Hip hop music
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Hip hop music is a style of popular music, typically consisting of a rhythmic, rhyming vocal style called rapping (also known as emceeing) over backing beats and scratching performed on a turntable by a DJ. Emceeing, DJ-ing, breakdancing and graffiti art comprise the four elements of Hiphop, a cultural movement which began in New York City in the 1970s, predominantly among African Americans and Latinos.[1] The term rap music is sometimes used synonymously with hip hop music, though it is also used to refer specifically to the practice of rapping.
Typically, hiphop music consists of one or more rappers speaking/chanting semi-autobiographic tales, or often, coded information in an intensely rhythmic lyrical form, making abundant use of techniques like assonance, alliteration, and rhyme. Though rap may be performed a cappella, it is more common for the rapper(s) to be accompanied by a DJ or a live band providing an appropriate beat. This beat is often from the percussion of a different song, usually rock, funk, or soul, and is sometimes sampled. In addition to the beat, other sounds are often sampled, synthesized, or performed. Though rap is usually an integral component of hiphop music, instrumental and non-rap Electro acts such as Planet Patrol are also defined as hiphop music groups.
Hiphop arose in New York City when DJs began isolating the percussion break from funk or disco songs. The role of the emcee (MC) arose to introduce the DJ and the music, and to keep the audience excited. The MCs would speak between songs, giving exhortations to dance, greetings to audience members, jokes and anecdotes. Eventually, this practice came to be more stylized, and was known as rapping. By 1979, hiphop had become a commercially recorded music genre, and began to enter the American mainstream. It also began its spread across the world. In the 1990s, a form called gangsta rap became a major part of American music, causing significant controversy over lyrics which were perceived as promoting violence, promiscuity, drug use and misogyny. Nevertheless, by the beginning of the 2000s, hiphop was a staple of popular music charts and was being performed in many styles across the world.
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Roots of Hip hop (1970s)
The roots of Hiphop are found in African-American and West African music. The griots of West Africa are a group of traveling singers and poets, whose musical style is reminiscent of hiphop. Within New York City, griot-like performances of poetry and music by artists such as The Last Poets and Jalal Mansur Nuriddin had a great impact on the post-civil rights era culture of the 1960s and 1970s. Hiphop arose during the 1970s when block parties became common in New York City, especially the Bronx. Block parties were usually accompanied by music, especially funk and soul music. The early DJs at block parties began isolating the percussion breaks to hit songs, realizing that these were the most dance-able and entertaining parts; this technique was then common in Jamaica and had spread via the substantial Jamaican immigrant community in New York City, especially the "godfather" of hiphop, DJ Kool Herc.
Dub had arisen in Jamaica due to the influence of American sailors and radio stations playing R&B. Large sound systems were set up to accommodate poor Jamaicans, who couldn't afford to buy records, and dub developed at the sound systems (refers to both the system and the parties that evolved around them). Herc was one of the most popular DJs in early 70s New York, and he quickly switched from using reggae records to funk, rock and, later, disco, since the New York audience did not particularly like reggae. Because the percussive breaks were generally short, Herc and other DJs began extending them using an audio mixer and two records. Mixing and scratching techniques eventually developed along with the breaks. (The same techniques contributed to the popularization of remixes.) Such looping, sampling and remixing of another's music, usually without the original artist's knowledge or consent, can be seen as an evolution of Jamaican Dub music, and would become a hallmark of the hiphop style.
Later DJs such as Grandmaster Flash refined and developed the use of breakbeats, including cutting.[citation needed] As in dub, performers began speaking while the music played; these were originally called MCs; Herc focused primarily on DJing, and began working with two MCs, Coke La Rock and Clark Kent—this was the first emcee crew, Kool Herc & the Herculoids. Originally, these early rappers focused on introducing themselves and others in the audience (the origin of the still common practice of "shouting out" on hiphop records). These early performers often emceed for hours at a time, with some improvisation and a simple four-count beat, along with a basic chorus to allow the performer to gather his thoughts (such as "one, two, three, y'all, to the beat, y'all").
Later, the MCs grew more varied in their vocal and rhythmic approach, incorporating brief rhymes, often with a sexual or scatological theme, in an effort at differentiating themselves and entertaining the audience. These early raps incorporated similar rhyming lyrics from African American culture, such as the dozens. While Kool Herc & the Herculoids were the first hiphoppers to gain major fame in New York, more emcee teams quickly sprouted up. Frequently, these were collaborations between former gang members, such as Afrikaa Bambaataa's Universal Zulu Nation (now a large, international organization). Melle Mel, a rapper/lyricist with The Furious Five is often credited with being the first rap lyricist to call himself an "MC."[2] During the early 1970s, breakdancing arose during block parties, as b-boys and b-girls got in front of the audience to dance in a distinctive, frenetic style. The style was documented for release to a world wide audience for the first time in Beat Street.
Although there were many early MCs that recorded solo projects of note, such as DJ Hollywood, Kurtis Blow, and Spoonie Gee, real notoriety didn't appear until later with the rise of soloists with big stage presence and drama, such as LL Cool J. Most early Hiphop was dominated by groups where collaboration among the members was integral to the show.(Toop:2000, 94)
Origin of term
Coinage of the term hiphop is often credited to Keith Cowboy, a rapper with Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. Though Lovebug Starski, Keith Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term when the music was still known as disco rap, 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 marching soldiers.[3] Cowboy later worked the "hiphop" cadence into a part of his stage performance, which was quickly copied by other artists; for example the opening of the song "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang.[3] Former Black Spades gang member Afrika Bambaataa is credited with first using the term to describe the subculture that hiphop music belongs to, although it is also suggested that the term was originally derisively used against the new type of music.[4]
Context
The reasons for the rise of hiphop are found in the changing urban culture within the United States during the 1970s. Perhaps most important was the low cost involved in getting started: the equipment was relatively inexpensive, and virtually anyone could MC along with the popular beats of the day. MCs could be creative, pairing nonsense rhymes and teasing friends and enemies alike in the style of Jamaican toasting at blues parties or playing the dozens in an exchange of wit. MCs would play at block parties, with no expectation of recording, in the way of folk music. The skills necessary to create hiphop music were passed informally from musician to musician, rather than being taught in expensive music lessons.
Another reason for hiphop's rise was the decline of disco, funk and rock in the mid- to late 70s. Disco arose among black and gay male clubs in America, and quickly spread to Europe, where it grew increasingly sunny, bright and pop. Once disco broke into the mainstream in the United States, and was thus appropriated, its original fans and many other listeners rejected it as pre-packaged and soul-less. While many remember the white teens shouting "disco sucks" at every available opportunity, often in racist and homophobic contexts, inner-city blacks were similarly rejecting disco and disco-fied rock, soul and funk (which was virtually everything on the radio at the time).
If disco had anything redeemable for urban audiences, however, it was the strong, eminently danceable beats, and hiphop rose to take advantage of the beats while providing a musical outlet for the masses that hated disco. Disco-inflected music (though comparatively little actual disco) was one of the most popular sources of beats in the first ten or twelve years of hiphop's existence. In Washington DC, go go also emerged as a reaction against disco, and eventually mixed with hiphop during the early 1980s, while electronic music did the same, developing as house music in Chicago and techno music in Detroit.
Along with the low expense and the demise of other forms of popular music, social and political events further accelerated the rise of Hiphop. In 1959, the Cross-Bronx Expressway was built through the heart of the Bronx, displacing many of the middle-class white communities and causing widespread unemployment among the remaining blacks as stores and factories fled the area. By the 1970s, poverty was rampant. When a 15,000+ apartment Co-op City was built at the northern edge of the Bronx in 1968, the last of the middle-class fled the area and the area's black and Latino gangs began to grow in power.
Stylistic diversification
In the mid-1970s, Hiphop split into two factions. One sampled disco and focused on getting the crowd dancing and excited, with simple or no rhymes; these DJs included Pete DJ Jones, Eddie Cheeba, DJ Hollywood and Love Bug Starski. On the other hand, another group were focusing on rapid-fire rhymes and a more complex rhythmic scheme. These included Afrika Bambaataa, Paul Winley, Grandmaster Flash and Bobby Robinson. During the transition into the early 1980s, many felt that Hiphop was a novelty fad that would soon die out. This was to become a constant accusation for at least the next fifteen years. Some of the earliest rappers were novelty acts, using the themes to Gilligan's Island and using sweet doo wop-influenced harmonies.
With the advent of recorded hiphop in the late 1970s, all the major elements and techniques of the genre were in place. Though not yet mainstream, it was well-known among African Americans, even outside of New York City; hiphop could be found in cities as diverse as Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Baltimore, Dallas, Kansas City, Miami, Seattle, St. Louis, New Orleans, and Houston.
Philadelphia was, for many years, the only city whose contributions to Hiphop were valued as greatly as New York City's by Hiphop purists and critics. Hiphop was popular there at least as far back as 1976 (first record: "Rhythm Talk", by Jocko Henderson in 1979), and the New York Times dubbed Philly the "Graffiti Capital of the World" in 1971, due to the influence of such legendary graffiti artists as Cornbread. The first female solo artist to record hiphop was Lady B. ("To the Beat Y'All", 1980), a Philly-area radio DJ. Later Schoolly D helped invent what became known as gangsta rap.
1980s
The 1980s saw intense diversification in hiphop, which developed into a more complex form. As technology evolved so did the practice of looping break into breakbeats; the emergence of samplers and sequencers allowed the beats to be manipulated with greater precision and granularity and recombined in more complex new ways than was possible with vinyl alone. In 1984, Marley Marl accidentally caught a drum machine snare hit in the sampler; this innovation was vital in the development of electro and other later types of hiphop. In 1989, DJ Mark James under the moniker "45 King", released "The 900 Number", a breakbeat track created by synchronizing samplers and vinyl. (Toop, 2000)
The content evolved as well. The simple tales of 1970s emcees were replaced by highly metaphoric lyrics rapping over complex, multi-layered beats. Some rappers even became mainstream pop performers, including Kurtis Blow, whose appearance in a Sprite commercial made him the first hiphop musician to be considered mainstream enough to represent a major product, but also the first to be accused by the hip-hop audience of selling out. Another popular performer among mainstream audiences was LL Cool J, who was a success from the release of his first LP, Radio.
Hiphop was almost entirely unknown outside of the United States prior to the 1980s. During that decade, it began its spread to every inhabited continent and became a part of the music scene in dozens of countries. In the early part of the decade, breakdancing became the first aspect of Hiphop culture to reach Germany, Japan and South Africa, where the crew Black Noise established the practice before beginning to rap later in the decade. Meanwhile, recorded hiphop was released in France (Dee Nasty's 1984 Paname City Rappin') and the Philippines (Dyords Javier's "Na Onseng Delight" and Vincent Dafalong's "Nunal"). In Puerto Rico, Vico C became the first Spanish language rapper, and his recorded work was the beginning of what became known as reggaeton.
Politicization
The first rap records (Fatback Band's King Tim III, Grandmaster Flash's Super Rappin and The Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight) were actually recorded by live musicians in the studio, with the rappers adding their vocals later. This changed with DJ records such as Grandmaster Flash's Adventures on the Wheels of Steel (known for pioneering use of scratching, which was invented by Grandwizard Theodore in 1977) as well as electronic recordings such as Planet Rock by Afrika Bambaataa and Run DMC's very basic, all electronic Sucker MC's and Peter Piper which contains genuine cutting by Run DMC member Jam Master Jay. These early innovators were based out of New York City, which remained the capital of Hiphop during the 1980s. This style became known as East Coast hiphop.
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five released a "message rap", called The Message, in 1982; this was one of the earliest examples of recorded hiphop with a socially aware tone.
In 1987, Public Enemy brought out their debut album (Yo! Bum Rush the Show) on Def Jam, and Boogie Down Productions followed up in 1988 with By All Means Necessary; both records pioneered wave of hard-edged politicized performers. The late 1980s saw a flourishing of like-minded rappers on both coasts, and Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back became surprisingly successful, despite its militant and confrontational tone, appearing on both the club and rap charts, and peaking at #17 and #11, respectively. Aside from the lyrical innovations, Public Enemy's Terminator X (along with Eric B., of Eric B. & Rakim) pioneered new techniques in sampling that resulted in dense, multi-layered sonic collages.
Popularization
The mid-1980s saw a flourishing of the first hiphop artists to achieve mainstream success, such as Kurtis Blow (Kurtis Blow), LL Cool J (Radio) and especially Run-D.M.C. (Raising Hell), as well as influences in mainstream music, such as Blondie's Debbie Harry rapping in the first non-black hit to feature rapping, "Rapture". LL Cool J's Radio spawned a number of singles that entered the dance charts, peaking with "I Can Give You More" (#21). 1986 saw two hiphop acts in the Billboard Top Ten; Run-D.M.C.'s "Walk This Way" collaboration with Aerosmith, and the Beastie Boys "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)". The pop success of both singles was unheard of for the time; "Walk This Way" has proved especially memorable for its early mixture of hiphop and rock (though it was not the first such mixture), and it peaked at an unheard of #4 on the pop charts. Also, the mid-1980s saw the rise of the first major black female group, Salt-N-Pepa, who hit the charts with singles like "The Show Stoppa" in 1985. Ice-T's seminal "6n' Da Mornin'" (1986) is one of the first nationally successful West Coast hiphop singles, and is often said to be the beginning of gangsta hiphop (along with Schoolly D, LL Cool J and N.W.A.).
Turntablism
While early hiphop arose through the decline of funk and disco while still employing their musicianship, there was rise of artists who employed the use of the turntable as an instrument in itself. Hip-hop Turntablist DJs use turntable techniques such as beat mixing/matching, scratching, and beat juggling to create a base that can be rapped over. Turntablism is generally focused more on turntable technique and less on mixing. Each scratch of the turntable is considered unique due to the complex waveforms produced, and employing digital sampling is considered an affront to a true Turntablist. (Toop:2000, 96)
Rise of gangsta rap
The first gangsta rap album to become a mainstream pop hit, selling more than 2.5 million copies, was N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton (1988). N.W.A.'s controversial subject matter, including drugs, violence and sex, helped popularize what became known as gangsta rap (said to have begun with Ice-T's "6N' Da Morning"). Specifically, the song "Fuck Tha Police" earned the foursome the enmity of law enforcement, resulting in a strongly-worded letter of discontent from the FBI. N.W.A.'s most lasting impact, however, was placing the West Coast on the hiphop map.
Diversification
Though women, whites and Latinos had long been a part of the Hiphop scene, it was not until the 1980s that groups other than young African American males began creating popular, innovative and distinctive styles of hiphop music.
The first rap recording by a solo female was Philadelphia-based Lady B.'s "To the Beat, Y'All" (1980), while The Sequence became the first female group to record. It was, not, however, until Salt-N-Pepa in the middle of the decade that female performers gained mainstream success.
The first groups to mix hiphop and heavy metal included 1984's "Rock Box" (Run-D.M.C.) and "Rock Hard" (Beastie Boys). Later in the decade, Ice-T and Anthrax were among the most innovative mixers of thrash metal and hiphop. These fusions helped move hiphop into new audiences, and introduced it to legions of new fans in the States and abroad.
Latin Hiphop
In Puerto Rico, Vico C became the first mainstream Spanish language rapper, and his recorded work was the beginning of what became known as reggaeton. Hiphop had always had a significant connection to the Latino community in New York City including the first Latin DJ DJ Disco Wiz, and hiphop soon spread amongst Latinos. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, most Latin rap came from the West Coast of the United States. In 1989, Cuban-American Mellow Man Ace became the first Latino artist to have a major bilingual single. Mellow Man, referred to as the "Godfather of Latin rap", brought mainstream attention to Spanglish rhyming with his 1989 platinum single "Mentirosa". In 1990, fellow West Coast artist Kid Frost further brought Latinos to the rap forefront with his single "La Raza." Cypress Hill, of which Mellow Man Ace was a member before going solo, would become the first Latino rap group to reach platinum status in 1991. Ecuadorian born rapper Gerardo received heavy rotation on video and radio for his single "Rico, Suave." As a result of the success of these artists, countries throughout Latin America such as Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Mexico created their own Hiphop scenes.
Electro
While Run DMC laid the groundwork for East Coast rap, "Planet Rock" (Afrika Bambaataa) was one of the first electro tracks. Based on a sample from German rock group Kraftwerk (Trans-Europe Express), "Planet Rock" inspired countless groups, based in New Jersey, New York City and Detroit, among other places, to make electronic dance music (called electro) that strongly influenced techno and house music, and especially the burgeoning electro music scene in northern England, the Midlands and London.
"Planet Rock" influenced hiphop outside of New York as well, such as Latin hiphop (also Latin freestyle or freestyle) such as Expose and The Cover Girls, as well as Los Angeles-based electro hop performers like the World Class Wreckin' Cru and Egyptian Lover.
Spread within US
By the end of the 1970s, Hiphop was known in most every major city in the country, and had developed into numerous regional styles and variations. Outside of New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia, where Hiphop had long been well-established, the 1980s saw intense regional diversification.
The first Chicago hiphop record was the "Groovy Ghost Show" by Casper, released in 1980 and a distinctively Chicago sound began by 1982, with Caution and Plee Fresh. Chicago also saw the development of house music (a form of electronic dance music) in the early 1980s and this soon mixed with hiphop and began featuring rappers; this is called hip house, and gained some national popularity in the late 1980s and early 90s, though similar fusions from South Africa, Belgium and elsewhere became just as well-known into the 90s.
Los Angeles hardcore rappers (Ice-T) and electro hop artists (Egyptian Lover) began recording by 1983, though the first recorded West Coast rap was Disco Daddy and Captain Rapp's "Gigolo Rapp" in 1981. In Miami, audiences listened to Miami bass, a form of sultry and sexually explicit dance music with a heavy bass sound, which arose from Los Angeles electro; it frequently included rapping. In Washington D.C. a hiphop-influenced form of dance music called go go emerged and incorporated rapping and DJing.
International spread
Beginning in the early 1980s, Hiphop culture began its spread across the world. By the end of the 1990s, popular hip hop was sold almost everywhere, and native performers were recording in most every country with a popular music industry. Elements of Hiphop became fused with numerous styles of music, including ragga, cumbia and samba, for example. The Senegalese mbalax rhythm became a component of hiphop, while the United Kingdom and Belgium produced a variety of electronic music fusions of hiphop, most famously including British trip hop.
Hiphop also spread to countries like Greece, Spain and Cuba in the 1980s, led in Cuba by the self-exiled African American activist Nehanda Abiodun and aided by Fidel Castro's government. In Japan, graffiti art and breakdancing had been popular since the early part of the decade, but many of those active in the scene felt that the Japanese language was unsuited for rapping; nevertheless, by the beginning of the 1990s, a wave of rappers emerged, including Ito Seiko, Chikado Haruo, Tinnie Punx and Takagi Kan. The New Zealand hiphop scene began in earnest in the late 1980s, when Maori performers like Upper Hutt Posse and Dalvanius Prime began recording, gaining notoriety for lyrics that espoused tino rangatiratanga (Maori sovereignty).
1990s
In the 1990s, gangsta rap became mainstream, beginning in about 1992, with the release of Dr. Dre's The Chronic. This album established a style called G Funk, which soon came to dominate West Coast hiphop. Later in the decade, record labels based out of Atlanta, St. Louis and New Orleans gained fame for their local scenes. By the end of the decade, especially with the success of Eminem, hiphop was an integral part of popular music, and nearly all American pop songs had a major hiphop component.
In the 90s and into the following decade, elements of hiphop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music; nu soul, for example, combined hiphop and soul music and produced some major stars in the middle of the decade, while in the Dominican Republic, a recording by Santi Y Sus Duendes and Lisa M became the first single of merenrap, a fusion of hiphop and merengue.
New York City experienced a heavy Jamaican hiphop influence during the 90s. This influence was brought on by cultural shifts particularly due to the heightened immigration of Jamaicans to New York City, and the American-born Jamaican youth who were coming of age during the 90s. Hiphop artists such as De La Soul and Black Star have both produced albums influenced by Jamaican roots.[1]
In Europe, Africa and Asia, hiphop began to move from an underground phenomenon to reach mainstream audiences. In South Africa, Germany, France, Italy and many other countries, hiphop stars rose to prominence and gradually began to incorporate influences from their own country, resulting in fusions like Tanzanian Bongo Flava.
West Coast
After N.W.A. broke up, Dr. Dre (a former member) released The Chronic (1992), which peaked at #1 on the R&B/hiphop chart and #3 on the pop chart and spawned a #2 pop single in "Nothin' But a 'G' Thang".. The Chronic took West Coast rap in a new direction, influenced strongly by P funk artists, melding the psychedelic funky beats with slowly drawled lyrics—this came to be known as G funk, and dominated mainstream hiphop for several years through a roster of artists on Death Row Records, including most popularly, Snoop Doggy Dogg, whose Doggystyle included "What's My Name" and "Gin and Juice", both Top Ten pop hits.
Though West Coast artists eclipsed New York, some East Coast rappers achieved success. New York became dominated in terms of sales by Puff Daddy (No Way Out), Mase (Harlem World) and other Bad Boy Records artists, in spite of often scathing criticism for a perceived over-reliance on sampling and a general watered-down sound, aimed directly for pop markets. Other New York based artists continued with a harder edged sound, achieving only limited popular success. Nas (Illmatic), Busta Rhymes (The Coming) and The Wu-Tang Clan (Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)), for example, received excellent reviews but generally mediocre or sporadic sales.
The sales rivalry between the East Coast and the West Coast eventually turned into a personal rivalry, aided in part by the music media. Many reporters were not aware that MC battles were an integral part of Hiphop since its inception, and that, generally, little was meant by open taunts on albums and in performances. Nevertheless, the East Coast-West Coast rivalry grew, eventually resulting in the still unsolved deaths of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G..
Diversification of styles
In the wake of declining sales following the deaths of both superstar artists, the sounds of Hiphop were greatly diversified. Most important was the rise of Southern rap, starting with OutKast (ATLiens) and Goodie Mob (Soul Food), based out of Atlanta. Later, Master P (Ghetto D) built up an impressive roster of popular artists (the No Limit posse) based out of New Orleans and incorporating G funk and Miami bass influences, and distinctive regional sounds from St. Louis, Chicago, Washington D.C., Detroit (ghettotech) and others began to gain some popularity. Also in the 1990s, rapcore (a fusion of hiphop and heavy metal) became popular among mainstream audiences. Rage Against the Machine, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit were among the most popular rapcore bands.
Though Caucasian rappers like the Beastie Boys (Paul's Boutique), Vanilla Ice (To the Extreme) and 3rd Bass (The Cactus Album) had had some popular success and/or critical acceptance from the hiphop community, Detroit-native Eminem's success, beginning in 1999 with the triple platinum The Slim Shady LP, came as a surprise to many. Like most successful hiphop artists of the time, Eminem came to be criticized for alleged glorification of violence, misogyny, and drug abuse, as well as homophobia and albums laced with constant profanity.
In South Africa, pioneering crew Black Noise began rapping in 1989, provoking a ban by the apartheid-era government, which lasted until 1993. Later, the country produced its own distinctive style in the house fusion kwela. Elsewhere in Africa, Senegalese mbalax fusions continued to grow in popularity, while Tanzanian Bongo Flava crews like X-Plastaz combined hiphop with taarab, filmi and other styles.
In Europe, hiphop was the domain of both ethnic nationals and immigrants. Germany, for example, produced the well-known Die Fantastischen Vier as well as several Turkish performers like the controversial Cartel. Similarly, France has produced a number of native-born stars, such as IAM and the Breton crew Manau, though the most famous French rapper is probably the Senegalese-born MC Solaar. The Netherlands' most famous rappers are The Osdorp Posse, an all-white crew from Amsterdam, and The Postmen, from Cape Verde and Suriname. Italy found its own rappers, including Jovanotti and Articolo 31, grow nationally renowned, while the Polish scene began in earnest early in the decade with the rise of PM Cool Lee. In Romania, B.U.G. Mafia came out of Bucharest's Pantelimon neighborhood, and their brand of gangsta rap underlines the parallels between life in Romania's Communist-era apartment blocks and in the housing projects of America's ghettos. Israel's hiphop grew greatly in popularity at the end of the decade, with several stars emerging from both sides of the Palestinian (Tamer Nafer) and Jewish (Subliminal) divide; though some, like Mook E., preached peace and tolerance, others expressed nationalist and violent sentiments.
In Asia, mainstream stars rose to prominence in the Philippines, led by Michael V., Rap Asia, MC Lara and Lady Diane, and in Japan, where underground rappers had previously found a limited audience, and popular teen idols brought a style called J-rap to the top of the charts in the middle of the 90s.
Latinos had played an integral role in the early development of Hiphop, and the style had spread to parts of Latin America, such as Cuba, early in its history. In Mexico, popular hiphop (rap) began with the success of Calo in the early 90s. Later in the decade, with Latin rap groups like Cypress Hill on the American charts, Mexican rap rock groups, such as Control Machete, rose to prominence in their native land. An annual Cuban hiphop concert held at Alamar in Havana helped to popularize Cuban hiphop, beginning in 1995. Hiphop grew steadily more popular in Cuba, due to official governmental support for musicians.
Alternative hiphop
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Though mainstream acceptance has been almost entirely limited to gangsta rap, isolated alternative rap artists, with a socially aware or positive or optimistic tone, have achieved some success. In 1988 and 1989, albums like De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising, Gang Starr's No More Mr. Nice Guy and the Jungle Brothers' Straight Out the Jungle are usually considered the first albums in this genre, with jazz-based samples and lyrics (see jazz rap) strongly influenced by the Afrocentric messages of Bambaataa's Zulu Nation collective.[original research?] Later alternative artists, many of whom were members of the Native Tongues Posse, including Tribe Called Quest (The Low End Theory), Mos Def (Black on Both Sides) and The Roots (Things Fall Apart), also achieved some mainstream success, though the influence of jazz grew less pronounced (with some exceptions, most notably Guru's Jazzmatazz project). Jazz rap went on to influence the development of trip hop in the United Kingdom, which fused hiphop, jazz and electronic music; it is said[attribution needed] to have been started by Massive Attack's Blue Lines (1991). Arrested Development also released their album 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... in 1992, which included the hit single, "Tennessee (song)." At the time, it was one of the best selling and most popular alternative rap albums. This was largely[attribution needed] thought to be the start of a new great era in alternative rap, but Dr. Dre's releasing of The Chronic later that year made gangsta rap the more viable commercial form of hip-hop.
2000s
In the year 2000, The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem sold over nine million copies in the United States, and Nelly's debut LP, Country Grammar, sold over six million copies. In the next several years, a wave of increasingly pop-oriented crossover acts such as Ja Rule dominated American popular music. It was not until the sudden breakthrough success of the hard-edged 50 Cent that hardcore hiphop returned to the pop charts. The United States also saw the rise of alternative hiphop in the form of moderately popular performers like The Roots, Dilated Peoples and Mos Def, who achieved unheard-of success for their field.
As the decade progressed, hip-hop has transformed from the more or less "old school" rhythmic rap to a more melodic hip-hop that has the elements of jazz, classical, pop, reggae, and many other genres. Hip-hop also gave birth to subgenres such as snap music and crunk. Hip-hop influences also found their way into mainstream pop during this period as well.
Some countries, like Tanzania, maintained popular acts of their own in the early 2000s, though many others produced few homegrown stars, instead following American trends. Scandinavian, especially Danish and Swedish, performers became well known outside of their country, while hiphop continued its spread into new lands, including Russia, Japan, Philippines, Canada and China.
References
- The Vibe History of HipHop. 1999. Vibe magazine. ISBN 0609805037
- Hip Hop America. Nelson, George. Penguin Book. 2000. ISBN 0140280227
- David Toop (1984/1991). Rap Attack II: African Rap To Global Hip Hop. New York. New York: Serpent's Tail. ISBN 1852422432.
- McLeod, Kembrew. Interview with Chuck D and Hank Shocklee. 2002. Stay Free Magazine.
- Yes Yes Y'All: Oral History of Hip Hop's First Decade. Fricke, Jim and Charlie Ahearn (eds). Experience Music Project. Perseus Books Group. ISBN 0306811847
- Corvino, Daniel and Shawn Livernoche. A Brief History of Rhyme and Bass: Growing Up With Hip Hop. Lightning Source Inc. ISBN 1401028519
- Chang, Jeff. "Can't Stop, Won't Stop".
- Rose, Tricia (1994). "Black Noise". Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0-8195-6275-0
- Light, Alan (ed). (1999). The VIBE History of Hip-Hop. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-80503-7
- George, Nelson (2000, rev. 2005). Hip-Hop America. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-028022-7
- Toop, David (1984, rev. 1991). Rap Attack II: African Rap To Global Hip Hop. New York. New York: Serpent's Tail. ISBN 1-85242-243-2 .
- Fricke, Jim and Ahearn, Charlie (eds). (2002). Yes Yes Y'All: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip Hop's First Decade. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81184-7
- Corvino, Daniel and Livernoche, Shawn (2000). A Brief History of Rhyme and Bass: Growing Up With Hip Hop. Tinicum, PA: Xlibris Corporation/The Lightning Source, Inc. ISBN 1-4010-2851-9
- Kitwana, Bakar (2004). The State of Hip-Hop Generation: how hip-hop's culture movement is evolving into political power. Retrieved December 4, 2006. From Ohio Link Database
- "In the Heart of Freedom, In Chains": 2007 City Journal article on Hip Hop and Black America
- Olivo, W. (March 2001). "Phat Lines: Spelling Conventions in Rap Music". Written Language & Literacy 4 (1): 67–85.
- McLeod, Kembrew. Interview with Chuck D and Hank Shocklee. 2002. Stay Free Magazine, issue 20. Retrieved from http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/20/public_enemy.html on July 9, 2006.
- Toop, David (2000). Modulations: A History of Electronic Music: Throbbing Words on Sound David Shapiro, ed. D.A.P./Caipirinha ISBN 978-1891024061 .
Notes
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