| Alternative hip-hop | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1980s, United States |
| Typical instruments | |
| Subgenres | |
| Other topics | |
Alternative hip-hop (also known asalternative rap andexperimental hip-hop[2]) is a subgenre ofhip-hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream.AllMusic defines it as comprising "hip-hop groups that refuse to conform to any of the traditional stereotypes of rap, such asgangsta,bass,hardcore, and party rap. Instead, they blur genres drawing equally fromfunk andpop/rock, as well asjazz,soul,reggae, and evenfolk."[3]
Alternative hip-hop developed in the late 1980s and experienced a degree ofmainstream recognition during the early to mid-1990s. While some groups such asArrested Development and theFugees achieved commercial success, many alternative rap acts tend to be embraced byalternative rock listeners rather than hip-hop orpop audiences.[3] The commercial and cultural momentum was impeded by the simultaneous emergence of significantly harder-edged West Coastgangsta rap. A resurgence came about in the late 1990s and early 2000s at the dawn of thedigital era with a rejuvenated interest inindependent music by the general public.
During the 2000s, alternative hip-hop reattained its place within the mainstream due to the declining commercial viability of gangsta rap as well as thecrossover success of artists such asOutkast andKanye West. The alternative hip-hop movement has expanded beyond the United States to include theSomali-Canadian poetK'naan and the British artistM.I.A. Alternative hip-hop acts have attained much critical acclaim, but receive relatively little exposure through radio and other media outlets. The most prominent alternative hip-hop acts includeA Tribe Called Quest,De La Soul,Hieroglyphics,the Pharcyde,Digable Planets,Death Grips andBlack Sheep.[2] During the 2010s, the development of alternative hip hop music continued with the internet era and the appearance of streaming services, with many artists taking a more "experimental" approach to hip hop music, such asASAP Rocky,Yung Lean,Bladee,Chief Keef,Lil Uzi Vert,Playboi Carti,Lil Pump,XXXTentacion,Ski Mask the Slump God,Lil Peep, andSpaceGhostPurrp. Playboi Carti's 2020 albumWhole Lotta Red, for example, is marked by this approach.[4]
Originating in the late 1980s, in midst of thegolden age of hip-hop, alternative hip-hop was headed primarily byEast Coast groups such asDe La Soul,Jungle Brothers,A Tribe Called Quest,Pete Rock & CL Smooth,Brand Nubian, andDigable Planets in subsidiary conjunction byWest Coast acts such asthe Pharcyde,Digital Underground,Souls of Mischief,Del the Funky Homosapien, andFreestyle Fellowship as well as certainSouthern acts such as Arrested Development,Goodie Mob, andOutkast.[5] Similar to thealternative rock movement, alternative hip-hop segued into the mainstream at the dawn of the 1990s.Arrested Development, along with theFugees, stand as some of the first few alternative rap to be recognized by mainstream audiences.[3] The classic debut albums3 Feet High and Rising (1989),[6]People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990), andBizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (1992) achieved minor commercial success as they garnered immense acclaim from music critics, who described the records as ambitiously innovative but playful masterpieces, hailing the artists as the future of hip-hop music as a whole.[7]
Contrary toalternative rock, which went on to become a mainstay in mainstream music and replaced theglam metal of the previous generation as the most popular form of rock music, alternative hip-hop's commercial momentum was impeded by the then also newly emerging, significantly harder-edged West Coastgangsta rap.[7] With its aggressive tone, nihilistic tendencies, and violent imagery, gangsta rap was considered to be the more entertaining, more lucrative subgenre as signified by the high chart placings, radio success andmultiplatinum-selling records of gangsta rappers such asSnoop Dogg,Warren G andN.W.A, who were widely embraced bymajor record labels and produced a legion of imitators.[7] Albums such asStraight Outta Compton (1989),The Chronic (1992) andDoggystyle (1993) redefined the direction of hip-hop, which resulted in lyricism concerning the gangsta lifestyle becoming the driving force of sales figures.[8] The situation changed around the mid-'90s with the emergence and mainstream popularity of East Coasthardcore rap artists such asWu-Tang Clan,Nas,the Notorious B.I.G., andMobb Deep. Following this development, many alternative rap acts eventually either disbanded or faded into obscurity.[9][10]
In his 1995 book on the current state ofhip-hop culture, music critic Stephen Rodrick wrote that, at that time, alternative hip-hop had "drawn little more than barely concealed yawns from other rappers andurban audiences" and concluded that the subgenre was a failure.[11]
A commercial breakthrough came about in the late 1990s with the rejuvenated interest inindie music by the general public due to the mainstream success of acts like theFugees andArrested Development,[12] while acts such asSlum Village,Common,[13] andthe Roots were rising to prominence.[10]
The Fugees saw huge critical and commercial success with the release of their second album,The Score, in 1996.[14] The album peaked at number one on the USBillboard 200 chart,[15] and briefly became the best-selling hip-hop album of all time.[16] That same year,A Tribe Called Quest reached their commercial peak with the release of their albumBeats, Rhymes and Life, which reached number one on the USBillboard 200 and became their best-selling release,[17] while acts such asOutkast andDe La Soul released some of their most definitive albums withAtliens andStakes Is High.[18]
Since the mid-1990s,independent record labels such asRawkus Records,Rhymesayers Entertainment,Anticon,Stones Throw,Definitive Jux andQN5 have experienced lesser mainstream success with alternative rap acts such asCunninLynguists,Jurassic 5,Little Brother,Talib Kweli,MF Doom,Atmosphere,Antipop Consortium,Mos Def,Doomtree,Pharoahe Monch,El-P,Quasimoto,Living Legends,Cyne,Blue Scholars, andAesop Rock. In the 2000s, alternative hip-hop reattained its 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 Outkast,Kanye West, andGnarls Barkley.[19][20]
Outkast's fifth studio album,Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003) receive universal acclaim from music critics and had two number-one hit singles. The album won aGrammy Award forAlbum of the Year—making it only the second hip-hop album to win the award (The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill being the first) and has beencertifieddiamond by selling 11 timesplatinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[21]
MF Doom had been on the come up in the underground scene after releasing his debut studio album,Operation: Doomsday (1999). He came back to the hip-hop scene after the dissolving of groupKMD.[2] Later, he andMadlib's 2004 projectMadvillainy was released in this time period as the duoMadvillain. This album was praised by music critics and inspired other artists, such asAminé andJoey Badass.[22]
Gnarls Barkley experienced a surprise hit with their debut single, "Crazy". Due to high download sales, it reached number one in the single charts in several countries, including the United Kingdom, where it became the best-selling single of 2006.[23] The song was named the best song of 2006 by bothRolling Stone and theVillage Voice's annualPazz & Jop critics poll.[24][25]Rolling Stone later ranked "Crazy" as the number-one song of the decade. The song has been certifieddouble platinum by RIAA.[26] The duo were the recipient of multiple accolades; at the49th Grammy Awards, they won the awards forBest Urban/Alternative Performance andBest Alternative Music Album.[27]
Industry observers view the 2007sales competition between Kanye West'sGraduation and50 Cent'sCurtis as a turning point for hip-hop. West emerged the victor, selling nearly a million copies in the first week alone. Ben Detrick ofXXL credited the outcome of the sales competition with altering the direction of hip-hop and paving the way for new rappers who did not follow thehardcore-gangster mold, writing, "If there was ever awatershed moment to indicate hip-hop's changing direction, it may have come when 50 Cent competed with Kanye in 2007 to see whose album would claim superior sales. 50 lost handily, and it was made clear that excellent song crafting trumped a street-life experience. Kanye led a wave of new artists—Kid Cudi,Wale,Lupe Fiasco,Kidz in the Hall,Drake,Nicki Minaj—who lacked the interest or ability to create narratives about any past gunplay ordrug-dealing."[28] Similarly, in a retrospective article, Rosie Swash ofThe Guardian viewed the album's sales competition with 50 Cent'sCurtis as a historical moment in hip-hop, writing that it "highlighted the diverging facets of hip-hop in the last decade; the former was gangsta rap for the noughties, while West was the thinking man's alternative."[29]
Several artists and groups acknowledge being directly influenced by their 1990s predecessors in addition to alternative rock groups while their music has been noted by critics as expressing eclectic sounds, life experiences and emotions rarely seen in mainstream hip-hop.[30] As traditional rock music continually becomes less synonymous withpop music, more left-of-center artists who are not fully embraced by hip-hop radio have increasingly found inclusion onalternative radio.[31] According toNielsen SoundScan, contemporary hip-hop acts who increasingly receive domestic airplay on alt-radio includeRun the Jewels,Childish Gambino,Logic,Brockhampton,L.I.F.T. andnothing, nowhere.[31] Regarding audiences, according to Jeff Regan, senior director of music programming for theAlt Nation channel onSirius XM Radio, "This generation has maybe never even gone to arecord store or CD store where there was a hip-hop section and arock section—it has all been in front of them on a screen."[31] Thus recording artists and groups traditionally perceived as rappers are included on his predominantlyrock-oriented playlists. He said, "Whether it'sLil Peep or Brockhampton orPost Malone, we have tried records from all those artists. ... We need some depth perception in the music we're presenting. Whether it's done on a laptop or on anamp and a guitar, I just want to find something new—that's what alternative is supposed to be."[31]
While some groups achieved commercial success, most alternative rap acts tended to be embraced largely byalternative rock listeners andindie music fans rather than hip-hop orpop audiences.[3] Artists receive limited exposure throughcommercial radio and other media outlets and primarily rely oncampus radio and variousindependent media channels.[3] Alternative hip-hop is the recipient of consistent critical acclaim but is generally shunned by Americanmainstream media and widely regarded as commercially unappealing.[7] New York radio personality andspoken word artistImhotep Gary Byrd's single "The Crown" was rejected by American radio stations for being "too Black and too positive."[32] However, the song was very well received and become a hit in Europe.[32] It reached number 6 on theUK Singles Chart, becoming the longest record ever to reach the top 10 in the history of the British Charts.[33] Over the years, multiple organizations representing African Americans such as the National Black Leadership Alliance and theNational Congress of Black Women have released statements criticizing howurban radio stations refuse to play rap music that does not demean and degrade black women, shunning alternative hip-hop artists such asArrested Development andDead Prez.[34]Q-Tip, frontman of the highly influential alternative rap groupA Tribe Called Quest, had his sophomore solo effort,Kamaal the Abstract, shelved for nearly a decade after his record label deemed the genre-bending album as sounding uncommercial.[35]Q-Tip said:
I am really disappointed thatKamaal wasn't released.LA Reid didn't know what to do with it; then, three years later, they releaseOutkast. What Outkast is doing now, those are the kinds of sounds that are onKamaal the Abstract. Maybe even a little more out.Kamaal was just me, guerrilla.[36]
Similarly,BET refused to play "Lovin' It", thelead single of duoLittle Brother's socio-politically chargedconcept albumThe Minstrel Show (2005), which provided a tongue-in-cheek critique of African-American pop culture, on the grounds that the group's music was "too intelligent" for their target audience.[37][38] The network was subsequently satirized by the animated seriesThe Boondocks – which regularly features underground/alternative rap asbackground music – in the banned episode "The Hunger Strike". The episode, which portrayed BET as an evil organization dedicated to the self-genocidal mission of eradicating black people through violent, overtly sexual programming, was banned byCartoon Network and has yet to be aired in the United States.[39]
The alternative hip-hop movement is not limited solely to the United States, as genre-defying rappers such asSomali-Canadian poetK'naan and British artistM.I.A. have achieved worldwide recognition. K'naan's 2009 single "Wavin' Flag" reached number two on theCanadian Hot 100 while its various remixes topped the charts in several countries.Shing02 was chosen for rapping "Battlecry", the theme song of the hithip-hop-influencedchanbara animeSamurai Champloo, which had music produced by Japanesejazz rap DJNujabes.[40]Time magazine placed M.I.A in theTime 100 list of "World's Most Influential people" for having "global influence across many genres."[41][42] Groups like the British virtual bandGorillaz also experienced mainstream popularity during this time, selling over 20 million albums total between the albumsGorillaz (2001) andDemon Days (2005).[43] Today, due in part to the increasing use ofsocial networking as well asonline distribution, many alternative rap artists are finding acceptance by far-reaching audiences.[30]
Alternative Rap refers to hip-hop groups that refuse to conform to any of the traditional stereotypes of rap, such as gangsta, funk, bass, hardcore, and party rap. Instead, they blur genres, drawing equally from pop, rock, jazz, soul, funk, reggae, folk, and other genres. Though Arrested Development and the Fugees managed to cross over into the mainstream, most alternative rap groups are embraced primarily by alternative rock fans, not hip-hop or pop audiences.
