| Trip hop | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | c. late 1980s – early 1990s,Bristol, England |
| Derivative forms | |
| Regional scenes | |
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| Other topics | |
Trip hop is a musical genre that originated in the late 1980s in theUnited Kingdom, especiallyBristol, England.[3] It has been described as apsychedelic fusion ofhip hop andelectronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound,[4][5][6] often incorporating elements ofjazz,soul,funk,reggae,dub,R&B, and other genres, typically ofelectronic music, as well assampling frommovie soundtracks and other eclectic sources.[7]
The style emerged as a moreexperimental variant ofbreakbeat from theBristol sound scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s,[8] incorporating influences from jazz, soul, funk, dub, andrap music.[9] It was pioneered by acts likeMassive Attack,UNKLE,Tricky, andPortishead.[10] The term was first coined in a 1994Mixmag piece about American producerDJ Shadow.[11] Trip hop achieved commercial success in the 1990s, and has been described as "Europe's alternative choice in the second half of the '90s".[8]
Common musical aesthetics include a bass-heavy drumbeat,[12] often providing the slowed down breakbeat samples similar to standard 1990s hip hop beats, giving the genre a more psychedelic and mainstream feel.[12] Vocals in trip hop are often female and feature characteristics of various singing styles includingR&B,jazz androck. The female-dominant vocals of trip hop may be partially attributable to the influence of genres such as jazz and early R&B, in which female vocalists were more common. However, there are notable exceptions:Massive Attack[13] andGroove Armada collaborated with male and female vocalists, Tricky often features vocally in his own productions along withMartina Topley-Bird,[14] andChris Corner provided vocals for later albums withSneaker Pimps.[15]
Trip hop is also known for its melancholic sound. This may be partly due to the fact that several acts were inspired bypost-punk bands;[16] Tricky and Massive Attack bothcovered and sampled songs ofSiouxsie and the Banshees[17][18] andthe Cure.[19][20] Tricky opened his second albumNearly God with a version of "Tattoo", a proto-trip-hop song of Siouxsie and the Banshees initially recorded in 1983.[21]
Trip hop tracks often incorporateRhodes pianos, saxophones, trumpets,flutes, and may employ unconventional instruments such as thetheremin andMellotron. Trip hop differs from hip hop in theme and overall tone. Contrasting withgangsta rap and its hard-hitting lyrics, trip hop offers a more aural atmospherics influenced by experimental folk and rock acts of the seventies, such asJohn Martyn,[22] combined withinstrumental hip hop, turntable scratching, and breakbeat rhythms. Regarded in some ways as a 1990s update of fusion, trip hop may be said to "transcend" thehardcore rap styles and lyrics with atmospheric overtones to create a more mellow tempo.[23]
The term "trip-hop" first appeared in print in June 1994.[11] Andy Pemberton, a music journalist writing forMixmag, used it to describe "In/Flux", a single by American producerDJ Shadow and UK act RPM, with the latter signed toMo' Wax Records.[24][25]
In Bristol, hip hop began to seep into the consciousness of a subculture already well-schooled in Jamaican forms of music. DJs,MCs,b-boys andgraffiti artists grouped together into informalsoundsystems.[26] Like the pioneeringBronx crews ofDJs Kool Herc,Afrika Bambaataa andGrandmaster Flash, the soundsystems provided party music for public spaces, often in the economically deprivedcouncil estates from which some of their members originated. Bristol's soundsystem DJs, drawing heavily onJamaican dub music, typically used a laid-back, slow and heavy drumbeat ("down tempo").
Bristol'sWild Bunch crew became one of the soundsystems to put a local spin on the international phenomenon, helping to birth Bristol's signature sound of trip hop, often termed "the Bristol Sound".[26] The Wild Bunch and its associates included at various times in its existence, DJ Milo (Milo Johnson, aka DJ Nature) founding member of the Wild Bunch and the person generally accepted as the creator of the Bristol sound and therefore, trip-hop;MC Adrian "Tricky Kid" Thaws, the graffiti artist and lyricistRobert "3D" Del Naja, producerJonny Dollar and the DJsNellee Hooper,Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles andGrant "Daddy G" Marshall. As the hip hop scene matured in Bristol and musical trends evolved further towardacid jazz andhouse in the late 1980s,[27] the golden era of the soundsystem began to end. The Wild Bunch signed a record deal and evolved intoMassive Attack,[28] a core collective of 3D, Mushroom and Daddy G, with significant contributions from Tricky Kid (soon shortened toTricky), Dollar, and Hooper on production duties, along with a rotating cast of other vocalists.[28]
Another influence came fromGary Clail'sTackhead soundsystem. Clail often worked with formerThe Pop Group singerMark Stewart.[29] The latter experimented with his band Mark Stewart & the Maffia, which consisted of New Yorksession musiciansSkip McDonald,Doug Wimbish, andKeith LeBlanc, who had been a part of the house band for theSugarhill Recordsrecord label.[30] Produced byAdrian Sherwood, the music combined hip hop with experimental rock and dub and sounded like a premature version of what later became trip hop. In 1993,Kirsty MacColl released "Angel", one of the first examples of the genre crossing over to pop, a hybrid that dominated the charts toward the end of the 1990s.
Massive Attack's first albumBlue Lines was released in 1991 to huge success in the United Kingdom.[32]Blue Lines was seen widely as the first major manifestation of a uniquely British hip hop movement, but the album's hit single "Unfinished Sympathy" and other tracks were not seen as hip hop songs in a conventional sense despite similarities in production methods such as using sample-based rhythms. Co-produced by Jonny Dollar, the orchestral "Unfinished" featured R&B singerShara Nelson, and Jamaican dance hall starHorace Andy provided vocals on several other tracks, as he would throughout Massive Attack's career.[33] Massive Attack released their second album entitledProtection in 1994. Although Tricky stayed on in a lesser role and Hooper again produced, the fertile dance music scene of the early 1990s had informed the record, and it was seen as an even more significant shift away from the Wild Bunch era.
In the June 1994 issue of the UK magazineMixmag, music journalist Andy Pemberton used the termtrip hop to describe the hip hopinstrumental "In/Flux", a 1993 single by San Francisco'sDJ Shadow, and other similar tracks released on theMo' Waxlabel and being played in London clubs at the time. "In/Flux", with its mixed upbpms,spoken wordsamples, strings, melodies, bizarre noises, prominent bass, and slow beats, gave the listener the impression they were on a musicaltrip, according to Pemberton.[34] Soon, however, Massive Attack's dubby, jazzy, psychedelic, electronic textures, rooted in hip hop sampling technique but taking flight into many styles, were described by journalists as the template of the eponymous genre.
In 1993, Icelandic musicianBjörk releasedDebut, produced by Wild Bunch member Nellee Hooper.[35] The album, although rooted infour-on-the-floorhouse music, contained elements of trip hop and is credited as one of the first albums to introduce electronic dance music into mainstream pop.[36][37] She had been in contact with London's underground electronic music scene and was romantically involved with trip-hop musician Tricky. Björk further embraced trip-hop with her 1995 albumPost by collaborating with Tricky and Howie B.Homogenic, her 1997 album, has been described as a pinnacle of trip hop music.[38]
Trip-hop neared the peak of its popularity in 1994 and 1995, with artists such asHowie B andEarthling making significant contributions.Ninja Tune, theindependent record label founded by the duoColdcut, significantly influenced the trip-hop sound in London and beyond with breakthrough artistsDJ Food,9 Lazy 9,Up, Bustle & Out,Funki Porcini andThe Herbaliser, among others. The period also marked the debut of two acts who, along with Massive Attack, would define the Bristol scene for years to come.
In 1994,Portishead, a trio comprising singerBeth Gibbons,Geoff Barrow, andAdrian Utley, released their debut albumDummy. Their background differed from Massive Attack in many ways: one of Portishead's primary influences was 1960s and 1970s film soundtrack LPs.[39] Nevertheless, Portishead shared the scratchy, jazz-sample-based aesthetic of early Massive Attack (whom Barrow had briefly worked with during the recording ofBlue Lines), and the sullen, fragile vocals of Gibbons also brought them wide acclaim. In 1995,Dummy was awarded theMercury Music Prize as the best British album of the year,[40] giving trip-hop as a genre its greatest exposure yet. Portishead's music was also widely imitated, to the point that they distanced themselves[41] from the trip-hop label they had inadvertently helped popularize, with Barrow stating "The whole trip-hop tag was nonsense. It was developed by people in London, and the people in Bristol just had to put up with it.".[42]
Tricky also released his debut solo album,Maxinquaye in 1995, to great critical acclaim. The album was produced largely in collaboration withMark Saunders. Tricky employed whispered, often abstract stream-of-consciousness lyrics, remote from the gangsta-rapbraggadocio of the mid-1990s US hip-hop scene. Even more unusually, many of the solo songs onMaxinquaye featured little of Tricky's own voice: his then-lover,Martina Topley-Bird, sang them, including her re-imagining of rap groupPublic Enemy's 1988 song "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos", while other songs were male-female duets dealing with sex and love in oblique ways, over beds of sometimes dissonant samples. Within a year, Tricky had released two more full-length albums, although they failed to find the same popularity as his Bristol contemporaries Massive Attack and Portishead.[43] Through his collaborations with Björk, however, he exerted influence closer to the pop andalternative rock mainstream, and he developed a large cult fan-base.
Although not as popular in the United States, bands like Portishead andSneaker Pimps saw moderate airplay on alternative-rock stations across the country.[44]
After the initial success of trip hop in the mid-1990s, the artists who made their own interpretations of the genre includeArchive,Baby Fox,Bowery Electric,Esthero,Morcheeba,Sneaker Pimps,Anomie Belle,[48]Alpha, Jaianto,Mudville andCibo Matto andLamb. These artists incorporated trip hop into other genres, includingambient,soul,IDM,industrial,dubstep,breakbeat,drum and bass,acid jazz, andnew-age. The first printed use of the term "post-trip hop" was in an October 2002 article ofThe Independent, and was used to describe the bandSecond Person.[49]
Trip hop has also influenced artists in other genres, includingGorillaz,Emancipator,Nine Inch Nails,Travis,PJ Harvey,[50]How to Destroy Angels,[51]Beth Orton,The Flaming Lips,Bitter:Sweet,Beck,Alanis Morissette,The xx andDeftones.[52] Several tracks on Australian pop singerKylie Minogue's 1997 albumImpossible Princess also displayed a trip hop influence.[53][importance of example(s)?] Various prominent artists and groups, such asJanet Jackson,[54]Kylie Minogue,[55]Madonna,[56][57]Björk,[58][59][60] andRadiohead,[61] have also been influenced by the genre. Trip hop has spawned several subgenres,[62] includingillbient (dub-based trip hop which combinesambient andindustrial hip hop).
Trip hop continued to influence notable artists in the 2000s. Norwegianavant-garde bandUlver incorporated trip hop in their ambient/electronic/jazzy albumPerdition City. Atmospheric rock bandAntimatter included some trip hop elements in their first two albums. Australian composerRob Dougan proposed a mix of trip hop beats, orchestral music and electronics.RJD2 began his career as a DJ, but in 2001, began releasing albums underEl-P'sDef Jux Label.[63]Zero 7's albumSimple Things, and in particular, its lead single "Destiny", was regarded highly by underground listeners and achieved significant popularity.[64] In 2006,Gotye debuted his second studio album,Like Drawing Blood. The songs on the album featured down-tempo hip-hop beats and dub style bass reminiscent of trip hop.[65] Hip hop groupsZion I and theDub Pistols also displayed heavy trip hop influence.[66][67] Norwegian singer and songwriterKate Havnevik is a classically trained musician, but also incorporates trip hop into her work.[68]
During the late 1990s and early 2000s trip hop achieved crossover success in the United States, often lumped under the "electronica" label. Trip hop songs were featured in film soundtracks of this era such as theMatrix series. Many producers who were not explicitly trip-hop artists also displayed its influence during this time. Daniel Nakamura, akaDan the Automator, released two albums that were heavily inspired by trip hop. His 2000 albumDeltron 3030[69] was a concept album about a rapper from the future, portrayed byDel the Funky Homosapien. 2001 saw the release of his side project,Lovage and the albumMusic to Make Love to Your Old Lady By,[70] with special guestsMike Patton,Prince Paul,Maseo,Damon Albarn, andAfrika Bambaataa. British producerFatboy Slim's breakthrough album,Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars,[71] was his most commercially successful release.[importance of example(s)?] Another heavily trip-hop influenced band,Elsiane, published their first albumHybrid in 2007, creating a "mellow, hypnotic atmosphere utilized in the ’90s by big names like Massive Attack, Portishead, etc."[72]
Major notable trip hop releases from 2010s include Massive Attack'sHeligoland, their first studio album in seven years; and Dutch'sA Bright Cold Day in 2010, the latter group includingJedi Mind Tricks producerStoupe the Enemy of Mankind.[73][74]
DJ Shadow'sThe Less You Know, the Better was released in 2011 after a highly publicised unveiling of songs, including appearances onZane Lowe'sBBC Radio 1 show and previews at a performance in Antwerp in August 2010.[75] The album was met with "generally favorable reviews" on Metacritic, with some criticising Shadow's lack of originality. Sam Richards ofNME felt that the album sounded "like the work of a man struggling to recall his motivations for making music in the first place."
Beak's album titledBeak>> was released in 2012 and received high scores from journalists, including an 8/10 fromNME andSpin magazine.[76]
Lana Del Rey released her second album,Born to Die in 2012, which contained a string of trip hop ballads.[77] The album topped the charts in eleven countries, including Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom; it has sold 3.4 million copies worldwide as of 2013 according toInternational Federation of the Phonographic Industry.[78]
Following the 2013 release ofEP2, the music ofFKA Twigs was described in aPitchfork Magazine article as "trip hop for a new time", with "a menacing undertow reminiscent of Massive Attack'sMezzanine."[79]
In September 2021, the Sneaker Pimps released the album "Squaring the Circle" which had been their first release in over 20 years, featuring Simonne Jones on some of the tracks. The album, while rooted in Trip Hop, had much more of a Pop styling than previous efforts.[80]
In April 2024, Irish rock bandFontaines D.C. released "Starburster", the lead single from their fourth albumRomance. CriticsConsequence andClash described the track as trip hop.[81][82]
Polly Jean Harvey simultaneously falls back on the elemental blues grounding that sets her apart from most of her generation while zooming ahead into trip-hop and techno
