Electro (music)

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Electro
Stylistic origins:	Synthpop, Disco, Funk and Old school hip hop
Cultural origins:	early 1980s Detroit, Bronx, New York City, Los Angeles,
Typical instruments:	Synthesizer, Drum machine, Vocoder, Sampler
Mainstream popularity:	Mid- to late 1980s with a revival in the late 1990s. <tr><th align="left" valign="top">Derivative forms:</th><td valign="top">Electroclash</td></tr><tr><th align="center" bgcolor="darkblue" colspan=2 valign="top">Subgenres</th></tr><tr><td align=center colspan="2" valign="top">Electro Funk - Electro Bass - Freestyle music - Miami bass - Glitch Electro - Techno Bass - - Downtempo Electro - Minimal Electro</td></tr><tr><th align="center" bgcolor="darkblue" colspan=2 valign="top">Fusion genres</th></tr><tr><td align=center colspan="2" valign="top">Ghettotech</td></tr>

Electro, short for electro funk (also known as robot hip hop and Electro hop) is an electronic style of hip hop directly influenced by Kraftwerk and funk records (unlike earlier rap records which were closer to disco). Records in the genre typically have electronic sounds and some vocals are delivered in a deadpan, mechanical manner often through a vocoder or other electronic distortion.

1 Definition & Characteristics
2 History
3 Subgenres
4 Contemporary electro
5 Artists
6 See also
7 Video clips
8 External links

[edit] Definition & Characteristics

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Electro is an artistic musical form in the wide world of electronic music culture. With few exceptions, the definition of the electro sound is the use of drum machines as the base of a track for broken, syncopated rhythms. Adopted by many electro enthusiasts, the Roland TR-808 is a legendary drum machine created in 1980/81 with a recognizable sound; it is still used and cherished today. The instrumentation is generally all-electronic highly emphased by sound design experimentations with funk-style simulated bass lines, sequenced or arpeggiated synthetic riffs and unheard sound effects, all created with synthesizers. Heavy use of effects such as reverbs, delays, chorus or phasers together with original electronic pads create a rich and simultaneously cold sound that emphasizes the common science fiction theme of the lyrics or instrumental expressions. Not all electro features rapping; vocals processed through a vocoder is a common element and try to imitate cybernetic/robotic locutions or simple speech machine formulations. Also, instrumental tracks are more prominent than in related genres of electronic music and hip hop music.

Concept albums are common in electro with Kraftwerk pioneering entire albums in technological or futuristic themes such as robots, computers or nuclear sciences. Other examples even include Star Trek tributes, references and topics about cybernetics, physics or interstellar travel inside electro projects such as I Borg, the Borganizm EP from Cybernet Systems, Il.Ek.Tro's track V-ger or Pascal F.E.O.S.'s GPL (Electro cut remix)(Gold Pressed Latinum). Many artists are entirely devoted to various sci-fi subjects of this kind.

[edit] History

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Bronx, NY based electro funk artist Afrika Bambaataa's Planet Rock (1982) is one of the first electro records, using elements of Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express and "Numbers" (from the Computer World album). Bambaataa and artists like Juan Atkins' Detroit-based group, Cybotron, as well as New York groups, Planet Patrol, Jonzun Crew, Mantronix, and Newcleus went on to influence the genres of detroit techno, ghettotech, breakbeat, drum and bass and electroclash.

In 1983, along came upper Manhattan, NY based Cutting Records' initial recording artist Hashim. Hashim was the work of Jerry Calliste Jr. who is now known as Hashim Music on the new i-label Bassmint Music Inc.. Born in Bronx, NY but raised most of his life in upper Manhattan at 17 years of age, Jerry Calliste Jr. or Hashim Music created the now lengendary and arguably the most influential electro funk tunes of all time titled "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)". At the time Hashim Music was influenced by Man Parrish's "Hip Hop Be Bop", Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science" and Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock". "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)" managed to crossover into the mainstream music markets around the world and is now one of the world's most sought after electro tunes in electro music's history.

[edit] Subgenres

Los Angeles artists Egyptian Lover and Arabian Prince gave birth to electro hop, a less funky, more bass-heavy West Coast sound, similar to 2 Live Crew and the Miami Bass scene. Other artists in this style include Chris "The Glove" Taylor and World Class Wreckin' Cru.

Detroit also has a unique style sometimes called Techno Bass which is a fusion of Detroit Techno with Miami Bass. On the East Coast and especially in Miami, electro spawned freestyle, a soulful, Latin-centric variant.

[edit] Contemporary electro

Although the early 1980s were electro's heyday in the mainstream it enjoyed a popularity increase in the late 1990s with artists such as Anthony Rother, DMX Krew, Mr Velcro Fastener and Japanese Telecom. Some current artists making music in this style have embraced the pseudonyms of Detroit techno pioneers. The renewed interest in electro, though influenced to a great degree by Detroit and New York music, is primarily taking hold elsewhere with electro club nights becoming commonplace again.