Tracing the Roots of Trip Hop:

How One City’s History Influenced a Global Genre

by Jeff Wragg

To fully understand a style of music it is necessary to know something of the

environment in which it is created; the social and cultural background of those
involved in music’s creation and dissemination, alongside local customs and
traditions, play a fundamental role in the way a style of music develops.1 Trip hop
originated in the English city of Bristol and in this presentation I am going to show
how Bristol’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, and its status as a destination for
Caribbean migration, influenced the way the music was conceived and developed.

Trip hop is known for blending genres, in particular hip-hop and reggae, and
these genres entered Bristol society via the black community. Bristol established a
significant Caribbean population during the trading years, but it was in the post-
war period that mass waves of migration took place, driven by labour shortages in
Britain and relaxed immigration policies.2 Caribbean immigrants transported their
culture and music and adapted them to life in Britain, where they were often
barred from white leisure institutions.3 Faced with such exclusion they were
forced to rely more heavily on their own institutions of entertainment and
recreation, and one institution that would become highly influential on trip hop
music was the sound system.4 A sound system is a small business operated by a
handful of DJs and MCs who transport large stereo systems from venue to venue,
providing music for house parties, dance halls, and other community events. They
first began to appear in the late 1940s in Kingston, playing American R&B records
on radiograms, but they soon gravitated toward local ska and reggae as R&B
gradually evolved into rock and roll, a style which held less appeal for Jamaicans.5
Sound system culture appreciates recorded music over live performances by
musicians, and the public performance of recorded music is a central theme.
Records become raw material for spontaneous performances of cultural creation

1
Cohen, Sara. “Ethnography and Popular Music Studies.” Popular Music 12.2 (1993): 123-38.
2
Hesmondhalgh, David and Melville, Casper. “Urban Breakbeat Culture: Repercussions of Hip Hop in the
United Kingdom.” Global Noise: Rap and Hip Hop Outside the USA. Ed. Tony Mitchell. Middletown, CT:
Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
3
Jones, Simon. Black Culture, White Youth: the Reggae Tradition From Ja to Uk. London: Macmillan Education,
1988.
4
Back, Les. New Ethnicities and Urban Culture: Racisms and Multiculture in Young Lives. London: Routledge, 1996.
5
Jones, Simon. Black Culture, White Youth: the Reggae Tradition From Ja to Uk. London: Macmillan Education,
1988.
and the DJ and MC emerge as the principle agents of cultural expression.6 Reggae
offered a sense of ideological and cultural solidarity to the Caribbean community
in Bristol, making critical and political commentaries that were relevant to the time
and place.7 As racial barriers began to come down, leading to greater integration of
white and Caribbean society, the sound system culture moved into the clubs and
bars, allowing reggae to spread throughout the wider community. The infamous
Dug Out club became a main fixture of the sound system culture in the 1980s,
where DJs mixed reggae, funk, soul, and hip hop, attracting a diverse audience and
sowing the seeds that would later develop into trip hop.

When hip hop music and its culture arrived from America, it was appropriated
into the sound system culture which was already firmly established, and the
similarities between the two cultures, such as the treating of records as source
material and the emergence of the DJ and MC as artist, provided for a natural
assimilation. Hip hop was highly influential on music making in Bristol, primarily
in relation to DJing and production techniques.8 The sound system approach of
treating records as source material was taken further in hip hop as digital samplers
became widely available and the process of sampling and reconstructing drum
breaks from soul and funk records became the basis of a new style of production.
The cross-genre fertilisation of hip hop, reggae, funk, and soul would be developed
by the sound systems and showcased at clubs such as the Dug Out, and it is here
that one sound system in particular, known as the Wild Bunch, rose to local
prominence before reinventing itself as the group Massive Attack and gaining
worldwide popularity.9 Massive Attack’s debut album Blue Lines, often credited
with creating the trip hop style, fused elements of reggae, soul, and hip hop and
reflected the live production methods they had adapted as the Wild Bunch. Using
the sample-based approach informed by hip hop, Massive Attack created a sound-
collage style that was born out of their cultural background, and would be picked
up by other Bristol artists such as Portishead and Tricky.

6
Gilroy, Paul. There Aint No Black in the Union Jack. London: Hutchinson, 1987.
7
Pryce, Ken. Endless Pressure: a Study of West-indian Lifestyles in Bristol. Harmondsworth, NY: Penguin
Education, 1979.
8
Hesmondhalgh, David and Melville, Casper. “Urban Breakbeat Culture: Repercussions of Hip Hop in the
United Kingdom.” Global Noise: Rap and Hip Hop Outside the USA. Ed. Tony Mitchell. Middletown, CT:
Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
9
Johnson, Phil. Straight Outta Bristol: Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky and the Roots of Trip-hop. London:
Hodder & Stoughton, 1996.
 A good example of this fusion is the track Five Man Army, which draws on
several musical devices derived from reggae and adopts the hip-hop informed
methodology of creating loops based around a sample and rapping over the top of
it, in this case using samples from soul singer Al Green, and reggae stars Dillinger,
Lloyd Robinson, and Horace Andy. Andy himself features as guest vocalist on the
Massive Attack track and has gone on to appear on all five of their albums. The
references to reggae that can be heard on this track include the solo drum intro, a
very common feature of reggae music. Another common feature of reggae
drumming is hitting the crash cymbal at the beginning of a fill, as opposed to the
end, and this is also evident in the Massive track.

PLAY AUDIO

We also hear some keyboard stabs that are indicative of the common reggae
guitar strum played on the backbeat, known as the “skank.”

PLAY AUDIO

This approach was also adopted by Tricky who mixed hip hop, soul and
electronica and seasoned many of his grooves with a reggae flavour as can be heard
in You Don’t in the swing feel of the drums and the offbeat guitar rhythm known as
the “ska”.

PLAY AUDIO

There are a number of references to reggae in Portishead’s music, though they

are a little less overt. You can hear an example of the reggae-inspired solo drum
intro in Portishead’s Pedestal, alongside hip hop references such as turntable
scratching. The song is also constructed around a prominent bass line, which is a
common feature in both hip-hop and reggae music.

PLAY AUDIO

These examples demonstrate three fundamental elements of trip hop music;

appropriation of reggae, hip-hop, and a sound collage approach to music making
that can be directly traced to the sound system culture valued by the Caribbean
community. Therefore, it would have been impossible for trip hop to develop the
way it did were it not for the large influx of Caribbean migrants in the 50s and 60s.
 In the mid-1960s, British immigration policies became more restrictive, due to
rising concerns about increased immigration from Asia and Africa, and the tide of
migration began to slow. By this time a new generation, born to Caribbean
immigrants, were faced with issues of identity and what it meant to be black and
British. Black forms of cultural expression, such as reggae music, articulated the
struggle of social movements for emancipation and equality and, like the sound
system culture, had to be adapted to British circumstances.10 This created a
diaspora element in black British culture that had ties not only to the Caribbean
but also Afro-America and Africa and meant that, alongside roots in former
colonies such as Jamaica, young black Britons are also exposed to a myriad of other
cultural influences.11 Unlike the Caribbean and the US, post-war-Britain lacked the
capacity to either produce or distribute domestic black music, meaning the records
that were so central to sound system culture, and therefore black British culture,
were overwhelmingly imported from abroad.12 The reliance on records imported
from overseas bestowed upon the music an ‘underground’ appeal, free from the
commercialisation that characterised the rest of the British music industry, and the
non-commercial appeal of black music further defined the distinction of black
culture within a wider European context.13 When hip-hop began to arrive from
America its non-commercial quality appealed to many of Bristol’s youth, who
embraced its music, style, and outlook. However, hip hop emerged into a scene
that was already strongly rooted in a sound system culture that fostered black self-
expression and channelled critiques of racism and colonialism, obviating the need
for wholesale conversion.14 Rather than widespread appropriation, hip-hop’s
practices, technologies, and aesthetics were assimilated into a black cultural
institution that, by the time of hip-hop’s arrival, already had a longstanding
tradition.

While this assimilation did not completely avoid the imitation of American hip
hop, it did call into question the extent to which it should serve as a model and
raised two important issues. English rappers must decide whether to adopt a
Brooklyn accent and risk being accused of inauthenticity, or try to rap convincingly

10
Gilroy, Paul. There Aint No Black in the Union Jack. London: Hutchinson, 1987.
11
Hesmondhalgh, David and Melville, Casper. “Urban Breakbeat Culture: Repercussions of Hip Hop in the
United Kingdom.” Global Noise: Rap and Hip Hop Outside the USA. Ed. Tony Mitchell. Middletown, CT:
Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
12
Gilroy, Paul. There Aint No Black in the Union Jack. London: Hutchinson, 1987.
13
Gilroy, Paul. There Aint No Black in the Union Jack. London: Hutchinson, 1987.
14
Hesmondhalgh, David and Melville, Casper. “Urban Breakbeat Culture: Repercussions of Hip Hop in the
United Kingdom.” Global Noise: Rap and Hip Hop Outside the USA. Ed. Tony Mitchell. Middletown, CT:
Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
in an English accent that could potentially sound very strange, and again be viewed
as inauthentic when compared to the American totem. Likewise, if an English
rapper were to adopt American hip hop’s often misogynist lyrical themes that
reference guns, cars, and personal wealth, it would rob British hip hop of its ability
to speak to, and for, the black community where guns and cars are rare and self-
aggrandizing is somewhat less acceptable.15 Early efforts which were deemed to be
derivative of American hip hop failed to capture the public’s attention, leading
British rappers to try and develop a style and message that was more obviously
rooted in British culture. This new, English, style of hip hop is evident in the
music of Massive Attack and Tricky, who speak in English accents and reference
English culture. As American hip-hop gave rise to both ‘conscious’ rap and
‘gangsta’ rap, the verbal, storytelling side of hip hop came to dominate at the
expense of aural atmospherics, and rhyming skills and charismatic personalities
became the dominant factors.16 But in trip hop rapping remains contemplative,
almost self-effacing. This is a unique English style of rapping, confident in its
individuality and unafraid of deviating from the American standard. Massive
Attack’s Blue Lines

PLAY AUDIO

In direct contrast to the clear and articulate flow used in America, Tricky
adopts a whispering style of rapping, his voice so low in the mix it risks being
drowned out by the music. Instead of the macho posturing common in American
hip hop, Tricky speaks of sexual inadequacy and has a penchant for cross-
dressing.17 Tricky is an example of the confident black Britishness found in trip
hop, where cultural references to Jamaica, America and England intertwine.

When considering the music of Massive Attack, Portishead, and Tricky, it is

difficult to ignore the fact that it is all very morose sounding, with sparse
instrumentation and, as far as popular music goes, relatively chromatic. On
Portishead’s debut Dummy, 11 of the 12 songs on the album are in a minor key,
which in laymen’s terms is the ‘sad’ sounding key of the major/minor system. The
same is true for 7 of the 9 tracks on Massive Attack’s debut Blue Lines and 10 of the

15
Hesmondhalgh, David and Melville, Casper. “Urban Breakbeat Culture: Repercussions of Hip Hop in the
United Kingdom.” Global Noise: Rap and Hip Hop Outside the USA. Ed. Tony Mitchell. Middletown, CT:
Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
16
Reynolds, Simon. Generation Ecstasy. New York, NY: Routledge, 1999.
17
Johnson, Phil. Straight Outta Bristol: Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky and the Roots of Trip-hop. London:
Hodder & Stoughton, 1996.
12 tracks on Tricky’s Maxinquaye. While some commentators, most notably the
musicians themselves, dispute the notion of a ‘Bristol Sound’ it is impossible to
deny the sombre quality that is pervasive in the music of all three of these artists.
And it is not only represented in the music; many of Portishead’s lyrics revolve
around themes of loneliness and alienation, while Tricky’s lyrics speak of violence
and drug-fuelled paranoia. These notions are often reinforced by the performance
style of the artists, such as Beth Gibbons’ vocals on Over, where she sings at the
back of the throat, giving her voice a restrained, subversive quality.

PLAY AUDIO

Or also in Tricky’s barely coherent mumblings on Hell is Around the Corner.

PLAY AUDIO

Even the slightly more upbeat Massive Attack cannot escape this dark
undercurrent as evidenced on Angel; what seem like uplifting and beautiful lyrics
are transformed into something steeped in anxiety and tension.

PLAY AUDIO

This tension is not only unique to trip hop but can also be heard in other music
to come out of Bristol. In the 1980s experimental music by artists such as the Pop
Group, and Rip Rig and Panic brought Bristol to national attention, and since trip
hop’s heyday in the 90s Bristol has become an important mecca for drum & bass,
and dubstep. And it is not just in music that we find this quality; the noted graffiti
artist Banksy, also a Bristol native, relies on a minimalist style with little use of
colour that raises themes of oppression and militancy. His work is also widely
noted for its black humour, and Steve Wright, author of a book on Banksy, has
linked this with Bristol’s subversive streak.18 The morose quality so often found in
the art that came out of Bristol does beg the question, what is it about this city that
influences this solemn outlook?

I suggest that this underlying gloominess is influenced by Bristol’s uneasy

relationship with its role in the slave trade.

18
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3672135/Banksy-off-the-wall.html accessed 22nd August, 2014
 Between 1698 and 1807 over 2,000 merchant ships sailed from Bristol to west
Africa, transporting approximately half a million slaves to the Caribbean and
Americas. Bristol reached the peak of its trading in 1730, surpassing London as the
largest slave port in England, before it was eclipsed by Liverpool.19 The city
generated great wealth not only from trading in slaves but also in slavery-based
industries such as cotton, tobacco, and even slave insurance. The profits generated
from the slave trade were not confined to the merchant elite but percolated
throughout Bristol society and, by the late 1700s, at least 40 per cent of Bristolian’s
income derived from slavery-related activities.20 The abolition of slavery in the UK
in 1807 did not prevent the city from trading in slave-produced cotton and tobacco,
allowing Bristol to continue profiting from slavery for another 60 years. It is
difficult to deny that Bristol’s transformation into a wealthy metropolis was largely
built on the back of slaves, but despite this fact, or perhaps because of it, there is a
perception that the city has traditionally been unwilling to own up to its past,
creating longstanding tensions that simmer between Bristol’s sense of civic pride
and an acknowledgement of its role in the slavery system.21

This tension is symbolised by Edward Colston, a local merchant who was

heavily invested in the slave trade but also a generous benefactor whose influence
is still apparent today. Colston’s School and Colston’s Girls School still exist, as
does Colston hall, Bristol’s largest performing arts venue. His statue stands on
Colston Ave in the town centre, where a plaque describes him as “one of the most
virtuous and wise sons of their city” while making no reference to his involvement
in slavery. On Colston’s School’s website there is a great deal of information
regarding the way the school celebrates Colston Day and his philanthropy, yet not
a single mention to the manner in which he acquired his wealth.22 His statue has
become a symbolic lightening rod for highly charged attitudes about race, history,
and public memory. It has been defaced numerous times and his name reviled, yet
he also inspires loyalty and pride amongst many Bristolians.23 A poll by the Bristol
Post newspaper in June 2014 on whether Colston’s statue should be removed was

19
Richardson, David. “Slavery and Bristol’s “golden Age”.” Slavery & Abolition: A Journal of Slave and Post-Slave
Studies 26:1 (2005): 35-54.
20
Richardson, David. “Slavery and Bristol’s “golden Age”.” Slavery & Abolition: A Journal of Slave and Post-Slave
Studies 26:1 (2005): 35-54.
21
Dresser, Madge. “Remembering Slavery and Abolition in Bristol.” Slavery & Abolition: A Journal of Slave and
Post-Slave Studies 30:2 (2009): 223-46.
22
http://www.colstons.bristol.sch.uk/09-news/ColstonDay2012.html accessed 9th August, 2014
23
Dresser, Madge. “Remembering Slavery and Abolition in Bristol.” Slavery & Abolition: A Journal of Slave and
Post-Slave Studies 30:2 (2009): 223-46.
essentially split down the middle; with 56% saying the statue should remain.24
There are many landmarks around Bristol whose links to slavery cannot be denied,
and in a city where so many of the artists have roots in the Caribbean, and thus a
heritage bound to the slave trade, it is not surprising that the tension generated by
these constant reminders of oppression will seep out in artistic expression. Some
of Bristol’s artists are explicit in their criticism of the city’s selective memory;
Massive Attack refuse to perform at Colston hall and have been one of the leading
proponents calling for the name to be changed.25 Portishead’s Geoff Barrow has
also spoken of his aversion to the city’s history and his frustration with the
perceived apathy of its citizens.26
Greater academic research into Bristol’s slave history fostered a counterculture
critical of the celebratory view of Bristol’s history, yet city officials were slow to
respond. In 1996 Bristol hosted the first International Festival of the Sea, which
proposed a ‘celebration of all things maritime’ as part of the nation’s heritage, yet
the event completely ignored the slave trade’s importance to the city.27 The
controversy that followed was what, perhaps, led the city a year later to erect the
first official memorial to the victims of slavery, in the form of a small plaque in the
city docks. The 200th anniversary of the abolition act invigorated public debate on
whether the city should apologise for its role in the slave trade and, while no
consensus was ever reached, the city did offer a statement of regret which, while
falling short of an official apology, acknowledged the evil of slavery.

Bristol has a reputation for being a laid back town, a graveyard of ambition, a
place where people take a while to get out of bed. It should come as no surprise
then that the languid nature of the city manifests itself in the down-tempo music it
produces. It is also impossible to deny that Bristol has a dark history and, as I have
shown, that history is still very relevant in the modern era, so it should also not
come as a surprise that this underlying darkness also permeates the distinctive
Bristol sound.

24
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/THINK-S-HALL-ROW-COLSTON-WON-T-AWAY/story-21246392-
detail/story.html accessed 9th August, 2014
25
http://www.bristol-culture.com/2010/02/04/massive-attack-on-bristols-slavery-past/ accessed 21st August, 2014
26
http://blurtonline.com/feature/keep-your-pecker-up-geoff-barrowbeak-2/ accessed 21 August, 2014
st

27
Chivallon, Christine. “Bristol and the Eruption of Memory: Making the Slave-trading Past Visible.” Social &
Cultural Geography 2:3 (2001): 347-63.