Hip hop music

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For other uses, see Hip hop (disambiguation).
Hip hop music, also known as rap music,[5][6] is a genre of popular music developed in
the United States by inner-city African Americans and Latino Americans[7] in the
Bronx borough of New York City in the 1970s. It consists of a stylized rhythmic music
that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted.
[8]
 It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculturedefined by four key stylistic
elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti
writing.[9][10][11] Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records
(or synthesized beats and sounds), and rhythmic beatboxing. While often used to refer
solely to rapping, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. [12]
[13]
 The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music,[8]
[14]
 though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also
incorporate other elements of hip hop culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching,
beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.[15][16]
Hip hop as both a musical genre and a culture was formed during the 1970s when block
parties became increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among African
American youth residing in the Bronx. At block parties DJs played percussive breaks of
popular songs using two turntables and a DJ mixer to be able to play breaks from two
copies of the same record, alternating from one to the other and extending the "break".
[17]
 Hip hop's early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum
machines became widely available and affordable. Turntablist techniques such
as scratching and beatmatching developed along with the breaks and
Jamaican toasting, a chanting vocal style, was used over the beats. Rapping developed
as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or chants along rhythmically with an
instrumental or synthesized beat.
Hip hop music was not officially recorded for play on radio or television until 1979,
largely due to poverty during the genre's birth and lack of acceptance outside ghetto
neighborhoods.[18] Old school hip hop was the first mainstream wave of the genre,
marked by its disco influence and party-oriented lyrics. The 1980s marked the
diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles and spread
around the world. New school hip hop was the genre's second wave, marked by
its electro sound, and led into Golden age hip hop, an innovative period between the
mid-1980s and mid-1990s. The gangsta rap subgenre, focused on the violent lifestyles
and impoverished conditions of inner-city African-American youth, gained popularity at
this time. West Coast hip hop was dominated by G-funk in the early-mid 1990s,
while East Coast hip hop was dominated by jazz rap, alternative hip hop, and hardcore
rap. Hip hop continued to diversify at this time with other regional styles emerging, such
as Southern rap and Atlanta hip hop. Hip hop became a best-selling genre in the mid-
1990s and the top-selling music genre by 1999.
The popularity of hip hop music continued through the late 1990s to mid-2000s "bling
era" with hip hop influences increasingly finding their way into other genres of popular
 music, such as neo soul, nu metal, and R&B. The United States also saw the success
of regional styles such as crunk, a Southern genre that emphasized the beats and
music more than the lyrics, and alternative hip hop began to secure a place in the
mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of its artists. During the late 2000s
and early 2010s "blog era", rappers were able to build up a following through online
methods of music distribution, such as social media and blogs, and mainstream hip hop
took on a more melodic, sensitive direction following the commercial decline of gangsta
rap. The trap and mumble rapsubgenres have become the most popular form of hip hop
during the mid-late 2010s and early 2020s. In 2017, rock music was usurped by hip hop
as the most popular genre in the United States.

Contents

 1Etymology
 2Precursors
 31973–1979: Early years
o 3.1Origins
o 3.2Technology
o 3.3Introduction of rapping
o 3.4Jamaican origins of outdoor sound systems
 41979–1983: Old school hip hop
o 4.1Transition to recording
o 4.2Influence of disco
o 4.3Diversification of styles
 51983–1986: New school hip hop
 61986–1997: Golden age hip hop
o 6.1Gangsta rap and West Coast hip hop
o 6.2Mainstream breakthrough
o 6.3East vs. West rivalry
 6.3.1East Coast hip hop
 6.3.2West Coast hip hop
o 6.4Further diversification
 71997–2006: Bling era
o 7.1Commercialization and new directions
o 7.2Rise of alternative hip hop
o 7.3Glitch hop and wonky music
o 7.4Crunk music
 82006–2014: Blog era
o 8.1Snap music and influence of the Internet
o 8.2Decline in sales
o 8.3Innovation and revitalization
 92014–present: Trap and mumble rap era
o 9.1Age of streaming
 10World hip hop music
 11See also
 12Notes
 13References
 14Further reading
 15External links

Etymology

Afrika Bambaataa with DJ Yutaka of Universal Zulu Nation in 2004

The words "hip" and "hop" have a long history behind the two words being used
together. In the 1950s, older folks referred to teen house parties as "hippity hops". [19] The
creation of the term hip hop is often credited to Keith Cowboy, rapper with Grandmaster
Flash and the Furious Five.[20] However, Lovebug Starski, Keith Cowboy, and DJ
Hollywood used the term when the music was still known as disco rap.[21]It is believed
that Cowboy created the term while teasing a friend who had just joined the U.S. Army,
by scat singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked
the rhythmic cadence of soldiers marching.[20] Cowboy later worked the "hip hop"
cadence into a part of his stage performance. For example, he would say something
along the lines of “I said a hip-hop, a hibbit, hibby-dibby, hip-hip-hop and you don't
stop."[19] which was quickly used by other artists such as The Sugarhill Gang in "Rapper's
Delight".[20] Universal Zulu Nationfounder Afrika Bambaataa, also known as "The
Godfather" is credited with first using the term to describe the subculture in which the
music belonged; although it is also suggested that it was a derogatory term to describe
the type of music.[22] The term was first used in print to refer to the music by reporter
Robert Flipping, Jr. in a February 1979 article in The New Pittsburgh Courier,[23][24] and to
refer to the culture in a January 1982 interview of Afrika Bambaataa by Michael
Holman in the East Village Eye.[25] The term gained further currency in September of that
year in another Bambaataa interview in The Village Voice,[26] by Steven Hager, later
author of a 1984 history of hip hop.[27]
There are disagreements about whether or not the terms "hip hop" and "rap" can be
used interchangeably. This even happens amongst hip-hop's most knowledgeable
writers, performers, and listeners.[6] The most common view that is seen, is that hip-hop
is a cultural movement that emerged in the South Bronx in New York City during the
1970s, with MCing (or rapping) being one of the primary four elements. [6] Hip hop's other
three essential elements are graffiti art (or aerosol art), break dancing, and DJing. Rap
music has become by far the most celebrated expression of hip hop culture, largely as a
result of its being the easiest to market to a mass audience. [6]
Precursors
Musical elements anticipating hip hop music have been identified
in blues, jazz and rhythm and blues recordings from the 1950s and earlier, including
several records by Bo Diddley.[citation needed] Muhammad Ali's 1963 spoken-word album I Am
the Greatest is regarded by some writers as an early example of hip hop. [28][29]
[better  source  needed]
 Pigmeat Markham's 1968 single "Here Comes the Judge" is one of several
songs said to be the earliest hip hop record. [30] Leading up to hip hop, there were
spoken-word artists such as the Last Poets who released their debut album in 1970,
and Gil Scott-Heron, who gained a wide audience with his 1971 track "The Revolution
Will Not Be Televised". These artists combined spoken word and music to create a kind
of "proto-rap" vibe.[31]