Hip-hop (also known asrap music or simplyrap) is agenre ofpopular music that emerged in the early 1970s alongsidean associated subculture in theAfrican-American andLatino communities of New York City. The musical style is characterized by the synthesis of a wide range of techniques, butrapping is frequent enough that it has become a defining characteristic. Other key markers of the genre are thedisc jockey (DJ),turntablism,scratching,beatboxing, andinstrumental tracks. Cultural interchange has always been central to the hip-hop genre; it simultaneously borrows from its social environment while commenting on it.
The hip-hop genre and culture emerged fromblock parties in ethnic minority neighborhoods of New York City, particularlythe Bronx. DJs began expanding the instrumentalbreaks of popular records when they noticed how excited it would make the crowds. The extended breaks provided a platform forbreak dancers and rappers. These breakbeats enabled the subsequent evolution of the hip-hop style. Many of the records used weredisco due to its popularity at the time. This disco-inflected music was originally known asdisco-rap and later described as "old-school hip-hop".
In the mid-1980s, hip-hop began to diversify aselectro music started to inform the genre'snew school. The period between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s became known as hip-hop's "golden age", as the genre earned widespread critical acclaim and generated massive sales. Across the United States, several regional scenes emerged, most notably on theEast andWest Coasts, as well as in theSouth, which included theHouston,Atlanta andMemphis rap scenes. This era saw the emergence of popular styles such asG-funk,boom bap andgangsta rap, as well as more experimental genres likealternative hip-hop andjazz rap, which stemmed from theNative Tongues movement, alongsideprogressive andconscious hip-hop.
In the late 1990s to mid-2000s, the popularity of hip-hop further expanded with the club-oriented "bling era". The late 2000s and early 2010s saw the rise of the "blog era" andInternet rap, with young artists using theInternet to cultivate a following. In the mid-to-late 2010s,trap music andSoundcloud rap surged in popularity, which led to several commercially successful artists. In 2017, hip-hop became the bestselling genre of popular music in the United States and had also developed its own regional variations around the world.
Etymology
"Hip-hop" has been in use since the 17th century to mean a succession of hops.[1][2] InGeorge Villiers' 1671 playThe Rehearsal, Prince Volscius exits a scene awkwardly with one boot on and the other off. The director of the scene exclaims, "to go off hip hop, hip hop, upon this occasion, is a thousand times better than any conclusion in the world".[3]
A common variation on "hip hop" is "hippity hop", which was in wide usage by the 19th century. It appears in works like a poem from 1882 where four children sing, "Hippity hop to the candy Shop!"[4] It was a common refrain inskipping games.[5]
Manydance steps include a hop. By the 18th century, "hop" began to be used interchangeably with "dance" as both a noun and a verb.[6]
An early usage of "hip hop" in recorded popular music is found inThe Dovells' 1963 dance song "You Can't Sit Down", "...you gotta slop, bop, flip flop, hip hop, never stop".[7] A decade later,Discodisc jockeys would pepper their sets with exhortations to the crowd, which is why the emerging style was originally known as "disco rap". One ofDJ Hollywood's chants was "hip hop de hippy hop the body rock".[8]: 183f Lovebug Starsky recalls originating the phrase when he messed up the change between records, "I picked up the mic and just started saying 'a hip hop, hip hop, de hibbyhibbyhibbyhibby hop'".[9] He was claiming credit for inventing the name by 1979.[10]
In another version of Starsky's tale, he coined "hip-hop" withKeef Cowboy fromGrandmaster Flash and the Furious Five as they traded jibes at a friend who was going into the Army.[11]Kidd Creole recalls the scene without Lovebug present, "Cowboy was on the mic playin around doing that Army cadence: Hip/Hop/Hip/Hop...Disco was king at the time, and the Disco crowd referred to us as those 'Hip Hoppers', but they used it as a derogatory term. But Cowboy was the first one I heard do that to music, as part of his crowd response."[12][13]
The phrase was in common usage by the timeThe Sugarhill Gang recorded "Rapper's Delight" in 1979.[14] The chorus begins, "I said a hip-hop, the hippie, the hippie/To the hip, hip-hop and you don't stop the rockin'".[15]
By the early 1980s, hip-hop's definition had expanded into "the all inclusive tag for the rapping, breaking, graffiti-writing, crew fashion wearing street sub-culture".[16]Afrika Bambaataa was instrumental in turning the term into a positive force through hisUniversal Zulu Nation.[17]: 44f Theirsocial movement was anti-drug and anti-violence.[18][19]: 33
As rappers began to dominate hip-hop, the terms became synonymous. However, hip-hop's definition has always applied to its entire culture.[20][21] Its four principal elements include rapping, DJing, breakdancing, and graffiti art.[22][23][24]: 90 Knowledge is sometimes described as a fifth element, underscoring its role in shaping the values and promoting empowerment and consciousness-raising through music.[25]
KRS-One identified additional elements: self-expression, street fashion, street language, street knowledge, and street entrepreneurialism. He also recognized girls'Double Dutch jump rope as a key stylistic component of breakdancing.[26][27]: 87, 113
In addition to borrowing from the culture, hip-hop simultaneously comments on it. From its roots in the Bronx to its current global reach, hip-hop has served as a voice for the disenfranchised, shedding light on issues such as racial inequality, poverty, and police brutality.[28]
Hip-hop's initial medium was the turntable. Vinyl records were the primary source for DJs who reworked songs into new material for dancing. The process echoed the appropriation of styles that createdjazz decades earlier. The genres hip-hop initially assimilated were wide-ranging, but its primary sources were disco andfunk records.
Nowhere was this cross-pollination of musics better typified than in theCaribbean island ofJamaica, whereAM radio signals fromMiami, Florida, were audible. In the late 1950s, the U.S. stations played much more invigoratingrhythm and blues music than the staidBBC which was syndicated by the island's only radio channel,Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation.[29]: 99 American DJs likeJocko Henderson andJockey Jack introduced R&B records and jive talking to the island. Local DJs soon began setting upsound systems for outdoor parties.[30]: 39f, 119ff A vibrant music scene emerged. The jive of American DJs transmuted intotoasts inJamaican Patois.[31]
Jive talk popularizedblack-appeal stations in the post-war era. Its double entendres were a godsend to radio, re-invigorating ratings at flagging outlets. It emerged from traditions likecall and response,signifyin',the dozens, capping, andjazz poetry.[32][33] The transition from oral tradition to the commercial airwaves was exemplified byWDIA disc jockeys likeNat D. andRufus Thomas. Their on-air jive was honed during their hosting duties at the Palace Theatre's Amateur Night onBeale Street inMemphis, Tennessee.[34] D.J's like Chicago'sAl Benson (WJJD), Austin'sDoctor Hep Cat (KVET), andAtlanta'sJockey Jack (WERD) spoke the same rhyming, cadence-laden rap style.[35] They might introduce a great musician like, "Here is a guy that will move you in from the outskirts of town because he breathes natural gas...so droop to listening to a real gone cat whose loaded his knowledge box in the house of the righteous, and can lo blow."[36] Many white DJ's likeJohn R Richbourg on Nashville'sWLAC emulated the southern 'mushmouth' and jive talk, and switched outswing music forblues andbebop.[37][38] The jive-talking rappers of 1950s radio inspired musical comedians likeRudy Ray Moore,Pigmeat Markham, andBlowfly, along withsoul singerJames Brown. They have been called "godfathers" of hip-hop music.[30]: 249
The rhythmic speech of rap is an ancient practice, first codified by theGreeks. In 20th-century Western music, it was a widely used practice in everything fromsprechstimme to thetalking blues. The roots of rapping inAfrican-American music are easily traced to thegriots in West African culture.[39][40]Bo Diddley made several influential talking records, and the gospel groupThe Jubalaires' 1946 song "Noah" is frequently seen as a forerunner ofrap.[41][17]: 8 Other notable talking records wereMuhammad Ali'sI Am the Greatest (1963) andPigmeat Markham's "Here Comes the Judge" (1968).[42][43] Ali's patter was an enormous influence on hip-hop. He was known as a "rhyming trickster" due to the funky delivery of his boasts, trash talk, and indelible phrases.[44] Many of his monologues werefreestyle improvisations which would become a vital skillOld-school hip-hop rappers.[45]
During these proto-rap years in America, Jamaican music regularly featured talking records likeU-Roy andPeter Tosh's "Righteous Ruler" andKing Stitt's "Fire Corner" in 1969.[30]: 126 Jamaican DJs were also heavily remixing recorded music to generate new sounds.Duke Reid would preside over his sound system, tweaking knobs until the record he was playing became unrecognizable. In the studio, artists likeKing Tubby would strip the vocals out of records to create a new version.[29]: 99f The public appetite for these remixes became so strong that singles were released with the original on one side and the "version" on the other.[48][49] The eclectic stew of production techniques came to be known asdub music, and it is the strongest artistic precedent for hip-hop.[50][30]: 132
1973–1979: Birth of hip-hop
Breaking
By the 1970s,The Bronx had been cut in half by theCross Bronx Expressway.[19]: 2ff The construction accelerated "white flight" from the neighborhood and concentrated lower income African American,Latin American, andCaribbean residents in the southern half of the borough.[51]: 27f This massive, multi-ethnic,working class community is where hip-hop was born.[52][53] The traditions of these ethnicities all informed the emerging genre.[54][55][24]: 90 As all music does, hip-hop reflected the social, economic, and political realities of its creators, who were sometimes disenfranchised and marginalized.[56][57][58]
The dominant genre of the time wasdisco. Even black radio stations were playing hit disco records as they targeted larger suburban audiences. The way Europe stripped the blackness out offunk and disco and streamlined it became a target for parody in the black community.George Clinton mercilessly lampooned it as "The Placebo Syndrome" in hisP-Funk mythology.[59]: 155ff Even though disco birthed hip-hop, much of the genre's early spirit was a rebellion against its parent.[60] Hip-hop first had to inherit the rich trove of studio and DJ techniques that disco innovated.[30]: 139
It became trendy for dancers to use theinstrumental break in a song to show off their best moves. Some would even forego dancing until the break in a record came on.[30]: 225f The practice became known as "breakdancing", and it increased demand for breaks that DJs would soon supply.[61] These dancers became known as "B-girls" and "B-boys". "B" could be short for "break", "beat", "battle", or "Bronx" depending on who was using it.[62]
Breakdancers prized originality. They created signature moves that other breakers would only imitate in order to outdo them.[63] The emphasis on creativity extended to DJs who would battle each other. They would even replicate the Jamaican practice of removing record labels to keep their breaks a secret from other DJs.[17]: 16 Many early hip-hop DJs were immigrants from the Caribbean.[64][65] The techniques they used to generate new material from existing vinyl records was familiar to Jamaicandub music.[66][29]: 100 Hip-hop began to develop its own moral code that prized truth and ingenuity over limpid mimicry.[27]: 692, 742
DJs found certain breaks to be extremely popular from records likeBaby Huey's "Listen To Me",James Brown's "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose",Dennis Coffey's "Son of Scorpio",Cymande's "Bra", Dynamic Corvettes' "Funky Music Is the Thing", Jeannie Reynolds' "Fruit Song", as well as theIncredible Bongo Band's "Apache" and "Bongo Rock".[67][30]: 226f DJ Kool Herc figured out a way to prolong these breaks bycrossfading between two copies of the same record. Herc's initial claim to fame was his sound system which featured aMcIntosh Laboratory amplifier and two columns ofShure speakers. He dubbed it "The Herculords", and it earned him a massive following.[19]: 33
Two DJs work the turntables and mixer
His method of playing breaks was extremely crude, however. Herc would just estimate where the break was as he tried to extend it. Often, he would have to talk over the transition as the breaks did not match up.[30]: 227 It was DJs likeGrand Wizzard Theodore,Jazzy Jay, andGrandmaster Flash who perfected the trick. They developed a technique known asneedle dropping by precisely cuing up the breaks in headphones in order to create a perfect transition between the two phonographs.[21][19]: 36 As the first break finished, they would crossfade to the second turntable which was cued up at the beginning of the break. While the second record played, they would spin the first record backwards to the beginning of the break and crossfade into it when the second break was over. This method allowed a break to be prolonged indefinitely. These extended breaks became known as a "breakbeat".[17]: 15 When a playing record is reversed, the sound is distorted. The effect became trendy and eventually evolved into the hip-hop technique known as "scratching".[68]
Block parties
Outside of the dance clubs, the biggest incubator of hip-hop was theblock party. DJs would hook their sound systems up to the street lights.[69] One prominent host of these parties in the early 1970s wasDisco King Mario.[70][71]: 6 As a leader of theBlack Spades from theBronxdale Houses, Mario relied on the gang to protect his events.[72][73]
Kool Herc first began extending breaks at aback-to-schoolrent party his sister Cindy Campbell hosted in the recreation room of their building at1520 Sedgwick Avenue on the southwest side of the Bronx.[74] The date of the party, August 11, 1973, has been aggressively marketed as the "Birth of Hip-Hop".[75][76] The Campbells emigrated from Jamaica when Herc was 12. Initially, Herc denied any connection between the Jamaican music scene and his work.[19]: 45 Later in life, he embraced the parallels.[77][51]: 35
Kool Herc's style attracted a following that outgrew the rec room, and he joined the thriving block party scene.[78] Block parties extended from one area to another as his popularity increased, becoming a network of weekend get-togethers that teenagers looked forward to. These gatherings provided a feeling of friendship, music, and belonging that beyond block borders. Through shared energy, movement, and song, young people who would not have otherwise interacted came together. These parties were an outlet for teenagers, where "instead of getting into trouble on the streets, teens now had a place to expend their pent-up energy." Tony Tone, a member of theCold Crush Brothers, stated that "hip hop saved a lot of lives".[79] For inner-city youth, participating in hip-hop culture became a way of dealing with the hardships of life as minorities within America, and an outlet to deal with the risk of violence and the rise of gang culture. MC Kid Lucky mentions that "people used to break-dance against each other instead of fighting".[80][81]
A typical hip-hop event was a triple bill featuring the DJ, MC, and breakdancers. Graffiti artists would decorate the stage and design flyers and posters.[82]: 35 Much of the graffiti, rapping, andb-boying at these parties were artistic variations on the one-upmanship ofstreet gangs. Sensing that gang members' often violent urges could be turned into creative ones, Afrika Bambaataa founded theZulu Nation, a loose confederation of street-dance crews, graffiti artists, and rap musicians.Rock Steady Crew were a group of breakdancers which included members fromPuerto Rico.[51]: 143
During theNew York City blackout of 1977, DJ equipment was heavily looted due to the popularity of the emerging genre. Kool Herc recalls, "The next day there were a thousand new D.J.'s."[83] By 1978,Billboard magazine was taking notice of the popularity of "B-beats" in the Bronx.[67][84]: 2
Hip-Hop evolved without rap as a requirement of the genre, but the two terms became functionally synonymous.[85] Hip-hop DJs continued the disco DJ practice of intermittently rapping with the crowd. As their duties became more complex, aMaster of ceremonies (MC) was often present to introduce the DJ and hype the crowd.[86]
Kool Herc found Jamaicantoasts did not resonate with dancers. He andCoke La Rock developed an influential rapping style over their funk breaks. MCs relied on call and response chants and eventually developed more sophisticated routines. As with other practitioners of hip-hop, MCs strove to set themselves apart with their creativity and competitiveness.[87][33]
Just as many of the best breakdancers were women, the birth of hip-hop included female rappers like theFunky 4 + 1'sMC Sha-Rock. Sugar Hill Records signedThe Sequence, a trio that includedAngie Stone. Their single "Funk You Up" was the first hip-hop hit by an all-female group.[17]: 28 [88][89]
Although there were some early MCs that recorded solo projects of note, such asDJ Hollywood,Kurtis Blow, andSpoonie Gee, the frequency of solo artists did not increase until later with the rise of soloists with stage presence and drama, such asLL Cool J. Most early hip-hop was dominated by groups where collaboration between the members was integral to the show.[91] The first hip-hop artist to appear on national television were the group Funky 4 + 1, who appeared onSaturday Night Live in 1981.[92]
Early recordings
Hip-hop was a live music genre for its first several years. By 1977,bootleg tapes made from thesoundboards of hip-hop DJs were being circulated beyond New York City. The first dub recording, also known as a "mixed plate", was released byDJ Disco Wiz andGrandmaster Caz.[93]
The period from 1973 to 1983 is referred to as "old-school hip-hop".[94] Towards the end of this period, the genre began rising in popularity.[24]: 127ff In March 1979,Fatback Band released "You're My Candy Sweet" as a single. TheB-side was called "King Tim III (Personality Jock)", and it is generally considered the first commercially released rap song.[95][96]: 81
Three months later,Chic released "Good Times". It became a number one single on August 18. The track quickly became a favorite for rappers. As it climbed the pop charts on August 2,Sylvia Robinson, the singer and owner ofSugar Hill Records, hired a band torecreate "Good Times" in the studio. Looking to cash in on the hip-hop trend, Robinson assembledThe Sugarhill Gang to rap over the instrumental.[24]: 132 They recycled phrases from other rappers likeThe Cold Crush Brothers.[96]: 81 It was aTop 40 single, and what had become passé in the Bronx exploded in popularity around the country. The arrival of mainstream hip-hop recordings has been described as "The First Death of Hip-Hop".[24]: 127ff
Another early rap record, from an artist in the disco scene, wasJoe Bataan's 1979 track "Rap-O Clap-O." Bataan had already achieved popularity within the Latin community thanks to his unique blend of boogaloo, salsa, and soul, and the song became a hit in Europe.[97][98][99]
One of the composers of "Good Times",Nile Rodgers had been exposed to hip-hop in 1978 whenDebbie Harry andChris Stein fromBlondie took him to a show.[100] Rodgers and his co-writerBernard Edwards sued Sugar Hill Records for copyright infringement and won songwriting credit on "Rapper's Delight".[101]
In 1971, one city councilman had dubbedPhiladelphia "The Graffiti Capital of the World".[102] It was one of the first hip-hop centers outside of New York, and by 1979, hip-hop recordings such asJocko Henderson's "Rhythm Talk" andLady B's "To the Beat, Y'all" were emerging from the city.[103]
As hip-hop became mainstream, it also grew vastly eclectic. Part of this evolution was enabled by technology. The 1980s saw the miniaturization of recording technology, making samplers, synthesizers, and drum machines affordable. Devices like theAkai MPC 2000,Linn 9000, andRoland TR-808 drum machine became beloved tools for hip-hop creators.[106]
In 1980, theRoland Corporation launched the TR-808 Rhythm Composer. It was one of the earliestprogrammable drum machines, with which users could create their own rhythms rather than having to use preset patterns. Though it was a commercial failure, over the course of the decade the 808 attracted acult following among underground musicians for its affordability on the used market, ease of use, and idiosyncratic sounds, particularly its deep, "booming"bass drum.[107][108][109] Popularized by hits likeMarvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing", it became a cornerstone of the emerging electronic, dance, and hip-hop genres.[110] The 808 was eventually used on more hit records than any other drum machine. Its popularity with hip-hop in particular has made it one of the most influential inventions in popular music, comparable to theFender Stratocaster's influence on rock.[111]
As rap matured, metaphorical lyrics about a wider range of subjects moved the style beyond the boasts and chants of old school. The influential single "The Message" (1982) byGrandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, with its focus on the misery in housing projects, was a pioneering force forpolitically conscious rap.[118] Hip-hop continued in the tradition of rock and roll by outraging conservatives who feared romanticizing violence and law-breaking.[119]
Breakdancing remained the vanguard of hip-hop worldwide. Breakdance crews likeBlack Noise and Prophets of Da City in South Africa helped spread the genre.[123]: 58ff They recognized the connections in theAfrican diaspora between practices like breakdancing andcapoeira.[124] Musician and presenterSidney became France's first black TV presenter with his 1984 showH.I.P. H.O.P. onTF1.Radio Nova helped launch other French hip-hop stars includingDee Nasty. Along with his radio show, hisRapattitude compilations and 1984 albumPaname City Rappin' popularized hip-hop in the country.[123]: 5–8 Hip-hop reached Japan by 1982, when DJ Hiroshi Fujiwara started playing it in dance clubs.[125]
The second wave of hip-hop began around 1983–4 and became known asnew school. New York artists likeRun-DMC andLL Cool J typified new school, with more aggressive boasting and taunting than that of the old-school.Drum machine minimalism was typical for the new school, in contrast to old school's funk and disco breaks.[96]: 151 New-school artists also made shorter, radio-friendly songs and more cohesive LP albums that became fixtures of mainstream music.
Run-DMC's third album,Raising Hell, was the first in the genre to be certified platinum on July 15, 1986.[126] It also featured the massive hit collaboration withAerosmith on "Walk This Way". The same year, rap notched its first No. 1 album withBeastie Boys'Licensed to Ill.[127] Rap was getting so marketable that it was being used in national advertising.Sprite hiredKurtis Blow to appear in one of their commercials in 1986. Other soft drink companies would soon follow.[128]
New school rappers often established themselves by simultaneously honoring and battling their old school forbearers. LL Cool J relished sparring withKool Moe Dee. The feud boosted sales for both artists. The cover of Kool Moe Dee's 1987 album,How Ya Like Me Now, featured LL Cool J'sKangol hat under the wheel of Moe Dee'sJeep Wrangler.[129] LL's response was the vicious B-side "Jack the Ripper".[130]
Samplers like the AKAI S900 andE-mu SP-1200 empowered creativity through greater processing power.[131] Breakbeats were no longer reliant on a DJ and two turntables. They could be made in seconds with a sampler.[115]: 192 Marley Marl usedsamples in combination with drum machines to create more variegated grooves.[132][115]: 151
The period after hip-hop became mainstream in 1986 until the mid-1990s is considered its "golden age".[133][134] The era is marked by increased diversity and innovation and the vast expansion of hip-hop's influence.[135][136]Rolling Stone described the fecund era as one where "it seemed that every new single reinvented the genre".[137]
Albums became an important artistic marker during this period. 1987 alone produced landmark albums like Boogie Down Productions'Criminal Minded, Public Enemy'sYo! Bum Rush the Show, and Eric B. & Rakim'sPaid in Full. The sustained artistic statement of an album became the genre's measuring stick.[140] In 1989, 19-year-oldQueen Latifah released her debut albumAll Hail the Queen, becoming one of the most notable female rappers.[141]
Gangsta rap is asubgenre of hip-hop that reflects the violent environment of inner-city American black youths.[142] Gangsta rap commingled stories of crime and street life with political and social commentary.[143] In 1985,Schoolly D released "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?", which is often regarded as the first gangsta rap song. His lyrics reflected the street vernacular, including the word "nigga".Ice-T's "jaw dropped" when he first heard the song, and it inspired his 1986 track "6 in the Mornin'".[144]Boogie Down ProductionsCriminal Minded (1987) set a precedent by featuring guns on its cover. On their 1988 follow-upBy All Means Necessary,KRS-One is holding anuzi, but the album also sees the emergence of his anti-violence persona "The Teacher".[145]
FBI letter to Priority Records about N.W.A.
N.W.A is the group most frequently associated with gangsta rap. Their lyrics were incessantly profane and more violent, sexually explicit, and openly confrontational than their peers. These lyrics were placed over rough, rock guitar-driven beats, contributing to the music's hard-edged feel. Their blockbuster 1989 albumStraight Outta Compton establishedLos Angeles as a legitimate rival to hip-hop's capital New York City. It also sparked the first major controversy regarding hip-hop lyrics, largely due to the song "Fuck tha Police".FBI Assistant Director Milt Ahlerich wrote a letter toPriority Records lamenting the album's "discouraging and degrading" impact on law enforcement.[146][147]
Both U.S. presidentsGeorge H. W. Bush andBill Clinton criticized gangsta rap.Sister Souljah argued, "The reason why rap is under attack is because it exposes all the contradictions of American culture ...What started out as an underground art form has become a vehicle to expose a lot of critical issues that are not usually discussed in...a political system that never intends to deal with inner city urban chaos".[151]
Dr. Dre'sThe Chronic was released in 1992, popularizing theG-funk style of gangsta rap and being certified 3× platinum.[21]Snoop Dogg's albumDoggystyle followed in 1993, and was certified 4× platinum.[152]Cypress Hill was formed in 1988 in the suburb of South Gate outside Los Angeles. BrothersSenen Reyes and Ulpiano Sergio (Mellow Man Ace) moved from Havana, Cuba to South Gate with their family in 1971.[153] They teamed up with Lawrence Muggerud (DJ Muggs) and Louis Freese (B-Real), a Mexican/Cuban-American native of Los Angeles. After the departure of "Ace" to begin his solo career, the group adopted the name ofCypress Hill named after a street running through a neighborhood nearby in South Los Angeles.[154]
1990 was "the year that rap exploded".Public Enemy releasedFear of a Black Planet, which was a critical and commercial hit.[156] TheLos Angeles Times declared, "an explosion of energy and imagination in the late 1980s leaves rap today as arguably the most vital new street-oriented sound in pop since the birth of rock in the 1950s".[157]Time concurred, "Rap is therock 'n' roll of the day. Rock 'n' roll was about attitude, rebellion, a big beat, sex and, sometimes, social comment." Rap had the best-selling single of the previous year,Tone Lōc's "Wild Thing". By February 1990, nearly a third of the songs on theBillboardHot 100 were hip-hop.[158]
MC Hammer's third album,Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em, was a monster smash. It hit number 1 on thealbum chart. Its lead single, "U Can't Touch This", became a global phenomenon after it was released in May 1990. It reached theTop Ten in the U.S. and number 1 in several countries. MC Hammer was one of the first rappers to become a household name.Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em was the first hip-hop albumcertifieddiamond by theRIAA for sales of over ten million.[159] By 1996, it sold 18 million units.[160][161] In November,Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" became the first hip-hop single to hit number 1 on theBillboard charts.[162]
Dr. Dre'sThe Chronic was released in 1992, going triple platinum.[21]Snoop Dogg's 1993 albumDoggystyle helped the genre continue to dominate the charts, but black radio stations kept hip-hop at a distance.Russell Simmons felt, "Black radio hated rap from the start and there's still a lot of resistance to it".[157] Despite the lack of support from some black radio stations, hip-hop became a best-selling music genre in the mid-1990s and the top-selling music genre by 1999, with 81 million CDs sold.[163][164][165]
Southern rap first became popular in the early 1990s.[171] Record labels based out of Atlanta,Memphis, andNew Orleans gained fame for their local scenes. The first Southern rappers to gain national attention were theGeto Boys out of Houston, Texas.[172] Southern rap's roots can be traced to the success of Geto Boy's early albums. The group's strongest member wasScarface who later went solo.[173]
A lazy media narrative emerged that rappers on the coasts were feuding with each other. As Kool Moe Dee and LL Cool J had previously found, playing into a rivalry was good for sales. It became fashionable to emphasize the east coast versus west Coast beef, but it did not remain a lyrical battle.[180] On November 30, 1994, in New York City,Tupac Shakur was shot five times. He blamed the attack on a cohort that included Sean Combs and the Notorious B.I.G..[181]
Shakur leftInterscope Records forSuge Knight and Dr. Dre'sDeath Row Records on the west coast. Shakur's February 1996 debut for the label,All Eyez on Me, was promoted by relentlessly highlighting his grievances with east coast personalities. The ploy was successful and led to monster sales.[182] On September 7, 1996,Shakur was killed in Las Vegas. On March 9, 1997,the Notorious B.I.G. was killed in Los Angeles. Though the coastal feud involved dozens of people in countless imbroglios, the twin tragedies of Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. are at the core of the episode. Their deaths are used as markers for the end of hip-hop's golden age.[134]
Dr. Dre began 1999 by producingEminem's debutThe Slim Shady LP which went quadruple platinum.[188] In November, he released his 6× platinum album2001. Dre also produced Eminem'ssecond album and50 Cent'sGet Rich or Die Tryin', which debuted in 2003 at number one on theU.S. Billboard 200 charts.[189] Jay-Z became culturally dominant with his record label, clothing line, and various business interests.[21] His albums consistently charted at number 1, and with the release ofThe Blueprint 3 in 2009, he brokeElvis Presley's record for most number one albums by a solo artist.[21][190]
The subgenre known ascrunk exploded in the early-mid 2000s when songs byLil Jon andYing Yang Twins became huge hits.[194] It originated inTennessee in the southern United States in the 1990s, influenced byMiami bass.[195] Crunk is almost exclusively "party music", favoring call and response hip-hop slogans in lieu of more lyrical approaches.[196] An Atlanta variant of crunk known assnap music became similarly popular in the mid-late 2000s.[197]
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, chaoticbreakbeats, glitchybasslines and other typical sound effects used in glitch music, like skips. Glitch hop artists includePrefuse 73,Dabrye andFlying Lotus.[204]Wonky is a subgenre of hip-hop that originated around 2008. It differs from glitch hop with more melodic material and unstable synths. Scottish artists likeHudson Mohawke andRustie are prominent in the genre.[205]
Social media led to the decline of fans purchasing physical media like CDs and vinyl. Starting in 2005, hip-hop sales plummeted, prompting concerns that the genre might be dying.[206] While all music sales declined, hip-hop's losses were greater, totaling a 21% decrease from 2005 to 2006.[207] 2006 was the first time in five years that the top ten albums did not include hip-hop.[208]
Peer-to-peer file sharing also wreaked havoc with record sales.[209] Digital downloads returned singles to the forefront of music sales.[210] Downloads of individual tracks from Flo Rida's 2009 albumR.O.O.T.S. totaled in the millions, while the album itself did not even go gold.[211]
WhenKanye West'sGraduation and50 Cent'sCurtis were both released on September 11, 2007, West's idiosyncratic album sold quicker.[225] West's next album,808s & Heartbreak, was even quirkier and established a rush towards more creative hip-hop productions.[226] West borrowed the Auto-Tune vocal effect that rapper T-Pain had popularized.[227] T-Pain citesnew jack swing producerTeddy Riley and funk artistRoger Troutman's use of the talk box as inspirations for his use of the technique.[228] Even Jay-Z considered making an alternative album, inspired byindie rock artists likeGrizzly Bear.[229]
The alternative hip-hop movement was not limited only to the United States, as rappers such asSomali-Canadian poetK'naan, Japanese rapperShing02, andSri Lankan British artistM.I.A. achieved considerable worldwide recognition. In 2009,Time magazine placed M.I.A in theTime 100 list of "World's Most Influential people" for having "global influence across many genres."[230] Global-themed movements have also sprung out of the international hip-hop scene with microgenres like "Islamic Eco-Rap" addressing issues of worldwide importance through traditionally disenfranchised voices.[231]
Atlanta hip-hop dominated the charts during the 2010s, particularlytrap music.[232] Trap first became a mainstream sensation in the 2000s, and started topping the charts in the mid-to-late 2010s.[233][234][235][236] It is typified bydouble or triple-time sub-dividedhi-hats, heavykick drums from theRoland TR-808 drum machine, layered synthesizers and an overall dark, ominous or bleak atmosphere.[237]
Streaming platforms likeSpotify andApple Music became the dominant music distributors in the 2010s.[248] The 2017 Grammy Award forBest Rap Album went to a streaming album for the first time,Chance the Rapper'sColoring Book.[249] Artists likeKanye West and Drake started to eschew physical releases as well.[250][251] On July 17, 2017,Forbes reported that hip-hop/R&B had usurped rock as the most consumedmusical genre, becoming the most popular genre in music for the first time in U.S. history.[252] The most streamed rap album of all-time on Spotify is XXXTentacion's second album,? (2018).[253]
Hip-hop spread from the Bronx to the world. It is constantly being reinvented in nearly every country on the planet.[259] The one thing virtually all hip-hop artists worldwide have in common is that they acknowledge their debt to the Black and Latino people in New York who launched the global movement.[260]
In many Latin American countries, as in the U.S., hip-hop has been a tool with which marginalized people can articulate their struggle.Cuban hip-hop grew steadily during theSpecial Period that came with the fall of theSoviet Union.[261]
Puerto Ricanreggaeton evolved from several genres, particularly JamaicanDancehall and hip-hop.[263]: 94f
Venezuelan rappers generally modeled their music after gangsta rap, embracing and attempting to redefine negative stereotypes about poor and black youth as dangerous and materialistic and incorporating socially conscious critique ofVenezuela's criminalization of young, poor, Afro-descended people into their music.[264]
Haitian hip-hop developed in the early 1980s. Master Dji and his songs "Vakans" and "Politik Pa m" popularized the style. 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 is growing.[263]: 253
South African hip-hop overlaps withkwaito, a music genre that emphasizes African culture and social issues. Rappers such as Pope Troy have harnessed the use of socio-economic issues plaguing the political spheres of South Africa and hip-hop as a whole whilst balancing his lingual approach in order to communicate with the masses about the technical aspects that are creating the issues,[274] South African hip-hop has evolved into a prominent presence in mainstreamSouth African music. Between the 1990s and 2010s, it had transcended its origins as a form of political expression inCape Town to produce artists likeHHP,Riky Rick andAKA. Prominent South African rappers includeStogie T,Reason,Da L.E.S,Cassper Nyovest,Emtee,Fifi Cooper,A-Reece,Shane Eagle,Nasty C,K.O,YoungstaCPT andBig Zulu.[275][276]
In the 2010s, hip-hop became popular inCanada particularly inToronto, which has a large Afro-Caribbean and African population. The city expressed a new sub-genre calledToronto sound. AfterDrake achieved mainstream success, the Toronto sound began with works by producersT-Minus andBoi-1da.[277]
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