Hip hop music is a musical genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap which is accompanied with backing beats. Hip hop music is part of hip hop culture, which began in the Bronx, in New York City in the 1970s, predominantly among African Americans and Puerto Ricans. The term rap music is often used synonymously with hip hop music.

Rapping, also referred to as MCing or emceeing, is a vocal style in which the performer speaks rhythmically and in rhyme, generally to a beat. Beats are traditionally generated from portions of other songs by a DJ, or sampled from portions of other songs by a producer, though synthesizers, drum machines, and live bands are also used, especially in newer music. Rappers may perform poetry which they have written ahead of time, or improvise rhymes on the spot with or without a beat. Though rap is usually an integral component of hip hop music, DJs sometimes perform and record alone, and many instrumental acts are also defined as hip hop.

The roots of hip hop are found in African American and West African music. The griots of West Africa are a group of traveling singers and poets, whose vocal style is similar to that of rappers and who are part of an oral tradition dating back hundreds of years. The African-American traditions of signifyin', the dozens, talking blues and jazz poetry belong firmly within this tradition, as do musical 'comedy' acts such as Rudy Ray Moore and Blowfly, considered by some to be forefathers of rap. Within New York City, griot-like performances of poetry and music by artists such as The Last Poets, Gil Scott Heron and Jalal Mansur Nuriddin had a significant impact on the post-civil rights era culture of the 1960s and 1970s.

Hip hop 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 hip hop, the Jamaican-born DJ Kool Herc.

Dub music 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, soul, 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.

Turntablist techniques, such as beat mixing/matching, scratching (seemingly invented by Grand Wizard Theodore) and beat juggling eventually developed along with the breaks, creating a base that could be rapped over. (The same techniques contributed to the popularization of remixes). Such looping, sampling and remixing of another's music, sometimes without the original artist's knowledge or consent, can be seen as an evolution of Jamaican dub music,^[9][10] and would become a hallmark of the hip hop style.

Jamaican immigrants also provided another influence on the vocal style of rapping, as many Jamaican immigrants, for example Herc, started delivering simple raps at their parties, inspired by the Jamaican tradition of toasting.

DJs and "MCs" would often add call and response chants, often comprising of 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. Hip hop music was an outlet and a "voice" for disenfranchised youth^[12], as the culture reflected the social, economic and political realities of their lives. These early raps incorporated similar rhyming lyrics from African American culture, such as the dozens. While Kool Herc & the Herculoids were the first hip hoppers to gain major fame in New York, more MC 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."^[14] 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 documentaries and movies such as Style Wars, Wild Style, and 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 really big stage presence and drama, such as LL Cool J. Most early hip hop was dominated by groups where collaboration among the members was integral to the show.^[15]

Influence of disco

Hip-hop was both rooted in disco, and a backlash against it. According to Kurtis Blow, the early days of hip-hop were characterized by divisions between fans and detractors of disco music. In Washington, D.C., go-go also emerged as a reaction against disco, and eventually mixed with hip hop during the early 1980s, while African-American electronic music did the same, developing as house music in Chicago and techno music in Detroit.

Pete DJ Jones, Eddie Cheeba, DJ Hollywood and Love Bug Starski were disco-flavored early hip hop DJs. Other hip hop musicians focused on rapid-fire rhymes and more complex rhythmic schemes. Afrika Bambaataa, Paul Winley, Grandmaster Flash and Bobby Robinson were members of this latter group.

Transition to recording

The first hip hop recording is widely regarded as the New Jersey-based Sugar Hill Gang's Rapper's Delight in 1979 (though some point out that King Tim III (Personality Jock) by The Fatback Band was released a few weeks before^[17] - there are also other claimants for the title of first hip hop record). By the 1980s, all the major elements and techniques of the genre were in place. Though not yet mainstream, hip hop was by now well known among African Americans, even outside of New York City; it could be found in cities as diverse as Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Baltimore, Dallas, Kansas City, San Antonio, TX, Miami, Seattle, St. Louis, New Orleans, Houston, and Toronto.

Despite the genre's spreading popularity, Philadelphia was, for many years, the only city whose contributions to hip hop were valued as greatly as New York City's by fans and critics. Hip hop music was popular there at least as far back as the late 1970s (the first Philadelphia hip hop record was "Rhythm Talk", by Jocko Henderson in 1979), and the New York Times dubbed Philadelphia the "Graffiti Capital of the World" in 1971. A Philadelphia-area radio DJ, Lady B, was the first female solo hip hop artist to record music ("To the Beat Y'All", 1979). Later Schoolly D, another Philadelphia-based artist, helped invent what became known as gangsta rap.

1980's

The 1980s saw intense diversification of hip hop, and the genre developed into a more complex form. Some early examples of an experimental approach to the form are:

• "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" (1981) by Grandmaster Flash. Still arguably the definitive cut & paste hip hop track comprising of many familiar grooves and some lesser known sources (such as The Hellers for the spoken word 'story' section). Certainly worth mentioning here is the work of Double Dee and Steinski and especially "Lesson 3", a piece still paid homage to by DJ's such as Cut Chemist & DJ Shadow who recently performed it live.

• "Beat Bop" (1983) by Rammellzee & K-Rob, produced by the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. A 'slow jam' which reflects much of the dub influence upon hip-hop with its use of reverb and echo as texture and playful sound effects.

• "It's Yours" (1984) by T La Rock. A classic produced by Rick Rubin and edited meticulously through tape splicing by Kurtis Mantronik. The record is not only famed for its quick-fire editing but also for his 'scientific' approach to rhyme construction. It has been sampled by Nas (for "The World Is Yours"), Public Enemy (on "Louder Than A Bomb") and Edan (for "Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme").

The latter two of these tracks made heavy usage of the new generation of drum machines such as the Oberheim DMX and Roland 808 models. To this day the 808 kickdrum is routinely used by producers throughout hip hop. Over time sampling technology became more advanced but early producers such as Marley Marl were limited to constructing their beats from relatively small excerpts of beats in synchronisation with drum machines. Later samplers such as the E-mu SP-1200 (used by Paul C on his work for the Ultramagnetic MCs) allowed not only more memory but more flexibility for creative production, allowing filtering and layering of different hits and allowing these to be resequenced into a single piece (such as on the Ultramagnetic MCs' "Give The Drummer Some".)

With the emergence of a new generation of samplers such as the AKAI S900 in the late 80's producers were at last free of tape loops (Much of Public Enemy's first two albums were created with the help of large tape loops). The practice of looping break into breakbeats now became commonplace with the sampler now doing the job which so far had been done manually by the DJ; In 1989, DJ Mark James under the moniker "45 King", released "The 900 Number", a breakbeat track created by synchronizing samplers and vinyl.

The content evolved as well. The tales of 1970s MCs were replaced by highly metaphoric lyrics rapping over complex, multi-layered beats. The work of MC's such as Melle Mel, Rakim, Chuck D & KRS-One did much to help hip hop be taken seriously as a mature art form rather than as a novelty. "The Message" (1982) by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five is sometimes cited as the birth of 'serious' hip hop, though 'novelty rap' songs were a regular occurrence in the 1980's and later.

Some rappers even became mainstream pop performers, including Kurtis Blow, whose appearance in a Sprite commercial made him the first hip hop musician to be considered mainstream enough to represent a major product. Another popular performer among mainstream audiences was LL Cool J, who was a success from the release of his first LP, Radio.^[20]

During the early 1980s there was a rise in electro music within the hip hop movement as exemplified by artists such as Cybotron, Hashim, Planet Patrol and Newcleus. Most notable is Afrika Bambaataa and the influential 1982 single Planet Rock.

Nationalization and internationalization

Hip hop was almost entirely unknown outside of the United States prior to the early 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 hip hop 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 hip hop 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 rapper, and his recorded work was the beginning of what became known as reggaeton.

Japanese Hip Hop is said to have begun when Hiroshi Fujiwara returned to Japan and started playing Hip-Hop records in the early 1980s. Japanese hip hop generally tends to be most directly influenced by old school hip hop, taking from the era's catchy beats, dance culture, and overall fun and carefree nature and incorporating it into their music. As a result, hip hop stands as one of the most commercially viable mainstream music genres in Japan, and the line between it and pop music is frequently blurred.

Hip-hop has globalized into many cultures worldwide. We now find hip-hop in every corner of the globe, and like the South Bronx, each locale embodies a kind of globalism. Hip hop has emerged globally as an arts movement with the imperative to create something fresh by using technology, speech, and the body in new ways. The music and the art continue to embrace, even celebrate, its transnational dimensions while staying true to the local cultures to which it is rooted. Hip-hop's inspiration differs depending on each culture. Still, the one thing virtually all hip hop artists worldwide have in common is that they acknowledge their debt to those African American people in New York who launched the global movement. While hip-hop is sometimes taken for granted by Americans, it is not so elsewhere, especially in the developing world, where it has come to represent the empowerment of the disenfranchised and a slice of the American dream. American hip-hop music has reached the cultural corridors of the globe and has been absorbed and reinvented around the world.

New School hip hop

The new school hip hop was a second wave of hip hop music starting from 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J. Like the hip hop preceding it, it came predominately from New York City. The new school was initially characterized in form by drum machine led minimalism, often tinged with elements of rock. It was notable for taunts and boasts about rapping, and socio-political commentary, both delivered in an aggressive, self-assertive style. In image as in song its artists projected a tough, cool, street b-boy attitude. These elements contrasted sharply with the P-funk and disco influenced outfits, novelty hits, live bands, synthesizers and party rhymes of artists prevalent in 1984, and rendered them old school. New school artists made shorter songs that could more easily gain radio play, and more cohesive LPs than their old school counterparts. By 1986 their releases began to establish hip hop as a fixture of the mainstream. Rap and hip hop became commercially successful, as exemplified by The Beastie Boys' 1986 album Licensed to Ill, which was the first rap album to hit #1 on the Billboard charts.

Golden Age

Hip hop's "golden age" is a name given to a period in hip hop - usually from the late 1980s to early 90s - said to be characterized by its diversity, quality, innovation and influence. There were strong themes of Afrocentricity and political militancy, while the music was experimental and the sampling was eclectic. There was often a strong jazz influence. The artists most often associated with the phase include Public Enemy (whose 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is widely regarded as hip hop's greatest moment), KRS-One and his Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers.

Gangsta rap and West Coast hip hop

Gangsta rap is a genre of hip hop that reflects the violent lifestyles of some inner-city youths. It was pioneered by the mid 80s work of musicians such as Schooly D and Ice T. In 1988, N.W.A. released Straight Outta Compton, which formalised the style, as well as cementing Los Angeles as its main centre. Thus, N.W.A. helped to establish West Coast hip hop as a genre just as major and important as East Coast hip hop.

1990's

In 1992, Dr. Dre released The Chronic. As well as helping to establish West Coast gangsta rap as more commercially viable than East Coast hip hop, this album founded a style called G Funk, which soon came to dominate West Coast hip hop. The style was further developed and popularized by Snoop Dogg's 1993 album Doggystyle.

The Wu-Tang Clan shot to fame around the same time. Being from New York's Staten Island, the Wu-Tang Clan brought the East Coast back into the mainstream at a time when the West Coast mainly dominated rap. Other major artists in the so-called East Coast hip hop renaissance included The Notorious B.I.G. and Nas. (See the article on the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry.)

Tupac Shakur started his rapping career in 1991, and would become one of the biggest-selling rappers of the 90s with more than 75 million albums sold worldwide 50 million albums sold in the USA alone.^{[citation needed]}

Record labels based out of Atlanta, St. Louis, and New Orleans also gained fame for their local scenes. The midwest rap scene is also notable, with the fast vocal styles from artists such as Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Twista. By the end of the decade, hip hop was an integral part of popular music, and many American pop songs had hip hop components.

World

In the 1990s and the following decade, elements of hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music. Nu soul, for example, combined hip hop and soul music and produced some major stars. In the Dominican Republic, a recording by Santi Y Sus Duendes and Lisa M became the first single of merenrap, a fusion of hip hop and merengue.

New York City experienced a heavy Jamaican hip hop influence during the 90s. This influence was brought on by cultural shifts particularly because of the heightened immigration of Jamaicans to New York City and the American-born Jamaican youth who were coming of age during the 90s. Hip hop artists such as De La Soul and Black Star have produced albums influenced by Jamaican roots.

In Europe, Africa, and Asia, hip hop began to move from the underground to mainstream audiences. In Europe, hip hop was the domain of both ethnic nationals and immigrants. British hip hop, for example, became a genre of its own, and Germany produced the well-known Die Fantastischen Vier as well as several Turkish performers like the controversial Cartel, Kool Savaş, and Eko Fresh. Similarly, France has produced a number of native-born stars, such as IAM and Suprême NTM, but 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 hip hop 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. Mook E., preached peace and tolerance, others expressed nationalist and violent sentiments.

In Asia, mainstream stars rose to prominence in the Philippines, led by Francis Magalona, Rap Asia, MC Lara and Lady Diane. 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 hip hop, and the style had spread to parts of Latin America, such as Cuba, early in its history. In Mexico, popular hip hop 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 hip hop concert held at Alamar in Havana helped popularize Cuban hip hop, beginning in 1995. Hip hop grew steadily more popular in Cuba, because of official governmental support for musicians.

West Coast

After N.W.A broke up, Dr. Dre (a former member) released The Chronic in 1992, which peaked at #1 on the R&B/hip hop chart, #3 on the pop chart and spawned a #2 pop single with "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang." The Chronic took West Coast rap in a new direction, influenced strongly by P funk artists, melding sleazy funk beats with slowly drawled lyrics. This came to be known as G-funk and dominated mainstream hip hop for several years through a roster of artists on Death Row Records including Snoop Dogg, whose Doggystyle included the songs "What's My Name" and "Gin and Juice," both top ten hits.

Detached from this scene were more thoughtful artists such as The Pharcyde as well as more underground artists such as the Solesides collective (DJ Shadow and Blackalicious amongst others) Jurassic 5, People Under the Stairs, The Alkaholiks, and earlier Souls of Mischief represented a return to hip-hops roots of sampling and well planned rhymeschemes. Other rappers include Too Short and MC Hammer from Oakland.

East Coast

In the early 1990s east coast hip hop was dominated by the Native Tongues posse which was loosely composed of De La Soul with producer Prince Paul, A Tribe Called Quest, The Jungle Brothers, as well as their loose affiliates 3rd Bass, Main Source, and the less successful Black Sheep & KMD. Although originally a "daisy age" conception stressing the positive aspects of life, darker material (such as De La Soul's thought provoking "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa") soon crept in.

Artists such as Masta Ace (particularly for Slaughtahouse) & Brand Nubian, Public Enemy, Organized Konfusion followed a more overtly militant poise, both in sound and manner. Biz Markie, the 'clown prince of hip hop' was causing himself, and all other hip-hop producers a problem with his appropriation of the Gilbert O'Sullivan song 'Alone again, naturally'.

In the mid 1990s, artists such as the Wu-Tang Clan, Nas and The Notorious B.I.G. increased New York's visibility at a time when hip hop was mostly dominated by West Coast artists. The mid to late 1990s saw a generation of rappers such as Big L and Fat Joe who would prove very lucrative.

The productions of RZA, particularly for Wu-Tang Clan, became very influential, with artists such as Mobb Deep being highly influenced by their combination of somewhat detached instrumental loops, highly compressed and processed drums and gangsta lyrical content. Wu-Tang affiliate albums such as Raekwon the Chef's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and GZA's Liquid Swords are now viewed as classics along with Wu-Tang 'core' material.

Producers such as DJ Premier (primarily for Gangstarr but also for other affiliated artists such as Jeru the Damaja), Pete Rock (With CL Smooth and supplying beats for many others), Buckwild, Large Professor, Diamond D and The 45 King supplying beats for numerous MC's regardless of location.

Albums such as Nas's Illmatic, Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt and OC's Word...Life are made up of beats from this pool of producers.

Later in the decade the business acumen of the Bad Boy records tested itself against Jay-Z and his Roc-A-Fella Records and on the west coast Death Row Records.

The rivalry between the East Coast and the West Coast rappers eventually turned into a personal rivalry, aided in part by the music media.

Although the 'big business' end of the market domininated matters commercially the late 90s to early 2000 era saw a number of relatively successful east coast indie labels such as Rawkus Records (with whom Mos Def gained great success) and later, Def Jux, the history of the two labels is intertwined, the latter having been started by EL-P of Company Flow in reaction to the former, it offered an outlet for more underground artists such as Mike Ladd, Aesop Rock, Mr Lif, RJD2,Cage and Cannibal Ox. Other acts such as the Hispanic Arsonists and slam poet turned MC Saul Williams met with differing degrees of success.

Diversification of styles

In the late 90s, the styles of hip hop diversified. The South got on the hip hop map with the rise of Southern rap^[29], starting with Arrested Development's 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... in 1992, Goodie Mob's Soul Food in 1995 and OutKast's ATLiens in 1996. Both groups were based out of Atlanta. Later, Master P (Ghetto D) built up a roster of artists (the No Limit posse) based out of New Orleans. Master P incorporated G funk and Miami bass influences, and distinctive regional sounds from St. Louis, Chicago, Washington D.C., Detroit and others began to gain popularity. Also in the 1990s, rapcore, a fusion of hip hop and hardcore punk, became popular among mainstream audiences. Rage Against the Machine, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit were among the most well known rapcore bands.

Though white rappers like the Beastie Boys, Vanilla Ice, and 3rd Bass had had some popular success or critical acceptance from the hip hop community, Eminem's success, beginning in 1999 with the platinum The Slim Shady LP surprised many. However, Eminem was criticized for glorification of violence, misogyny and drug abuse as well as homophobia and albums laced with constant profanity.

2000's

Hip hop in the 2000s gave birth to subgenres such as snap music and crunk. Hip hop influences also found their way increasingly into mainstream pop during this period.

World and national music

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 hip hop continued its spread into new regions, including Russia, Japan, Philippines, Canada, China, Korea and India.

In Germany and France, gangsta rap has become popular among youths who like the violent and aggressive lyrics. Some German rappers openly or comically flirt with Nazism, Bushido (born Anis Mohamed Youssef Ferchichi) raps "Salutiert, steht stramm, Ich bin der Leader wie A" (Salute, stand to attention, I am the leader like 'A') and Fler had a hit with the record Neue Deutsche Welle (New German Wave) complete with the title written in Third Reich style Gothic print and advertised with an Adolf Hitler quote. These references also spawned great controversy in Germany.

The album "Babel (33 guests in 33 languages)" is one of the most comprehensive products in world hip-hop in the recent years. Over 30 rappers appear on the material using his own mother tongue.

Decline in sales

Starting in 2005, sales of hip-hop music in the United States began to severely wane, leading Time magazine to question if mainstream hip-hop was "dying." Billboard Magazine found that, since 2000, rap sales dropped 44%,and declined to 10% of all music sales, which, while still a commanding figure when compared to other genres, is a significant drop from the 13% of all music sales where rap music regularly placed. NPR culture critic Elizabeth Blair noted that, "some industry experts say young people are fed up with the violence, degrading imagery and lyrics. Others say the music is just as popular as it ever was, but that fans have found other means to consume the music." It can also be argued that many young people now download music illegally, especially through P2P networks, instead of purchasing albums and singles from legitimate stores. Some put the blame on the lack of lyrical content that hip hop once had, for example Soulja Boy Tell 'Em's 2007 debut album souljaboytellem.com was met with negative reviews. Lack of sampling, a key element of hip hop, has also been noted for the decrease in quality of modern albums. For example, there are only four samples used in 2008's Paper Trail by T.I., while there are 35 samples in 1998's Moment of Truth by Gang Starr. The decrease in sampling is in part due to it being too expensive for producers. In Byron Hurt's documentary Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, he claims that hip hop had changed from "clever rhymes and dance beats" to "advocating personal, social and criminal corruption."