Biography :A former vocalist of the band Planet Hemp, he started his solo career in 1998 with the album Eu Tiro É Onda. The album was recorded in his studio by David Corcos, and was mixed in New York and Los Angeles by Carlos Bass and Mário Caldato Jr...
Bosnian and Herzegovinan hip hopHip hop is quite a new style of music for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it has nevertheless proven very popular. The scene has coalesced around several major portals on the Internet...
is currently dominated by
Edo MaajkaEdin Osmić , better known by his stage name Edo Maajka, is a Bosnian rapper. His stage name literally means "Edo the Mother".-Early life:...
, the most popular rapper of the Balkans. In that region, especially Bosnia, hip hop is still used as a political and social message in song themes such as war, profiteering, corruption,etc...
FrenkieAdnan Hamidović , better known by his stage name Frenkie, is a Bosnian rapper from Bijeljina, Bosnia. The themes present in his music are often concerned with the political situation in Bosnia, as well as traditional hip-hop subject matter such as battle rapping and pop culture...
another Bosnian rapper, who is associated and the closest worker with Edo Maajka, has collaborated beyond Bosnians boarders. Frenkie collaborated with German artists such as Flip Star, Cika Reks and others. Frenkie also collaborated on his latest album,
ProtuotrovProtuotrov is the 5th studio album by Bosnian rapper Frenkie. The album was released on December 10, 2009.-Tracks listing:...
, with
Masta AceDuval Clear , known better by his stage name Masta Ace, is a rapper from Brownsville, Brooklyn. He appeared on the classic 1988 Juice Crew posse cut "The Symphony"...
, the song is Zivili (lived).
West Coast hip hop
After N.W.A broke up,
Dr. DreAndre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...
(a former member) released
The ChronicThe Chronic is the solo debut album of American hip hop artist Dr. Dre, released December 15, 1992, on his own record label Death Row Records, and distributed by Priority Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in June 1992 at Death Row Studios in Los Angeles and at Bernie Grundman...
in 1992, which peaked at #1 on the R&B/hip hop chart, #3 on the pop chart and spawned a #2 pop single with "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang." The Chronic took West Coast rap in a new direction, influenced strongly by P funk artists, melding smooth and easy funk beats with slowly drawled lyrics. This came to be known as
G-funkG-funk, or Gangsta-funk, is a sub-genre of hip hop music that emerged from Westcoast gangsta rap in the early 1990s. G-funk incorporates multi-layered and melodic synthesizers, slow hypnotic grooves, a deep bass, background female vocals, the extensive sampling of P-funk tunes, and a high-pitched...
and dominated mainstream hip hop for several years through a roster of artists on
Death Row RecordsDeath Row Records is a record label founded in 1991 by Marion "Suge" Knight Jr., Andre Young , Tracy Lynn Curry and Michael Harris . It is known to have been home to many popular West Coast hip hop artists such as Dr...
, including
Tupac ShakurTupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
, whose double disk Album
All Eyez On MeAll Eyez on Me is the fourth studio album by American rapper 2Pac, released February 13, 1996 on Death Row Records and Interscope Records....
was a big hit with hit songs Ambitionz Az a Ridah, and
2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted is a hip hop song written by 2Pac, Snoop Dogg and Daz Dillinger for 2Pac's 1996 double album All Eyez on Me. The song is a duet performed by 2Pac and Snoop Dogg. "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" was released as promotional recording and was the album's second single, after...
, and
Snoop DoggCalvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, whose
DoggystyleDoggystyle is the debut album from American rapper Snoop Dogg; released by Death Row Records on November 23, 1993. The album was recorded soon following the release of Dr. Dre's landmark debut album The Chronic , to which Snoop Dogg contributed significantly. His musical stylizations for the album...
included the songs "What's My Name" and "Gin and Juice," both top ten hits. As the Los Angeles-based label
Death Row RecordsDeath Row Records is a record label founded in 1991 by Marion "Suge" Knight Jr., Andre Young , Tracy Lynn Curry and Michael Harris . It is known to have been home to many popular West Coast hip hop artists such as Dr...
built an empire around
Dr. DreAndre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...
,
Snoop DoggCalvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, and the charismatic, complicated rapper-actor
Tupac ShakurTupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
. It also entered into a rivalry with New York City’s
Bad Boy RecordsBad Boy Records is a record label founded in 1993 by producer/rapper/entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, and is distributed by Atlantic Records.-Beginnings:...
.(See the article on the
East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalryThe East Coast–West Coast Hip Hop Rivalry was a feud in the 1990s between artists and fans of the Eastcoast and Westcoast hip-hop scenes. Seeming focal points of the feud were East Coast-based rapper The Notorious B.I.G...
.)
Detached from this scene were other artists such as
Freestyle FellowshipFreestyle Fellowship are a rap group from Los Angeles consisting of rappers Aceyalone, Myka 9, P.E.A.C.E., Self Jupiter and producer J Sumbi...
,
The PharcydeThe Pharcyde are an alternative hip hop group based in South Central Los Angeles. The original four members of the group are Imani , Slimkid3 , Bootie Brown and Fatlip . DJ Mark Luv was the group's first DJ, followed by producer J-Swift and then J Dilla...
as well as more underground artists such as the
SolesidesSolesides was an underground hip hop label based in Northern California, founded in 1991. It comprised various DJs and MCs, the most notable being DJ Shadow, MC–producer Lyrics Born, and the duo, Blackalicious. The members of Solesides all met via the radio station, KDVS, the 5000-watt community...
collective (
DJ ShadowJoshua Paul Davis better known as DJ Shadow is an American music producer, DJ and songwriter. He is considered a prominent figure in the development of instrumental hip hop and first gained notice with the release of his highly acclaimed debut album Endtroducing....., which was constructed...
and
BlackaliciousBlackalicious is an American hip hop duo from Sacramento, California made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel . They are noted for Gift of Gab's often "tongue-twisting", multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's "classic" beats...
amongst others)
Jurassic 5Jurassic 5 was an American alternative hip hop group formed in 1993 from members of two previous groups, Rebels of Rhythm and Unity Committee by rappers Charles Stewart , Dante Givens , Courtenay Henderson , Marc Stuart , and disc jockeys Mark Potsic and Lucas Macfadden...
,
Ugly DucklingUgly Duckling is an American hip hop group that formed around 1993 in Long Beach, California. Ugly Duckling's members include Dizzy Dustin , Young Einstein and Andy Cat . They took the name Ugly Duckling because they felt like outcasts on the Southern California hip hop scene of the mid-1990s...
,
People Under the StairsPeople Under the Stairs is a hip hop group from Los Angeles, California formed in 1997 by Thes One and Double K. The group has released eight critically acclaimed full-length albums and performed on every continent except Antarctica. It is estimated that the group has performed well over 1,000 sold...
, The Alkaholiks, and earlier
Souls of Mischief-Studio albums:-Singles:-External links:* [ Allmusic Biography]* *...
represented a return to hip-hops roots of sampling and well planned rhyme schemes. Also the west coast has avant-garde Hip Hop label known as the
AnticonAnticon is an Oakland based independent record label founded in 1997. It is collectively owned among six founding artists and one manager...
record, where artist such as Dose One,
Sole (artist)Tim Holland, known as Sole, is an alternative hip hop artist and a co-founder of the Anticon collective/label. Sole is known for his dense and often dark stream-of-consciousness style of rapping. His verses are often filled with abstraction, metaphor and sarcasm while avoiding or deconstructing...
, and many others make experimental Hip Hop music that goes beyond the status quo.
East Coast hip hop
In the early 1990s East Coast hip hop was dominated by the
Native TonguesNative Tongues is a book by the linguist Charles Berlitz.It is a list of words in different languages, etymology and questions with speculations far and wide about words....
posse which was loosely composed of
De La SoulDe La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The band is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...
with producer
Prince PaulPaul Huston, better known by the stage name Prince Paul, is an American disc jockey and hip-hop record producer. He was also a founding member of the Gravediggaz where he used the name The Undertaker.- Biography :...
,
A Tribe Called QuestA Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...
, The Jungle Brothers, as well as their loose affiliates
3rd Bass3rd Bass was an American hip-hop group that rose to fame in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and was notable for being one of the first successful interracial hip-hop groups.-Career:...
,
Main SourceMain Source was an innovative, acclaimed Toronto and New York-based hip hop group comprising Toronto natives Sir Scratch, K-Cut, and Queens native Large Professor...
, and the less successful
Black SheepBlack Sheep is an alternative hip hop duo from Queens, New York, composed of Andres "Dres" Titus and William "Mista Lawnge" McLean. The duo is from New York but met as teenagers in North Carolina, where both of their families relocated. The group was an affiliate of the Native Tongues, which...
&
KMDKMD was an American hip hop trio in the early 1990s, best known for launching the career of acclaimed rapper and producer MF DOOM, who at the time was known as Zev Love X. Other members of the group were Rodan and DJ Subroc–Zev Love X's younger brother...
. Although originally a "daisy age" conception stressing the positive aspects of life, darker material (such as De La Soul's thought-provoking "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa") soon crept in.
Artists such as
Masta AceDuval Clear , known better by his stage name Masta Ace, is a rapper from Brownsville, Brooklyn. He appeared on the classic 1988 Juice Crew posse cut "The Symphony"...
(particularly for
SlaughtaHouseSlaughtaHouse is the first album from hip hop group Masta Ace Incorporated, consisting of Masta Ace, Lord Digga, Paula Perry, Eyceurokk and Leschea. Released three years after Ace's acclaimed debut Take a Look Around, the loose concept of the album is addressing the growing trend of violence in...
) &
Brand NubianBrand Nubian is an American hip hop group from New Rochelle, New York, consisting of three MC's: Grand Puba , Sadat X and Lord Jamar , and two DJs: DJ Alamo and DJ Sincere...
, Public Enemy,
Organized KonfusionOrganized Konfusion is an alternative hip hop duo from Queens, New York. Though not commercially popular, the duo was one of the most respected and acclaimed underground hip hop acts of the 1990s, largely due to the groundbreaking lyrics of Pharoahe Monch and Prince Poetry.-Recording career:Group...
, Ingnacio Bernal, had a more overtly militant pose, both in sound and manner.
Biz MarkieMarcel Theo Hall better known by his stage name, Biz Markie, is an American rapper, beatboxer, DJ, comedian, singer, reality television personality, and commercial spokesperson. He is best known for his single "Just a Friend", an American Top 10 hit in 1989...
, the "clown prince of hip hop", was causing himself and all other hip-hop producers a problem with his appropriation of the
Gilbert O'SullivanGilbert O'Sullivan is an Irish-English singer-songwriter, best known for his early 1970s hits "Alone Again ", "Clair" and "Get Down". The music magazine, Record Mirror, voted him the No...
song "Alone again, naturally".
In the early-1990s, the
Wu-Tang ClanThe Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
revitalized the New York hip hop scene by pioneering an East coast hardcore rap equivalent to what was being produced on the West Coast. According to Allmusic, the production on two
Mobb DeepMobb Deep is an American hip hop duo from Queensbridge, Queens, New York, U.S., that consists of Havoc and Prodigy. The duo is "one of the most critically acclaimed hardcore East Coast hip-hop groups." The group is best known for its dark, hardcore delivery, as exemplified by the single "Shook Ones...
albums,
The InfamousUpon its release, The Infamous earned critical acclaim and was widely considered to be a cornerstone album of New York hardcore rap. Rolling Stone magazine originally rated the album 3½ out of 5 stars, and called it "a darkly nihilistic masterpiece". It, however, gave it a 5 out of 5 star rating in...
and Hell on Earth (1996), are "indebted" to RZA's early production with Wu-Tang Clan.
The success of artists such as
NasNasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
and Notorious B.I.G. during 1994-95 cemented the status of the East Coast during a time of West Coast dominance.
The productions of
RZARobert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA , is an American Grammy-winning music producer, multi-instrumentalist, author, emcee, and occasional actor, director, and screenwriter. A prominent figure in Hip Hop, RZA is the de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has produced almost...
, particularly for
Wu-Tang ClanThe Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
, became influential with artists such as
Mobb DeepMobb Deep is an American hip hop duo from Queensbridge, Queens, New York, U.S., that consists of Havoc and Prodigy. The duo is "one of the most critically acclaimed hardcore East Coast hip-hop groups." The group is best known for its dark, hardcore delivery, as exemplified by the single "Shook Ones...
due to the combination of somewhat detached instrumental loops, highly compressed and processed drums and
gangstaGangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
lyrical content. Wu-Tang solo albums such as Raekwon the Chef's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and
GZAGary Grice , better known by his stage names GZA and The Genius, is an American hip hop artist and founding member of the seminal hip hop group the Wu-Tang Clan. He has also appeared on his fellow clan members' solo projects and has maintained a successful solo career...
's
Liquid SwordsLiquid Swords is the second solo studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member GZA, released November 7, 1995, on Geffen Records. Recording sessions for the album began mid-way through 1995 at producer RZA's basement studio in Staten Island New York...
are now viewed as classics along with Wu-Tang "core" material.
Producers such as
DJ PremierChristopher Edward Martin , better known by his stage name DJ Premier , is an American record producer and DJ, and was the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, together with emcee Guru...
(primarily for Gangstarr but also for other affiliated artists such as
Jeru the DamajaKendrick Jeru Davis, known as Jeru the Damaja is an American rapper and recording artist who has worked extensively with Guru and DJ Premier of Gang Starr, whom he has known since high school.-Biography:...
),
Pete RockPeter Phillips , better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth...
(With
CL SmoothCL Smooth is an American rapper, poet, and is best known as the vocal half of the hip-hop duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth....
and supplying beats for many others),
BuckwildBuckwild is a Hip hop producer hailing from The Bronx, New York. Originally a DJ, Buck began producing after meeting MC/Producer Lord Finesse. He later joined Finesse's super-crew D.I.T.C., along with Showbiz and A.G., Diamond D, Fat Joe, and the late Big L and brought O.C. with him...
,
Large ProfessorLarge Professor , also known as Large Pro and Xtra P, is a New York City-based hip hop record producer and emcee. He is also best known as a founding member of the influential underground hip hop group Main Source, and as a frequent collaborator with Nas...
,
Diamond DDiamond D is a hip hop producer and MC from the Bronx, New York City, and one of the founding members of the legendary D.I.T.C. crew. He started out as a DJ for Jazzy Jay back in the late 1980s and was at the same time perfecting his skills in beat making and turntablism, and together with rhyme...
and The 45 King supplying beats for numerous MCs regardless of location.
Albums such as
NasNasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
's
IllmaticIllmatic is the debut album of American rapper Nas, released April 19, 1994, on Columbia Records. Following his signing to Columbia with the help of MC Serch, recording sessions for the album took place during 1992 to 1993 at Chung King Studios, D&D Recording, Battery Studios, and Unique Recording...
,
Jay-ZShawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
's
Reasonable DoubtReasonable Doubt is the debut album of American rapper Jay-Z, released June 25, 1996 on Roc-A-Fella Records in the United States and on Northwestside Records in the United Kingdom. The album features production by DJ Premier, Ski, Knobody and Clark Kent, and guest appearances from Memphis Bleek,...
and
O.C.Omar Credle , known by his stage name, O.C., is an American rapper who has been involved with several renowned underground hip-hop groups and also released many solo albums.-Recording career:...
's
Word...LifeWord...Life is the 1994 debut album from underground Hip Hop artist O.C., who came to prominence in hip hop because of the album. It also helped establish his membership in the legendary Hip Hop crew D.I.T.C., which includes Lord Finesse, Showbiz & A.G., Diamond D, Fat Joe, Big L and Buckwild, who...
are made up of beats from this pool of producers.
The rivalry between the East Coast and the West Coast rappers eventually turned personal, aided in part by the music media.
Later in the decade the business acumen of the
Bad Boy RecordsBad Boy Records is a record label founded in 1993 by producer/rapper/entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, and is distributed by Atlantic Records.-Beginnings:...
tested itself against
Jay-ZShawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
and his
Roc-A-Fella RecordsRoc-A-Fella Records is a record label founded by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon "Dame" Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and is distributed by Island Def Jam Motown Music Group.-Formation and Early Years:...
and, on the West Coast,
Death Row RecordsDeath Row Records is a record label founded in 1991 by Marion "Suge" Knight Jr., Andre Young , Tracy Lynn Curry and Michael Harris . It is known to have been home to many popular West Coast hip hop artists such as Dr...
. The mid to late 1990s saw a generation of rappers such as the members of D.I.T.C. such as the late
Big LBig L may refer to:* Lamont Coleman , better know by Big L, American hip-hop artist.Or a number of British radio stations:*Big L 1395, a British radio station.*Radio Luxembourg's English-language progammes ....
and
Big PunChristopher Lee Rios , better known by his stage name Big Pun , was an American rapper who emerged from the underground rap scene in The Bronx in the late 1990s...
.
On the East Coast, although the "big business" end of the market dominated matters commercially the late 1990s to early
2000s saw a number of relatively successful East Coast indie labels such as
Rawkus RecordsRawkus Records is an American hip-hop record label known for jump-starting the careers of both Mos Def and Talib Kweli. Rawkus started in 1996 with initial releases ranging from hip-hop to drum and bass...
(with whom
Mos DefDante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
and Talib Kweli gained great success) and later Def Jux; the history of the two labels is intertwined, the latter having been started by EL-P of
Company FlowCompany Flow is an American underground hip hop group from Brooklyn, New York City at one time associated with the independent record label Rawkus Records. Rapper/producer El-P and DJ/producer Mr...
in reaction to the former, and offered an outlet for more underground artists such as
Mike LaddMike Ladd is a hip-hop MC and producer. As an MC, he practices spoken-word and is known for his poetic lyrics. As a producer, he is known as the owner of the Likemadd label.-Biography:...
,
Aesop RockIan Matthias Bavitz , better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American hip hop artist and producer. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was signed to El-P's Definitive Jux label until it...
, Mr Lif,
RJD2RJD2 is an American music producer, singer and musician. RJD2 was born in Eugene, Oregon, and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He currently resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was signed to the Definitive Jux label where he released two largely instrumental hip hop albums and has produced tracks...
, Cage and
Cannibal OxCannibal Ox, also known as CanOx, is an abstract hip hop duo from Harlem, New York City. Its members include Vast Aire and Vordul Mega. They are often accompanied by DJ Cip-One...
. Other acts such as the Hispanic
ArsonistsThe Arsonists are an underground hip hop group. Their album, As the World Burns , reached #78 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and yielded the single "Pyromaniax", which went to #43 on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart.-History:...
and slam poet turned MC
Saul WilliamsSaul Stacey Williams is an American poet, writer, actor and musician known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop and for his leading role in the 1998 independent film Slam.-Biography:...
met with differing degrees of success.
Diversification of styles
In the 1990s, hip hop began to diversify with other regional styles emerging on the national scene.
Southern rapSouthern hip hop, also called Southern rap, is a genre of American music influenced by hip hop that emerged from a late-1980s club-oriented vibe in southern U.S...
became popular in the early 1990s. The first Southern rappers to gain national attention were the
Geto BoysGeto Boys is a rap group from Houston, Texas, consisting of Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill. The Geto Boys earned notoriety for its lyrics which included misogyny, gore, psychotic experiences, and necrophilia...
out of
Houston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. Southern rap's roots can be traced to the success of Geto Boy's
Grip It! On That Other LevelGrip It! On That Other Level is the second album by Houston hip hop group the Geto Boys, then known as the Ghetto Boys. Following the disappointing results of the group's first album, Making Trouble, Rap-A-Lot Records replaced original rapping members, Sire Jukebox and Prince Johnny with Scarface ...
in 1989, the
Rick RubinFrederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
produced
The Geto Boys (album)The Geto Boys is the self-titled album by the Geto Boys, which was released in 1990. The album contained 11 revamped tracks from its previous albums Grip It! On That Other Level and Making Trouble and three new songs...
in 1990, and
We Can't Be StoppedWe Can't Be Stopped was the 4th studio album by Geto Boys, released in 1991. It was among their most successful records in terms of units sold. The album is broken down track-by-track by Geto Boys in Brian Coleman's book Check the Technique. We Can't Be Stopped was certified Platinum in early...
in 1991. The Houston area also produced other artists that pioneered the early southern rap sound such as
UGKUGK was an American hip hop duo from Port Arthur, Texas formed in 1987 by the late Chad "Pimp C" Butler . He then joined with Bernard "Bun B" Freeman, who became his longtime partner...
and the solo career of
Scarface (rapper)Brad Terrence Jordan , better known by his stage name Scarface, is an American rapper, and recording artist from Houston, Texas and a member of the Geto Boys. He is originally from South Park, Houston.-Life and career:...
.
Artists from
Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
were key in further expanding rap music and bringing southern hip hop into the mainstream. Releases such as
Arrested DevelopmentArrested Development is an American alternative hip hop group, founded by Speech and Headliner as a positive, Afrocentric alternative to the gangsta rap popular in the early 1990s.-History:...
's
3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of...3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... is the debut album by American hip hop group Arrested Development, released in 1992 . The album's chart success was the beginning of the popularization of Southern hip hop. 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... stood in stark contrast to the...
in 1992,
Goodie MobGoodie Mob is a Hip Hop act based in Atlanta, Georgia that formed in 1991 and currently consists of members Cee-Lo Green, Khujo, T-Mo and Big Gipp.-History:The group's name acts as a double backronym...
's Soul Food in 1995 and
OutKastOutkast is an American hip hop duo based in East Point, Georgia, consisting of Atlanta native André "André 3000" Benjamin and Savannah, Georgia-born Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. They were originally known as Two Shades Deep but later changed the group's name to OutKast...
's
ATLiensUpon its release, ATLiens received positive reviews from music publications such as The Hartford Courant, Rolling Stone, and The Washington Post...
in 1996 were all critically acclaimed. Later,
Master PPercy Robert Miller , better known by his stage name Master P or his business name P. Miller, is an American rapper, actor, entrepreneur, investor, and producer. He is the founder of the popular label No Limit Records, which went bankrupt and was relaunched as New No Limit Records through Koch...
(
Ghetto DGhetto D is the sixth studio album by rapper Master P. One of the songs in Ghetto D, "Make 'Em Say Uhh!", is ranked at #36 on Blender's list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever", and at #60 on the list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever by Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio. In 2008, it ranked #94 on VH1's 100...
) built up a roster of artists (the
No LimitNo Limit Records was an American hip-hop record label that was founded in 1990 by hip-hop artist, Percy "Master P" Miller. It was distributed by Priority Records.-No Limit Early years:...
posse) based out of New Orleans. Master P incorporated G funk and
Miami bassMiami bass , is a type of hip hop music, that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. Its roots are directly linked to the Electro-funk sound of the early 1980s, pioneered by Afrika Bambataa & The Soulsonic Force and later on by UK-based musician Paul Hardcastle...
influences; and distinctive regional sounds from St. Louis,
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Washington D.C., Detroit and others began to gain popularity.
In the 1990s, elements of hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music.
Neo soulThe term neo soul was originally coined by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late 1990s as a marketing category following the commercial breakthroughs of artists such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell...
, for example, combined hip hop and
soul musicSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
. In the 1980s and 1990s,
rapcoreRapcore is a subgenre of rap rock fusing vocal and sometimes instrumental elements of hip hop with punk rock .-History:...
,
rap rockRap rock is a cross-genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock is often confused with rap metal and rapcore, subgenres that include heavy metal-oriented and hardcore punk-oriented bands, respectively....
and
rap metalRap metal is a subgenre of rap rock which fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop music with heavy metal.-History:Rap metal originated from rap rock, a genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with rock...
, fusions of hip hop and
hardcore punkHardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
,
rockRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and
heavy metalHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
became popular among mainstream audiences.
Rage Against the MachineRage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
and
Limp BizkitLimp Bizkit is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 1995, the group's lineup consists of Fred Durst , Wes Borland , Sam Rivers , John Otto and DJ Lethal . The band achieved mainstream success with their second studio album Significant Other, released in 1999...
were among the most well-known bands in these fields.
Digable PlanetsDigable Planets is an American alternative hip hop trio based in New York City, composed of Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler , Mary Ann "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving . They released their debut album Reachin' in 1993, and their follow-up album Blowout Comb in 1994...
' 1993 release
Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)Reachin is the debut album by alternative hip hop group Digable Planets. It was released on September 27, 1993, by Pendulum/Elektra Records. The album was produced solely by Digable Planets' Butterfly and features raps by each of the group's members. There are no guest performers on Reachin, but...
was an influential
jazz rapJazz rap is a sub-genre of hip hop which incorporates jazz influences, developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The lyrics are often based on political consciousness, Afrocentricity, and general positivism...
record sampling the likes of
Don CherryDonald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
,
Sonny RollinsTheodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
,
Art BlakeyArthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
,
Herbie MannHerbert Jay Solomon , better known as Herbie Mann, was a Jewish American jazz flutist and important early practitioner of world music...
,
Herbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
,
Grant GreenGrant Green was a jazz guitarist and composer....
, and
Rahsaan Roland KirkRahsaan Roland Kirk was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who played tenor saxophone, flute and many other instruments...
. It spawned the hit single "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" which reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100
Though white rappers like the
Beastie BoysBeastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
,
House of PainHouse of Pain is an American hip hop group who released three albums in the 1990s before lead rapper Everlast left to pursue his solo career again. The group's name is a reference to the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Dr...
and
3rd Bass3rd Bass was an American hip-hop group that rose to fame in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and was notable for being one of the first successful interracial hip-hop groups.-Career:...
had had some popular success or critical acceptance from the hip hop community,
Eminem'sMarshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
success, beginning in 1999 with the platinum
The Slim Shady LPThe Slim Shady LP is the second studio album by American rapper Eminem, released on February 23, 1999. It is his major-label debut, and was released under Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, and Web Records....
, surprised many.
2000s and 2010s
The popularity of hip hop music continued through the 2000s. Dr. Dre remained an important figure, and in the year 2000 produced,
The Marshall Mathers LPThe Marshall Mathers LP is the third studio album by American rapper Eminem. Released May 23, 2000, the album sold more than 1.76 million copies in its first week just in the US. In 2001, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and was nominated for Album of the Year...
by
EminemMarshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
. It sold over ten million copies in the United States and was the fastest selling album of all time. Dre also produced
50 CentCurtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
's, 2003 album
Get Rich or Die Tryin'Get Rich or Die Tryin is the debut studio album of American rapper 50 Cent, released February 4, 2003, on Aftermath Entertainment under a joint venture with Shady Records and distribution by Interscope Records. Its initially planned release was pushed seven days ahead due to heavy bootlegging and...
which debuted at number one on the
U.S. Billboard 200The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
charts.
Hip hop influences also found their way increasingly into mainstream pop during this period mainly the mid 2000s, as the Los Angeles style of the 1990s lost power.
NellyCornell Iral Haynes, Jr. , better known by his stage name Nelly, is an Grammy Award winning American rapper and actor. He has performed with the rap group St. Lunatics since 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly began his solo career in 2000 with his debut album...
's debut LP,
Country GrammarCountry Grammar is the debut studio album by American rapper Nelly, released on June 27, 2000.- Reception :- Commercial performance :...
, sold over nine million copies. In the 2000s, crunk music, a derivative of Southern hip hop, gained considerable popularity via the likes of
Lil JonJonathan Mortimer Smith , better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and occasional disc jockey who was a member of the group Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. Lil Jon formed the group in 1997, and the group released several albums between then and 2004...
and the
Ying Yang TwinsThe Ying Yang Twins is an Atlanta-based American crunk rap duo consisting of Kaine and D-Roc . The group debuted in 2000 and rose to mainstream popularity in 2003 collaborating with Lil Jon in his single "Get Low"...
.
Jay-ZShawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
represented the cultural triumph of hip hop. As his career progressed, he went from performing artist to label president, head of a clothing line, club owner, and market consultant—along the way breaking Elvis Presley’s record for most number one albums on the Billboard magazine charts by a solo artist.
In addition to the mainstream success, the United States also saw the success of
alternative hip hopAlternative hip hop is a sub-genre of hip hop music. Allmusic defines it as follows: -Origin:...
in the form of performers such as
The RootsThe Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
,
Dilated PeoplesDilated Peoples is an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. The group achieved notability in the underground hip hop community, although they have had little mainstream success in the US, with the exception of the song "This Way," a 2004 collaboration with Kanye West and Xzibit...
,
Gnarls BarkleyGnarls Barkley is an American soul duo comprising Danger Mouse and Cee Lo Green. Their first studio album St. Elsewhere was released in 2006; along with its first single "Crazy". Both single and album were a major commercial success and have been noted for their large sales by download...
and
Mos DefDante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
, who achieved significant recognition. Gnarls Barkley's album
St. ElsewhereSt. Elsewhere is the debut album by United States hip hop soul duo Gnarls Barkley. It was released on April 24, 2006 in the United Kingdom, where it debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, and on May 9, 2006 in the United States, although it was available for purchase one week earlier as a...
, which contained a fusion of funk, neo soul and hip hop, debuted at number 20 on the Billboard 200 charts. In addition,
Aesop RockIan Matthias Bavitz , better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American hip hop artist and producer. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was signed to El-P's Definitive Jux label until it...
's 2007 album
None Shall Pass-Personnel:Contributing artists*Allyson Baker – guitar *Carson Binks – bass guitar *Derek Layes – bass guitar *Big Hollis – additional vocals *Camu Tao – additional vocals...
was well received, and reached #50 on the Billboard charts.
World and national music
The continuation of hip hop can also be seen in different national contexts. In
TanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, maintained popular acts of their own in the early 2000s, infusing local styles of
AfrobeatAfrobeat is a combination of traditional Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, funk and chanted vocals, fused with percussion and vocal styles, popularised in Africa in the 1970s. Its main creator was the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who gave it its name, who used it to...
and
arabesqueThe arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements...
melodies, dancehall and hip-hop beats, and Swahili lyrics.
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n, especially Danish and Swedish, performers became well known outside of their country, while hip hop continued its spread into new regions, including Russia, Japan, Philippines, Canada, China, Korea, India and especially Vietnam. Of particular importance is the influence on
East AsiaEast Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
n nations, where hip hop music has become fused with local popular music to form different styles such as
K-popK-pop is a musical genre consisting of electropop, hip hop, pop, rock, and R&B music originating in South Korea...
,
C-popC-pop is an abbreviation for Chinese popular music , a loosely defined musical genre by artists originating from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Others come from countries where the Chinese language is used by a large number of the population, such as Singapore and Malaysia...
and
J-pop, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...
.
In Germany and France,
gangsta rapGangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
has become popular among youths who like the violent and aggressive lyrics. Some German rappers openly or comically flirt with Nazism,
BushidoAnis Mohamed Youssef Ferchichi, , better known as Bushido, is a German rapper. The word Bushido is Japanese and means "Way of the Warrior". He also uses the pseudonym Sonny Black, based on Dominic Napolitano. As of 2009, he sold more than 1,5 million albums in Germany alone...
(born Anis Mohamed Youssef Ferchichi) raps "Salutiert, steht stramm, Ich bin der Leader wie A" (Salute, stand to attention, I am the leader like 'A') and
FlerPatrick Losensky better known as Fler, is a German rapper. He also uses the pseudonym Frank White after the character in King of New York....
had a hit with the record Neue Deutsche Welle (New German Wave) complete with the title written in Third Reich style Gothic print and advertised with an
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
quote. These references also spawned great controversy in Germany. Meanwhile in France, artists like
Kery JamesAlix Mathurin better known as Kery James, is a French rapper, singer, songwriter, dancer and record producer, who was born in West Indies from Haitian parents. His mother raised him in Orly, a suburb of Paris. Nowadays with his three solo albums, he is one of the most respected French rappers. The...
' Idéal J maintained a radical, anti-authoritarian attitude and released songs like
HardcoreLe Combat Continue is the 3rd album by French Hip Hop group, Idéal J. The album is considered a classic in French Hip-Hop music. The lead single "Hardcore" caused huge controversy in France."Hardcore, est la grimpée en flèche du FN...
which attacked the growth of the French far right.
In the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, MC
BrainpowerGertjan Mulder, professionally known as Brainpower, is a bi-lingual rapper, who writes, records and performs in both the English as well as the Dutch language. The Dutch audience mainly knows him as a Dutch language rapper. He was born in Belgium and grew up in the Netherlands. He started making...
went from being an underground battle rapper to mainstream recognition in the
BeneluxThe Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
, thus influencing numerous rap artists in the region. In
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, rapper
SubliminalYa'akov "Kobi" Shimoni , generally known by his stage name Subliminal , is an Israeli hip hop artist and music producer.-Background:...
reaches out to Israeli youth with political and religious-themed lyrics, usually with a Zionist message.
One of the countries outside the US where hip-hop is most popular is the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. In the 2000s a derirative genre from Hip-Hop (as well as
UK GarageUK garage is a genre of electronic dance music originating from the United Kingdom in the early-1990s. UK garage is a descendant of house music which originated in Chicago and New York, United States. UK garage usually features a distinctive syncopated 4/4 percussive rhythm with 'shuffling'...
and
Drum and BassDrum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
) known as
GrimeGrime is a style of music that emerged from Bow, East London, England in the early 2000s, primarily as a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop...
became popular with artists such as
Dizzee RascalDylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
becoming successful. Although it is immensely popular, many British politicians criticize the music for what they see as promoting theft and murder, similar to gangsta rap in America. These criticisms have been deemed racist by the mostly
Black BritishBlack British is a term used to describe British people of Black African descent, especially those of Afro-Caribbean background. The term has been used from the 1950s to refer to Black people from former British colonies in the West Indies and Africa, who are residents of the United Kingdom and...
grime industry. Despite its controversial nature, grime has had a major affect on British fashion and pop music, with many young working class youth emulating the clothing worn by grime stars like
Dizzee RascalDylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
and
WileyRichard Kylea Cowie , better known by his stage name Wiley is a prolific British music producer, MC and recording artist, and rapper with roots from Trinidad...
. There are many subgenres of grime, including "Rhythm and Grime," a mix of R&B and grime, and
grindieGrindie is a form of music that emerged in early 2006. It is a fusion of both indie and grime music.Arguably, the first release to fall into the grindie subgenre was a song by Marvin the Martian aka Marv the Marsh and his group Why Lout? sampling Art Brut's "Emily Kane" to make a song called 'Stay...
, a mix of
indie rockIndie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
and grime popularized by indie rock band
Hadouken!Hadouken! are an English grime, electronica, dance band who formed in Leeds in October 2006 by singer, writer and producer James Smith, alongside his girlfriend, synth player Alice Spooner, guitarist Daniel "Pilau" Rice, and drummer Nick Rice. The band name is taken from the name of a special...
.
Hip hop has globalized into many cultures worldwide, as evident through the emergence of numerous regional scenes. It has emerged globally as a movement based upon the main tennets of hip hop culture. The music and the art continue to embrace, even celebrate, its transnational dimensions while staying true to the local cultures to which it is rooted. Hip-hop's inspiration differs depending on each culture. Still, the one thing virtually all hip hop artists worldwide have in common is that they acknowledge their debt to those
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
people in New York who launched the global movement. While hip-hop is sometimes taken for granted by Americans, it is not so elsewhere, especially in the developing world, where it has come to represent the empowerment of the disenfranchised and a slice of the American dream. American hip-hop music has reached the cultural corridors of the globe and has been absorbed and reinvented around the world.
Crunk and snap music
Crunk originated from
TennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
in the 1990s. The style was pioneered and commercialized by artists from
MemphisMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
,
TennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and Atlanta,
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
.
Looped, stripped-down
drum machineA drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
rhythms are usually used. The
Roland TR-808The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer was one of the first programmable drum machines . Introduced by the Roland Corporation in early 1980, it was originally manufactured for use as a tool for studio musicians to create demos. Like earlier Roland drum machines, it does not sound very much like a real...
and
909The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a partially analog, partially sample-based drum machine built by the Japanese Roland Corporation in 1983. The brainchild of Tadao Kikumoto, the engineer behind the Roland TB-303, it features a 16-step step sequencer and a drum kit that aimed for realism and...
are among the most popular. The drum machines are usually accompanied by simple, repeated synthesizer melodies and heavy bass stabs. The tempo of the music is somewhat slower than hip-hop, around the speed of
reggaetonReggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...
.
The focal point of crunk is more often the beats and music than the lyrics therein. Crunk rappers, however, often shout and scream their lyrics, creating an aggressive, almost heavy, style of hip-hop. While other subgenres of hip-hop address sociopolitical or personal concerns, crunk is almost exclusively party music, favoring call and response hip-hop slogans in lieu of more substantive approaches.
Snap music is a subgenre of crunk that emerged from Atlanta,
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, in the late 1990s. The genre soon gained mainstream popularity and in mid-2005 artists from other southern states such as
TennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
began to emerge with this style. Tracks commonly consist of an
808The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer was one of the first programmable drum machines . Introduced by the Roland Corporation in early 1980, it was originally manufactured for use as a tool for studio musicians to create demos. Like earlier Roland drum machines, it does not sound very much like a real...
bassdrum,
hi-hatA hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in R&B, hip-hop, disco, jazz, rock and roll, house, reggae and other forms of contemporary popular music.- Operation :...
,
bassBass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
,
snappingSnapping one's fingers is the act of creating a cracking/clicking sound with one's fingers. Primarily this is done by building tension between the thumb and another finger and then moving the other finger forcefully downward so it hits the palm of the same hand at a high speed...
, a main groove and a vocal track. Hit snap songs include "
Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It"Lean wit It, Rock wit It" is a song by Atlanta rap group Dem Franchize Boyz from their album On Top of Our Game. It features Lil Peanut and Charlay and it is produced by Maurice "Parlae" Gleaton....
" by "Dem Franchize Boys", "
Laffy Taffy"Laffy Taffy" is a song by Atlanta-based hip-hop group D4L which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2006. The song's success on the charts was largely due to its enormous online sales. Produced by Cory Way p/k/a "Born Immaculate, Broderick Thompson Smith and Richard Sims p/k/a...
" by
D4LD4L is an American rap group. They were composed of Fabo, Mook-B, Stoney and Shawty Lo. They are best known for their hit song "Laffy Taffy," which reached number-one in the U.S. in 2006.-Biography:...
, "
It's Goin' Down"It's Goin' Down" is a song performed by American rapper Yung Joc, and produced by Nitti. It was released as the first single from his debut album New Joc City....
" by
Yung JocYaMar Jon Robinson , better known by his stage name Yung Joc, is an American rapper.-Early life:Robinson's father, Vivian Young, ran a hair-care products company and helped him write a jingle for Revlon; Robinson founded his own label to release his music.-New Joc City :After Teaming with producer...
and "
Crank That (Soulja Boy)"Crank That " is the debut single by American rapper Soulja Boy from his debut album souljaboytellem.com. It spent seven weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 2007. The song is recognized by its looping steel pan riff. The song was originally produced on the program FL Studio before...
" by
Soulja Boy Tell 'EmDeAndre Cortez Way , better known by his stage name Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, or simply Soulja Boy, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, entrepreneur, and internet personality....
.
Glitch hop and wonky music
Glitch hop and
WonkyWonky is an often debated term used to describe a tendency to use mid-range unstable synths, complex and unusual time signatures that appeared before summer 2008, among a range of musical genres, including hip hop , IDM, grime, chiptune, dubstep, 90's g-funk, crunk, electro, skweee, breaks &...
music evolved following the rise of
trip hopTrip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
,
dubstepDubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
and
IDMIntelligent dance music is a term that describes an electronic music genre that emerged in the early 1990s. The genre is influenced by a wide range of musical styles particularly electronic dance music such as Detroit Techno...
. Both styles of music frequently reflect the experimental nature of IDM and the heavy bass featured in
dubstepDubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
songs. While
trip hopTrip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
was described as being a distinct British upper-middle class take on hip-hop, glitch-hop and wonky music have featured much more stylistic diversity. Both genres are melting pots of influence, echoes of 1980s pop music, Indian
ragaA raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
s, eclectic
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and West Coast rap can be heard in glitch hop productions.
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
,
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
,
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and a number of other cities have become hot spots for these scenes, and underground scenes have developed across the world in smaller communities. Both genres often pay homage to older and more well established
electronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
artists such as
RadioheadRadiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
,
Aphex TwinRichard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
and
Boards of CanadaBoards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin...
as well as independent hip hop producers like
J DillaJames Dewitt Yancey , better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michigan...
and
MadlibOtis Jackson Jr. in Oxnard, California, known professionally as Madlib, is a Los Angeles-based DJ, multi-instrumentalist, rapper, and music producer...
.
Glitch hop is a fusion genre of hip hop and glitch music that originated in the early to mid 2000s in the United States and Europe. Musically, it is based on irregular, chaotic
breakbeatIn 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...
s, glitchy
basslineA bassline is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, tuba or keyboard...
s and other typical sound effects used in glitch music, like skips. Glitch hop artists include Prefuse 73,
DabryeDabrye is an alias of Ann Arbor, Michigan-based musician Tadd Mullinix , whose Winking Makes A Face was the first album released by Ann Arbor’s Ghostly International...
and
Flying LotusFlying Lotus, is an experimental multi-genre music producer from Winnetka, California. His debut album, 1983, was released on Plug Research Records in 2006...
.
WonkyWonky is an often debated term used to describe a tendency to use mid-range unstable synths, complex and unusual time signatures that appeared before summer 2008, among a range of musical genres, including hip hop , IDM, grime, chiptune, dubstep, 90's g-funk, crunk, electro, skweee, breaks &...
is a subgenre of hip hop that originated around 2008, but most notably in the United States and United Kingdom, and among international artists of the
HyperdubHyperdub is a London-based record label, founded and run by Steve Goodman, aka Kode9.Artists who have released on Hyperdub include label owner Kode9 Hyperdub is a London-based record label, founded and run by Steve Goodman, aka Kode9.Artists who have released on Hyperdub include label owner Kode9...
music label, under the influence of glitch hop and
dubstepDubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
. Wonky music is of the same glitchy type as glitch hop, but it was specifically noted for its melodies, rich with "mid-range unstable synths".
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
has become one of the most prominent places, where wonky music was shaped by artists like
Hudson MohawkeHudson Mohawke, also known as Hudson Mo or HudMo, is an electronic music producer/DJ from Glasgow, Scotland, affiliated with the LuckyMe collective. He is signed to Warp Records and released his debut album on Warp, called Butter in October 2009...
and Rustie.
Glitch hop and wonky are popular among a limited amount of people interested in alternative hip hop and
electronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
(especially
dubstepDubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
); neither glitch hop nor wonky have met any mainstream popularity, however, artists like
Flying LotusFlying Lotus, is an experimental multi-genre music producer from Winnetka, California. His debut album, 1983, was released on Plug Research Records in 2006...
,
The Glitch MobThe Glitch Mob is a three-piece electronic group from Los Angeles, composed of Ed Ma , Justin Boreta and Josh Mayer . The group, originally a five-piece including Kraddy and Kitty-D, was formed in 2006 within the burgeoning Los Angeles bass-driven 'beat' scene...
and
Hudson MohawkeHudson Mohawke, also known as Hudson Mo or HudMo, is an electronic music producer/DJ from Glasgow, Scotland, affiliated with the LuckyMe collective. He is signed to Warp Records and released his debut album on Warp, called Butter in October 2009...
have seen success in other avenues. Flying Lotus's music has earned multiple positive reviews on the independent music review site Pitchfork.com as well as a prominent (yet uncredited) spot during
Adult SwimAdult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
commercial breaks. Hudson Mohawke is one of few glitch hop artists to play at major music festivals such as
Sasquatch! Music FestivalSasquatch! Music Festival is a music festival held annually at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington. It is presented by the House of Blues. There is an emphasis on indie rock bands and singer-songwriters, although there are also alternative rock, hip hop and comedy acts...
.
Decline in sales
Starting in 2005, sales of hip hop music in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
began to severely wane, leading
TimeTime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine to question if mainstream hip-hop was "dying." Billboard Magazine found that, since 2000, rap sales dropped 44%, and declined to 10% of all music sales, which, while still a commanding figure when compared to other genres, is a significant drop from the 13% of all music sales where rap music regularly placed. According to Courtland Milloy of the Washington Post, for the first time on five years, no rap albums were among the top 10 sellers in 2006.
NPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
culture critic Elizabeth Blair noted that, "some industry experts say young people are fed up with the violence, degrading imagery and lyrics." However, the 2005 report Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8–18 Year-Olds found that hip hop music is by far the most popular music genre for children and teenagers, with 65 percent of 8- to-18-year-olds listening to it on a daily basis.
Others say the music is just as popular as it ever was, but that fans have found other means to consume the music." It can also be argued that many young people now download music illegally, especially through P2P networks, instead of purchasing albums and singles from legitimate stores. For example,
Flo RidaTramar Dillard , better known by his stage name Flo Rida , is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from...
is known for his low album sales regardless of his singles being mainstream and having digital success. His second album
R.O.O.T.S.R.O.O.T.S. is the second studio album by American rapper, Flo Rida. The album was released on March 31, 2009.-Background:...
sold only 200,000+ total units in the U.S., which could not line up to the sales of the album's lead single "
Right Round“Right Round” is a song performed by American rapper Flo Rida featuring pop singer Kesha from R.O.O.T.S., his second studio album. It was released to radio as the album's lead single on January 27, 2009 and was digitally released on February 10 by Poe Boy Entertainment and Atlantic Records...
". This also happened to him in 2008. Some put the blame on the lack of lyrical content that hip hop once had, another example is
Soulja Boy Tell 'EmDeAndre Cortez Way , better known by his stage name Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, or simply Soulja Boy, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, entrepreneur, and internet personality....
's 2007 debut album
souljaboytellem.com-Chart positions:-Samples:The bulk of the album was made utilizing the stock samples that come included with the program FL Studio. Many of these stock sounds are samples from other songs, like the open high-hat used on "Yahhh!", which is sampled from "Impeach the President" by The Honey Drippers...
was met with negative reviews. Lack of sampling, a key element of hip hop, has also been noted for the decrease in quality of modern albums. For example, there are only four samples used in 2008's
Paper TrailPaper Trail is the sixth studio album by American hip hop artist T.I., released September 30, 2008 on Grand Hustle Records and Atlantic Records. He began to write songs for the album as he awaited trial for federal weapons and possession charges...
by
T.I.Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. , better known by his stage name T.I., is an American rap artist, film and music producer, actor and author. He is also the founder and co-chief executive officer of Grand Hustle Records....
, while there are 35 samples in 1998's Moment of Truth by
Gang StarrGang Starr was an influential East Coast hip hop duo that consisted of the late MC Guru and DJ/producer DJ Premier. Their style combined elements of New York jazz and hip hop.-Background:...
. The decrease in sampling is in part due to it being too expensive for producers. In
Byron HurtByron Patrick Hurt is an American activist and documentary filmmaker.-Biography:Byron Hurt attended Northeastern University, where he played football as a quarterback, and founded God Bless the Child Productions before graduating with a degree in Journalism in 1993...
's documentary Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, he claims that hip hop had changed from "clever rhymes and dance beats" to "advocating personal, social and criminal corruption." Despite the fall in record sales throughout the music industry, hip-hop has remained a popular genre, with hip-hop artists still regularly topping the
Billboard 200The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
Charts. In the first half of 2009 alone artists such as
EminemMarshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
,
Rick RossWilliam Leonard Roberts II , better known by his stage name Rick Ross, is an American rapper. He derived his stage name from the drug trafficker "Freeway" Ricky Ross, to whom he has no connection...
,
The Black Eyed PeasThe Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
, and
FabolousJohn David Jackson , better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper of African American and Dominican descent. He grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Part of his early popularity arose from his hit single "Can't Deny It" in 2001, from his debut...
all had albums that reached the #1 position on the Billboard 200 charts. Eminem's album Relapse was one of the fastest selling albums of 2009.
Innovation and revitalization
It was in the later 2000s that
alternative hip hopAlternative hip hop is a sub-genre of hip hop music. Allmusic defines it as follows: -Origin:...
finally secured a place within the mainstream, due in part to the declining commercial viability of gangsta rap as well as the crossover success of artists such as
OutKastOutkast is an American hip hop duo based in East Point, Georgia, consisting of Atlanta native André "André 3000" Benjamin and Savannah, Georgia-born Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. They were originally known as Two Shades Deep but later changed the group's name to OutKast...
,
Kanye WestKanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, and
Gnarls BarkleyGnarls Barkley is an American soul duo comprising Danger Mouse and Cee Lo Green. Their first studio album St. Elsewhere was released in 2006; along with its first single "Crazy". Both single and album were a major commercial success and have been noted for their large sales by download...
. Not only did OutKast's
Speakerboxxx/The Love BelowSpeakerboxxx/The Love Below is the fifth studio album by American hip hop duo OutKast, released September 23, 2003 on LaFace Records in the United States. Issued as a double album, it clocks in at over two hours and consists of a solo album from both of the group's members...
receive high acclaim from music critics, manage to appeal to listeners of all ages, and span numerous musical genres – including rap, rock, R&B, punk, jazz, indie, country, pop, electronica and gospel – but it also spawned two number-one hit singles and has been
certifiedIn the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
diamondMusic recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by selling 11 times
platinumMusic recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the
RIAAThe Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
for shipping more than 11 million units, becoming one of the best selling hip-hop albums of all time as well as winning a
Grammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for
Album of the YearThe Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys. It has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer...
at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards being only the second rap album to do so. Industry observers view the sales race between Kanye West's
GraduationGraduation is the third studio album by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released September 11, 2007 on Roc-A-Fella Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2005 to 2007 at Chung King Studios and Sony Music Studios in New York City and at Chalice Studios and The Record Plant...
and
50 CentCurtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
's
CurtisCurtis is the third studio album by American rapper 50 Cent, released September 11, 2007, on Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album features production from Dr. Dre, Eminem, and Timbaland, among others...
as a turning point for hip hop. West emerged the victor, selling nearly a million copies in the first week alone, proving that innovative rap music could be just as commercially viable as gangsta rap, if not more so. Although he designed it as a melancholic
popPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
rather than rap, Kanye's following
808s & Heartbreak808s & Heartbreak is the fourth studio album by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released November 24, 2008 on Roc-A-Fella Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place at Glenwood Studios in Burbank, California and Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii during...
would have a significant effect on hip hop music. While his decision to sing about love, loneliness, and heartache for the entirety of the album was at first heavily criticized by music audiences and the album predicted to be a flop, its subsequent critical acclaim and commercial success encouraged other mainstream rappers to take greater creative risks with their music. During the release of The Blueprint 3,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
rap mogul
Jay-ZShawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
revealed that next studio album would be an experimental effort, stating, "... it's not gonna be a #1 album. That's where I'm at right now. I wanna make the most experimental album I ever made." Jay-Z elaborated that like Kanye, he was unsatisfied with contemporary hip hop, was being inspired by indie-rockers like
Grizzly BearGrizzly Bear is a Brooklyn-based indie rock band, composed of Edward Droste , Daniel Rossen , Chris Taylor and Christopher Bear . The band employs traditional and electronic instruments...
and asserted his belief that the indie rock movement would play an important role in the continued evolution of hip-hop.
The alternative hip hop movement is not limited only to the United States, as rappers such as
SomaliSomalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
-
CanadianCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
poet
K'naanK'naan , born Keinan Abdi Warsame in 1978, is a Somali Canadian poet, rapper, singer, songwriter and instrumentalist.-Biography:Born in Somalia, K'naan spent his childhood in Mogadishu and lived there during the Somali Civil War, which began in 1991. His aunt, Magool, was one of Somalia's most...
,
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese rapper
Shing02Shingo Annen , better known by his stage name Shing02, is a Japanese rap artist and producer. Due in part to growing up in Western cities, Shing02 stands as one of the few multilingual rappers from Japan able to compose songs entirely in either Japanese or English...
, and Sri Lankan British artist
M.I.A.Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A...
have achieved considerable worldwide recognition. In 2009,
TIMETime is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
magazine placed M.I.A in the
Time 100Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, as assembled by Time. First published in 1999 as a result of a debate among several academics, the list has become an annual event.-History and format:...
list of "World's Most Influential people" for having "global influence across many genres." Global themed movements have also sprung out of the international hip-hop scene like the genre "Islamic Eco-Rap" addressing issues of worldwide importance through traditionally disenfranchised voices. Today, due in part to the increasing use of music distribution through the
internetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, many alternative rap artists find acceptance by far-reaching audiences. Several artists such as
Kid CudiScott Ramon Seguro Mescudi , better known by his stage name Kid Cudi , sometimes stylized KiD CuDi, is an American rapper, singer and actor. He first gained major attention after the release of his debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi. In 2009, his single "Day 'n' Nite" reached the top five of the...
and Drake have managed to attain chart-topping hit songs, "Day 'n' Night" and "
Best I Ever Had"Best I Ever Had" is the first single from Canadian rapper Drake's first EP So Far Gone. It first became prominent from the release of Drake's third mixtape of the same name. In 2009, the song was named the "Hot Rap Song" of the year by Billboard. The song's popularity helped Drake decide to...
" respectively,by releasing their music on free online
mixtapeA Mix Tape or Mixed Tape is a compilation of songs recorded in a specific order, traditionally onto an audio Compact Cassette.A Mix Tape, which usually reflects the musical tastes of its compiler, can range from a casually selected list of favorite songs, to a conceptual mix of songs linked by a...
s without the help of a major record label. New artists such as
WaleWale Victor Folarin , better known by his stage name Wale , is an American rapper from Washington, D.C. Wale was born to Nigerian parents. He rose to prominence in 2006, when his song "Dig Dug " became popular in his hometown. Wale became locally recognized and continued recording music for the...
, J. Cole,
Lupe FiascoWasalu Muhammad Jaco , better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco , is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, Lupe is the CEO of 1st and 15th Entertainment. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food...
,
The Cool KidsThe Cool Kids is an American hip hop group. Consisting of rappers Antoine "Sir Michael Rocks" Reed and Evan "Chuck Inglish" Ingersoll , the group is based in Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan...
,
Jay ElectronicaTimothy Elpadaro Thedford , better known by his stage name Jay Electronica, is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer...
, and
B.o.BBobby Ray Simmons, Jr. , better known by his stage name B.o.B, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is currently signed under the labels of Grand Hustle Records, Rebel Rock Entertainment, and Atlantic Records. His debut single "Nothin' on You" reached number one in both...
, openly acknowledge being directly influenced by their nineties alt-rap predecessors in addition to alt-rock groups while their music has been noted by critics as expressing eclectic sounds, life experiences, and emotions rarely seen in mainstream hip hop.
External links