Indie hip hop is hip hop music

Hip hop music

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 rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 that primarily exists in the independent music scene.

The term "underground hip hop

Underground hip hop

Underground hip hop is an umbrella term for hip hop music outside the general commercial canon. It is typically associated with independent artists, signed toindependent labels or no label at all....

" has been used to describe both indie hip hop (which is defined by its artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

s being unsigned or signed to independent record labels, rather than major record labels) as well as alternative hip hop

Alternative hip hop

Alternative hip hop is a sub-genre of hip hop music. Allmusic defines it as follows: -Origin:...

 (which is defined by music that diverges from mainstream hip hop music such as gangsta rap

Gangsta rap

Gangsta 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...

). As the term "indie hip hop" is indicative of the artists making the music rather than the music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 itself, it is not strictly a genre

Genre

Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...

, but rather covers a range of styles with clearly discernable hip hop characteristics.

Like indie rock

Indie rock

Indie 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...

 artists, many indie hip hop artists place a premium on maintaining complete control of their music and career

Career

Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....

s, releasing albums on independent record labels (sometimes their own) and relying on touring, word-of-mouth and air play on independent or college radio stations for promotion. Some of its more popular artists, however, may end up moving to major labels, though often on favorable terms won by their prior independent success.

Independent hip hop labels include Strange Music

Strange Music

Strange Music is an American independent record label specializing in hip hop music. It was founded by Tech N9ne and Travis O'Guin in 1999. It is currently distributed through Fontana Distribution.-History:...

, Babygrande Records

Babygrande Records

Babygrande Records is an independent record label based in New York City founded by Chuck Wilson. Babygrande is distributed by the The Orchard, and represented by the Creative Artists Agency in Hollywood.-Discography:...

, Fake Four Inc

Fake Four Inc

Fake Four Inc. is an independent record label based in New Haven, CT. It was founded in 2008 by Ceschi and David Ramos. According to an interview with Ceschi on Ugsmag.com, the Ramos brothers started Fake Four with help from San Bernardino, California's Grimm Image Records and Dayton, Ohio's Squids...

, Anticon

Anticon

Anticon is an Oakland based independent record label founded in 1997. It is collectively owned among six founding artists and one manager...

, Definitive Jux

Definitive Jux

Definitive Jux is an independent record label based in New York City, United States. It was co-founded in 1999 by Jaime Meline and Amaechi Uzoigwe. The label was initially known simply as Def Jux, but in 2001, popular hip hop label Def Jam Recordings sued Def Jux over the name similarity...

, Rawkus Records

Rawkus Records

Rawkus 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...

, Nature Sounds

Nature Sounds

Nature Sounds is a record label based in Brooklyn, New York, specializing in hip hop and reggae music.-Discography:*Ayatollah - Fingertips *Ayatollah - Live From The MPC 60 *Ayatollah - Cocoon...

, Rhymesayers Entertainment

Rhymesayers Entertainment

Rhymesayers Entertainment is an independent hip hop record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, co-founded in 1995 by Sean Daley, Anthony Davis, Brent Sayers and Musab Saad....

, Duck Down Records

Duck Down Records

Duck Down Music Inc is a New York City based record label, talent management, music-marketing, and consulting company founded by Drew "Dru-Ha" Friedman and Kenyatta "Buckshot" Blake in 1995. In Duck Down's 16 year existence, the Company has released over 40 Albums and sold more than 3 million...

, Quannum Projects

Quannum Projects

Quannum Projects is a hip hop collective based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been active since 1992, when it was formed at UC Davis under the moniker Solesides Records. It is also the name of the independent record label that releases their records, as well as those of a number of other...

, Psychopathic Records

Psychopathic Records

Psychopathic Records, also known as "The Hatchet", is an American independent record label based in Farmington Hills, Michigan that specializes in hip hop music. The label was founded in 1991 by Alex Abbiss and hip hop group Insane Clown Posse....

, Reel Life Productions

Reel Life Productions

Reel Life Productions, also known as Gothom Records, is an independent record label based in Detroit, Michigan that specializes in hip hop music. The label was founded in 1988 by James H. Smith and his younger brother, rapper Esham...

 and Stones Throw. Notable indie hip hop artists include 7L & Esoteric

7L & Esoteric

7L & Esoteric are a Boston-based hip-hop duo, notorious for battle rhymes and boom-bap production. 7L is the duo's DJ/Producer and Esoteric the emcee.-History:...

, Blackalicious

Blackalicious

Blackalicious 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...

, Bronze Nazareth

Bronze Nazareth

Bronze Nazareth is a Hip-Hop music producer and emcee associated with the Wu-Tang Clan. He is, along with Cilvaringz, part of the new generation of producers to carry on the Wu-Tang sound. He has a solo career as an emcee and is also a part of the hip-hop group Wisemen.- Biography :He was born and...

, Cage, The Visionaries

The Visionaries

The Visionaries is an underground hip hop crew from Los Angeles, California. The crew formed in 1995, and have since released four full-length albums on Up Above Records. The crew's six members have collectively released over twenty solo and side projects...

, Atmosphere (band), Lord Jamar

Lord Jamar

Lord Jamar is an American emcee and actor. He is a member of the hip-hop group Brand Nubian, which formed in 1989. As an actor, he is best known for his role of Supreme Allah on the TV series Oz. He has appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Third Watch, and The Sopranos...

, Madlib

Madlib

Otis Jackson Jr. in Oxnard, California, known professionally as Madlib, is a Los Angeles-based DJ, multi-instrumentalist, rapper, and music producer...

, Mr. Lif

Mr. Lif

Mr. Lif is an American hip hop artist from Boston, Massachusetts. Often noted for his political lyrics, he has released two studio albums on El-P's Definitive Jux label and one on Bloodbot Tactical Enterprises. Mr...

, Jedi Mind Tricks

Jedi Mind Tricks

Jedi Mind Tricks is a hip hop duo with Vinnie Paz from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Jus Allah from Camden, New Jersey. The group was founded by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz and former producer/DJ Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind...

, Tech N9ne

Tech N9ne

Aaron 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,...

, Krizz Kaliko

Krizz Kaliko

Samuel William Christopher Watson better known by his stage name Krizz Kaliko, is an American rapper and singer...

, Kutt Calhoun

Kutt Calhoun

Melvin Calhoun Jr., better known by his stage name Kutt Calhoun, is an American rapper from Kansas City, Missouri. His second album, Feature Presentation, debuted at #60 on the Billboard "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums" chart in its first week of release...

, Insane Clown Posse

Insane Clown Posse

Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore...

, B. Dolan

B. Dolan

B. Dolan is an American rapper, activist, and performance artist, based in Hanton City, Rhode Island.As an activist, Dolan is known primarily as the co-creator and co-founder of , a wiki devoted to connecting consumers with Social Responsibility information about corporations. As well as being a...

, Outerspace

OuterSpace

OuterSpace is an underground hip hop duo from North Philadelphia. Originally a trio consisting of three Puerto Rican friends that then took the artist names Planetary, Jedeye and Crypt the Warchild...

, the artists of Boot Camp Clik

Boot Camp Clik

Boot Camp Clik is an American hip hop supergroup from Brooklyn, New York, which is composed of Buckshot , Smif-N-Wessun, also known as Cocoa Brovaz , Heltah Skeltah and O.G.C....

, Termanology

Termanology

Daniel Carrillo , better known as Termanology is a rapper from Lawrence, Massachusetts. He first came to wide attention with the 2006 single "Watch How It Go Down". A solo album, Politics As Usual, was released in 2008...

, Sole

Sole

Sole may refer to:* Sole , the bottom of the foot* Sole , the bottom supporting member of the shoe-Business:* Sole proprietorship, a business which legally has no separate existence from its owner...

, Aesop Rock

Aesop Rock

Ian 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...

, Esham

Esham

Rashaam Attica Smith, better known by his stage name Esham , is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan known for his hallucinogenic style of hip hop which he refers to as "acid rap", which fuses rock-based beats and lyrics involving subjects such as death, drug use, evil, paranoia and...

 and The Perceptionists

The Perceptionists

The Perceptionists are an American hip hop group on the Definitive Jux label. The group is made up of MCs Akrobatik and Mr Lif, along with DJ Fakts One. They hail from Boston, Massachusetts...

. Danger Mouse

Danger Mouse

Brian Joseph Burton , better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He came to prominence in 2004 when he released The Grey Album, which combined vocal performances from Jay-Z's The Black Album with instrumentals from The Beatles' White Album.He...

, although now signed with Parlophone

Parlophone

Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...

, built his career as an indie hip hop artist.