Hip hop music
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| Hip hop music (Rap) | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins: | Jamaican Dancehall toasting alongside the rhythms of R&B, disco and funk |
| Cultural origins: | late 1960s/early 1970s: Kingston, Jamaica - early 1970s South Bronx, New York City |
| Typical instruments: | Turntable, rapping, drum machine, Sampler, synthesizer, human beatboxing |
| Mainstream popularity: | Since late 1980s in the United States, worldwide beginning in early 1990s, among best-selling genres of music by early 2000s.
<tr><th align="left" valign="top">Derivative forms:</th><td valign="top">Trip hop, Grime</td></tr><tr><th align="center" bgcolor="darkblue" colspan=2 valign="top">Subgenres</th></tr><tr><td align=center colspan="2" valign="top">Abstract - Alternative - Chopped and screwed - Christian - Conscious - Crunk - Gangsta - G-funk - Hardcore - Horrorcore - Hyphy - Instrumental - Jazz rap - Latin rap - Mobb - Nerdcore - Old school - Pop rap - Snap</td></tr><tr><th align="center" bgcolor="darkblue" colspan=2 valign="top">Fusion genres</th></tr><tr><td align=center colspan="2" valign="top">Country rap - Electro hop - Freestyle - Hip house - Hip life - Ghettotech - Hip hop soul - Miami bass - Neo soul - New jack swing - Ragga - Rapcore - Reggaeton - Urban Pasifika</td></tr><tr><th align="center" bgcolor="darkblue" colspan=2 valign="top">Regional scenes</th></tr><tr><td align=center colspan="2" valign="top">African - American: (East - West - South - Midwest) - French - Japanese - Salvadoran - Others...</td></tr><tr><th align="center" bgcolor="darkblue" colspan=2 valign="top">Other topics</th></tr><tr><td align=center colspan="2" valign="top">Beatboxing - Breakdancing - Collaborations - DJing (Turntablism) - Hip hop culture - Fashion - Feuds - Graffiti - History - List of rappers - Rapping - Roots - Slang - Timeline</td></tr> |
Hip hop music is a style of music which came into existence in the United States during the mid-1970s, and became a large part of modern pop culture during the 1980s. It consists of two main components: rapping (MCing) and DJing (audio mixing and scratching). Along with hip hop dance (notably breakdancing) and urban inspired art, or notably graffiti, these compose the four elements of hip hop, a cultural movement that was initiated by inner-city youth, mostly African Americans<ref>Bambaataa, Afrika. Bambaataa's Statement. Retrieved on 2006-06-10.</ref> in New York City, in the early 1970s.
Typically, hip hop music consists of intensely rhythmic lyrical form making abundant use of techniques like assonance, alliteration, and rhyme. The rapper is accompanied by an instrumental track, usually referred to as a "beat", performed by a DJ, created by a producer, or one or more instrumentalists. This beat is often created using a sample of the percussion break of another song, usually a funk or soul recording. In addition to the beat other sounds are often sampled, synthesized, or performed. Sometimes a track can be instrumental, as a showcase of the skills of the DJ or producer.
Hip hop began in The Bronx, located in New York City, when DJs began isolating the percussion break from funk and disco songs. The early role of the MC was to introduce the DJ and the music and to keep the audience excited. MCs began by speaking between songs, giving exhortations to dance, greetings to audience members, jokes and anecdotes. Eventually this practice became more stylized and became known as rapping. By 1979 hip hop had become a commercially popular music genre and began to enter the American mainstream. In the 1990s, a form of hip hop called gangsta rap became a major part of American music, causing significant controversy over lyrics which were perceived as promoting violence, terrorism <ref>http://www.daveyd.com/newfeb14banrap.html</ref>, promiscuity, drug use and misogyny. Nevertheless, by the beginning of the 2000s, hip hop was a staple of popular music charts and was being performed in many styles across the world.
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[edit] Characteristics
Hip hop is a cultural movement, of which music is a part. The music is itself composed of two parts: rapping, the delivery of swift, highly rhythmic and lyrical vocals, and DJing, to compose either through sampling, turntablism, instrumentation or beatboxing. Another important factor of hip hop music is the fashion that originated along with the music. These days the underground hip hop community is a growing force online, led by social network video sites like RapSpace.TV Modern Rap often contains lyrics which make it popular with the youth, primarily because of the choice of vocabulary and the issues it addresses, often relating to modern day problems and suffering which the listeners can relate to.
[edit] Rhythmic structure
Beats (though not necessarily raps) in hip hop are almost always in 4/4 time. At its rhythmic core, hip hop swings: instead of a straight 4/4 count (pop music) hip hop is based on an anticipated feel somewhat similar to the "swing" emphasis found in jazz percussion. Like the triplet emphasis in swing, hip hop's rhythm is subtle, rarely written as it sounds (4/4 basic; the drummer adds the hip hop interpretation) and is often played in an almost "late" or laid back way.
This style was innovated predominantly in soul, disco and funk music, where beats and thematic music were repeated for the duration of tracks. In the 1960s and 1970s, James Brown talked, sang, and screamed much as MCs do today. This musical style provides the perfect platform for MCs to rhyme. Hip hop music generally caters to the MC for this reason, amplifying the importance of lyrical and delivering prowess.
Instrumental hip hop is perhaps the lone exception to this rule. In this hip hop sub genre, DJs and producers are free to experiment with creating instrumental tracks. While they may mix in sampled rap vocals, they are not bound by traditional hip hop format.
[edit] Instrumentation & production
The instrumentation of hip hop derives from disco, funk, and R&B, both in the sound systems and records sampled and session musicians and their instrumentation used. Disco and club DJs' use of mixing originated from the need to have continuous music and thus smooth transitions between tracks. Hip hop Kool DJ Herc, in contrast, originated the practice of isolating and extending only the break—a short percussion solo interlude—by mixing between two copies of the same record. This was, according to Afrika Bambaataa, the "certain part of the record that everybody waits for—they just let their inner self go and get wild." (Toop, 1991) James Brown, Bob James, and Parliament—among many others—have long been popular sources for breaks. Over this one could and did add instrumental parts from other records, frequently as horn punches (ibid). Thus the instrumentation of early sampled or sound system-based hip hop is the same as funk, disco, or soul: vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums and percussion.
Although original hip hop music consisted solely of the DJ's breakbeats and other vinyl record pieces, the advent of the drum machine allowed hip hop musicians to develop partially original scores. Drum set sounds could be played either over the music from vinyl records or by themselves. The importance of quality drum sequences became the most important focus of hip hop musicians because these rhythms (beats) were the most danceable part. Consequently, drum machines were equipped to produce strong kick sounds. This helped emulate the drum solos on old funk, soul and R&B albums from the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s. Drum machines had a limited array of predetermined sounds, including hi-hats, snares, toms, and kick drums.
The introduction of the sampler changed the way hip hop was produced. A sampler can reproduce small sound clips from any input device, such as a turntable. Producers were able to sample familiar drum patterns. More importantly, they could sample a variety of instruments to play along with their drums. Hip hop had finally gathered its complete band.
Many producers and listeners pride certain records for being hip hop lore and thus a good source of samples and breaks. To this day, producers use arcane equipment to replicate the same rough sound used in older records. This lends credibility to the records and serves as a historical reminder to the listeners of hip hop's origins.
[edit] History
The main historical eras of hip hop are the old school hip hop era (1970 to 1985), which spanned from the beginning of hip hop until its emergence into the mainstream, and the golden age hip hop era (1985 to 1993), which consolidated the sounds of the East Coast and the West Coast and transitioned into the modern era with the rise of gangsta rap and G-funk, created by the West Coast. The years after 1993 contain the hardcore hip hop, bling, and underground genres, which largely define the modern era.
Hip hop arose during the 1970s at block parties in New York City, at which the DJs began isolating the percussion breaks to hit funk, soul, R&B and disco songs. The roots of this type of songs stem back to the mid-1950s when soul/funk rock artist James Brown credit Little Richard's band as having been the first to put the funk in the rock beat. These songs were based on – "breakbeat" DJing. As hip hop became popular, performers began speaking while the music played, and became known as MCs or emcees. In 1979, the first commercially issued hip hop recordings were released: "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang which became a Top 40 hit on the U.S. Billboard pop singles chart. 'Rapper' in reference to music was actually coined by this song. Some historians cite King Tim III (Personality Jock) by the Fatback Band to be the first commercially released hip hop recording but they were a funk and disco group.
During the 1980s, hip hop began to diversify and develop into a more complex form. At the same time, more sophisticated techniques were developed, including scratching, and electronic recording. In the late 1980s, a number of new hip hop styles and subgenres began appearing as the genre gained popularity. Hip hop musicians collaborated with rock bands and spread out into the genres of conscious hip hop, jazz-rap and gangsta rap.
In the 1990s, a prolonged confrontation between West Coast gangsta rappers and the resurging East Coast began. It centered around Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. and led to both of their deaths, in 1996 and 1997 respectively. In 1996, Cleveland-based rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony tied The Beatles' 32-year-old record for fastest-rising single with "Tha Crossroads," and in 2000, Scottish-American White rapper Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP sold over nine million copies and won a Grammy Award.
[edit] Social impact
Hip hop music is a part of hip hop, a cultural movement that includes the activities of breakdancing and graffiti art, as well as associated slang, fashion and other elements. The popularity of music has helped to popularize hip hop culture, both in the United States and to a lesser degree abroad.
The late 1990s saw the rise in popularity of the "bling bling" lifestyle in rap music, focusing on symbols of wealth and status like money, jewelry, cars, and clothing. Although references to wealth have existed since the birth of hip hop, the new, intensified "bling bling" culture has its immediate roots in the enormously commercially successful late-to-mid nineties work (specifically, music videos) of Puff Daddy and Bad Boy Records as well as Master P's No Limit Records. However, the term was coined in 1999 (see 1999 in music) by Cash Money Records artist Lil' Wayne on B.G.'s hit single Bling Bling, and the Cash Money roster were perhaps the epitome of the "bling bling" lifestyle and attitude. Though many rappers, mostly gangsta rappers, unapologetically pursue and celebrate bling bling, others, mostly artists outside of the hip hop mainstream, have expressly criticized the idealized pursuit of bling bling as being materialistic.
The widespread success of hip hop ― specifically gangsta rap ― has also had a significant social impact on the demeanor of modern youth. The sometimes egotistic attitudes often portrayed in the lyrics and videos of certain hip hop artists have repeatedly shown negative effects on some of their idolizing fans. While the attitudes of specific artists certainly do not represent the rest of the hip hop community, and the effect of lyrical content on youths who are part of the hip hop culture is debatable, very often such youths adopt the much glamorized "gangsta" persona while not being members of any gang. Often these personas incite anti-social behavior such as peer harassment, neglect towards education, rejection of authority, and petty crimes such as vandalism. While the majority of listeners are able to distinguish entertainment from lessons in social conduct, an evident pseudo-gangsta sub-culture has risen amongst North American youth.
Because hip hop music almost always puts an emphasis on hyper-masculinity, its lyrics have been said to reflect a homophobic mindset. It is often suspected that there are a great number of gay or lesbian hip hop musicians who do not come out of the closet, for fear of the decline of their career. Rumors of such have involved hip hop artists such as Queen Latifah, Da Brat, and several others. In 2001, the first annual PeaceOUT World Homo Hop Festival, which features performers by openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered rappers was held in Oakland, California, and the festival has continued on an annual basis since then. In 2003 the openly gay hip hop and rap artist Caushun, was signed to the label Baby Phat; however, his record was apparently never released. In 2005, the documentary Pick Up the Mic was released, focusing on LGBT hip hop performers, such as Deep Dickollective.
Hip hop has a distinctive slang, that includes words like yo, flow and phat. Due to hip hop's extraordinary commercial success in the late nineties and early 21st century, many of these words have been assimilated into many different dialects across America and the world and even to non-hip hop fans (the word dis for example is remarkably prolific). There are also words like homie which predate hip hop but are often associated with it. Sometimes, terms like what the dilly, yo are popularized by a single song (in this case, "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" by Busta Rhymes) and are only used briefly. Of special importance is the rule-based slang of Snoop Dogg and E-40, who add -izz to the middle of words so that shit becomes shizznit (the addition of the n occurs occasionally as well). This practice, with origins in Frankie Smith's non-sensical language from his 1980 single "Double Dutch Bus," has spread to even non-hip hop fans, who may be unaware of its derivation.
[edit] Censorship issues
Hip hop has probably encountered more problems with censorship than any other form of popular music in recent years, due to the use of expletives. It also receives flak for being anti-establishment, and many of its songs depict wars and coup d' etats that in the end overthrows the government. For example, Public Enemy's "Gotta Give the Peeps What They Need" song was edited without their permission, removing the words "free Mumia".<ref>Serpick, Evan (July 9, 2006). "MTV: Play It Again". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved from http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,386104_3%7C16756%7C%7C0_0_,00.html on July 9, 2006.</ref> The pervasive use of profanity in many songs has created challenges in the broadcast of such material both on television stations such as MTV, in music video form, and on radio. As a result, many hip hop recordings are broadcast in censored form, with offending language blanked out of the soundtrack (though usually leaving the backing music intact), or even replaced with completely different lyrics. The result – which quite often renders the remaining lyrics unintelligible or contradictory to the original recording – has become almost as widely identified with the genre as any other aspect of the music, and has been parodied in films such as Austin Powers in Goldmember, in which a character – performing in a parody of a hip hop music video – performs an entire verse that is blanked out.
In 1995 Roger Ebert wrote:<ref>Ebert, Roger (Aug. 11, 1995). Review for Dangerous Minds. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved from http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19950811/REVIEWS/508110301/1023 on July 9, 2006.</ref>
"Rap has a bad reputation in white circles, where many people believe it consists of obscene and violent anti-white and anti-female guttural. Some of it does. Most does not. Most white listeners don't care; they hear black voices in a litany of discontent, and tune out. Yet rap plays the same role today as Bob Dylan did in 1960, giving voice to the hopes and angers of a generation, and a lot of rap is powerful writing."
[edit] World hip hop
Although hip hop music originated in the United States, it has spread throughout the world. Hip hop was almost entirely unknown outside of the United States prior to the 1980s. During that decade, it began its spread to every continent and became a part of the music scene in dozens of countries. The spread of the music was intertwined with that of hip hop culture - as elements such as breakdancing gained popularity, so did rappers and hip hop groups. Today Eminem & 2 Pac are among the best selling artists and also best selling ever with close to 80 million albums sold each.
[edit] Asia
In Asia, the Philippines is said to have developed the first hip hop scene in all of Asia and the Pacific islands.[citation needed] The birth of Filipino hip hop music, or Pinoy Rap, occurred in the early 1980s with songs by Dyords Javier ("Na Onseng Delight") and Vincent Dafalong ("Nunal"). The genre developed slowly during the 1980s but soon hit the mainstream with Francis Magalona's debut album, Yo! which included the nationalistic hit "Mga Kababayan" (My countrymen). Magalona, who rapped in both English and Tagalog became a pioneer in the genre and a superstar as a result. 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 1990s.
In Seoul, the Korean hip hop scene has expanded into a form of cultural phenomenon. Some fans assert that Korean hip hop artists possess skills that can rival their U.S. counterparts. Notable performers include Jo PD, Drunken Tiger, Psy, and Epik High. Some suggest that Korean hip hop music firmly stands as the respectable and socially-conscious antithesis to an often superficial and confused pop genre that pervades the Korean music industry.
Hip hop music started gaining popularity in South Korea in the mid-1990s. Famous mainstream Korean hip hop performers often resemble R&B or pop music with artists mimicking the vocal (and dance) styles of rap acts from the United States. Early performers—who rarely penned their own songs—included Kim Gun Mo, Seo Taiji and Boys, Deux, and DJ DOC. The Korean language was initially used almost exclusively, unlike modern Korean hip hop songs that heavily incorporates -grossly broken- English. Seo Taiji, coming from a questionable heavy metal music background, often featured heavy metal guitars in his mixes, and other artists also incorporated techno influences.
A few artists, including Seo Taiji and MC Sniper, also incorporated influences from traditional Korean music such as pansori or nongak (farmers' music). It was evident that the first acts were mimicking popular American acts. For instance, Seo Taiji's "Come Back Home" has vocal/production style resembling Cypress Hill. The first "rap" album that featured rap in every track was Kim Jin Pyo's first album in 1997. According to Epik High's rapper Tablo, "The form [of Korean Hip Hop], at least, has definitely been mastered now — the beats, the rhymes, the performances, the look — it’s indistinguishable from the United States scene. The social relevance, however, has a long way to go. The message is slowly catching up to the medium."
Many rap artists have been successful in the mainstream of Korean music. These include performers such as Jinusean, 1TYM, MC Sniper, Jo PD, and Epik High. Other lesser known underground artists who focus mainly on using non-flashy beats and lyrical skill include Quiett, PaloAlto, TBNY, etc.
Korean American hip hop began in the United States in the mid 1990s, mainly attributed to the efforts of the Korean rapper duo Tiger JK and DJ Shine of Drunken Tiger. Drunken Tiger was created after the song "Black Korea" by Ice Cube and used music as a means of cultural exchange and as an attempt to promote racial harmony. Following the success of Drunken Tiger, many new groups and production companies emerged to further popularize the musical style. In order to represent the elite group of Korea's best rappers, Tiger JK and Drunken Tiger formed The Movement Crew (Bobby Kim, Drunken Tiger, Eun Ji-Won and Tasha Reid).
Japanese hip hop (nip hop or j-hip hop) is said to have begun in 1983 when Charlie Ahearn's Wild Style was shown in Tokyo. The movie focused on graffiti artists but also featured some early old school MCs like Busy Bee and Double Trouble, DJs like Grandmaster Flash and breakdancers like the Rock Steady Crew.
Following the showing, street musicians began to breakdance in Yoyogi Park. Crazy A soon emerged as a prominent b-boy, and he eventually founded the Rock Steady Crew Japan, while DJ Krush has become a world-renowned DJ after arising from the Yoyogi Park scene. More DJs followed, beginning in 1985. A year later, an all hip hop club opened in Shibuya. There was some hesitation at the time that the Japanese language, due to the lack of stress accents and highly variable verb endings, might prove unsuited for rapping. A few rappers emerged, however, including Ito Seiko, Chikado Haruo, Tinnie Punx and Takagi Kan.
In the 1990s, teen-oriented J rap music appeared, and hip hop entered the Japanese mainstream. The first hit was Scha Dara Parr's "Kon'ya wa Boogie Back". The following year saw "Da.Yo.Ne." and "Maicca" by East End X Yuri go platinum. Lately hip-hop in Japan has split into two forms: normal, "hardcore" Japanese hip-hop, and the somewhat "weaker", more R&B influenced J-Urban. The group most commonly cited as the originator of J-Urban music is the group m-flo (AKA "mediarite flo). Originally composed of a single Japanese DJ (DJ Taku) and a single Korean-Japanese emcee (Verbal), they combined with a singer named LISA who is of Peruvian-Japanese descent. Their debut album, Planet Shining was released in 2000, and since then, many J-Urban acts such as Crystal Kay, AI, Heartsdales, and even collaborations with popstars like Namie Amuro and BoA. Other popular J-Urban acts like RIP SLYME have worked with m-flo.
Starting in the late 1990s, hip hop began gaining greater popularity in Greater China, beginning in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and eventually spreading to the Mainland. Taiwanese rapper MC Hot Dog gained stature with his creative beats, off-kilter flow, and vulgar depication of life for disaffected middle class youth in the island nation. The hip hop collective Lazy Motherfucker, representing Hong Kong, have often been described as the Chinese Wu-Tang Clan given the large size of the group and their ill flow. However, frequent aesthetic misappropriations and shiny pop stylings have often left undeground heads wanting.
It was hard for Asian hip-hop artists to break into the mainstream in the United States, but in 2002 Chinese-American rapper Jin Au-Yeung (better known as just Jin or Jin Tha Emcee), created a buzz. He won Freestyle Friday seven consecutive weeks on BET's 106 & Park, a show dedicated to hip-hop, and was retired. Jin announced he had signed with the label Ruff Ryders after he won the battle on his final week. This was a breakthrough for Asian-American artists, as he garnished much attention. Two years later, he released an album under Virgin/Ruff Ryder titled "The Rest is History". Jin became the first Asian-American to put out a solo album on the mainstream, though the album was not successful. Many hip hop lovers believe this was because of a lack of promotion as well as the album being pushed back seven months.
[edit] New Zealand
New Zealand is said to have one of the best hip hop scenes in the world. It was one of the first countries after the USA to have success in hip hop. New Zealand hip-hop scene has an unwritten, though generally apparent rivalry with it's Australian counterpart. This rivalry is highlighted by the annual (but discontinued) Australia Vs New Zealand: MC Battle For Supremacy.
Many of New Zealand's biggest hip hop stars are Māori or Pacific Islander. Artists from the 1990's onward included Savage, Che Fu, Nesian Mystik and Scribe, who became the first to top both the single and album charts at the same time in 2004, and also the most famous acts associated with the biggest record producer in the field, P-Money.
Some of New Zealand's up and coming hip hop artists include PNC, Frontline, Tyna and Dei Hamo
Afforementioned Tyna is noted as a battle rapper and represented New Zealand as part of their 8-man team for Out4Fames' 2004 Australia Vs New Zealand: MC Battle For Supremacy. He was knocked out of the competition by Australia's MC Anecdote, who went on to win Australia's second (of three) consecutive wins in the annual (though now defunct) tournament.
[edit] Middle East
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; though some, like Mook E., preached peace and tolerance, others expressed nationalist and violent sentiments. However currently hip-hop and rap is very popular in Iran, with more than 100s of rappers and rap bands a similar situation to the east side, Westside situation is slowly forming. Zedbazi is seen as one of the best groups with songs that have had more than 8 million downloads.
[edit] Europe
In the late 1990s many hip hop artists were gaining an underground following including Roots Manuva and Blak Twang. Since the year 2000 acts such as The Streets, So Solid Crew, Dizzee Rascal, Goldie Lookin Chain, have enjoyed mainstream success. The popularity of garage musicand grime which also feature emceeing have helped to boost the growth in popularity of UK hip hop. Other notable UK rappers include Lady Sovereign, Braintax, Jehst and Sway.
Hip hop first appeared in France in 1979, just as the genre was achieving some success in the US. By 1982, a number of hip hop radio stations had appeared, including Rapper Dapper Snapper, and the future star DJ Dee Nasty made his first appearance. That same year saw the first major hip hop concert, the New York City Rap Tour, sponsored by Europe 1 and featuring Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmixer DST, Fab 5 Freddy, Mr Freeze and the Rock Steady Crew.
By 1983, hip hop was a notable part of the French music scene. Dee Nasty's Paname City Rappin', released in 1984, was the first French hip hop record. France produced a number of native-born stars, such as IAM and Suprême NTM, though the most famous French rapper is probably the Senegalese-born MC Solaar.
In Europe, hip hop was the domain of both ethnic nationals and immigrants.
Germany, for example, produced the well-known Optik Army and it's frontman Kool Savas as well as several other rap combos like Aggro Berlin, Ersguterjunge, Fettes Brot, Amstaff or Shok Muzik. Also several solo artists like Samy Deluxe or Azadare known across Europe.
Swedish hip hop emerged in the mid 1980s and by the early 1990s a lot of "ethnic Swedish acts" like Looptroop, "immigrant acts" like The Latin Kings and mixed acts like Infinite Mass switched from English to rapping in "Rinkeby Swedish", a pidgin language of sorts, when they were making records for the domestic market.
In Ireland the most famous rapper is DJ Collie along with Craz-e, B-Wonder and groups like Man against machine. Ireland also has its own hip hop magazine called "Rap Ireland", which is owned by Kev Storrs alongside DJ Frank Jez of FM104 and Tim Dogg. Also on the urban brand are DJ Ahmed, DJ Tando and DJ Mo-K.
In Poland hip-hop is among the most popular music styles and artists such as Kazik and Liroy who emerged in the early 1990s has been at the forefront of Polish music business. Nowadays, hip-hop has diversified and came out of the shadow to take a larger chunk of the mainstream music scene with rappers such as OSTR, WWO, Vienio, Gural, Pezet, Tede, Pokahontaz, Abradab and independent music labels producing different sounds in hip-hop in many Polish cities.
The Netherlands' most famous early rappers were The Osdorp Posse, an all-white crew from Amsterdam, and The Postmen, from Cape Verde and Suriname. In recent years, hip hop artists of Moroccan ancestry such as Ali B and Raymzter have been both commercially successful and highly culturally influential. Raymzter is best known for his hit Kut Marokkanen??!, which wittily threw a semi-obscene anti-Moroccan racial slur back into the faces of its users. The ethnically Dutch rap duo Lange Frans & Baas B have had multiple #1 hits, including the tongue-in-cheek patriotic anthem Het land van ("The land of..."). In 2005, De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig ("The youth of today") made a major splash with their cheeky #1 hit Watskeburt?! ("Wuzhappenin?!").
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. Opee has recently emerged into the French-speaking world as a major star from Romandy (French-speaking Switzerland).
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. The group has its own production label called Casa, signing and releasing albums of well known rap artists like Mahsat, Grasu XXL, M&G and Villy. The Parazitii group has become one of the most popular in Romania, with their lyrics reaching social, political and anti-censorship themes (They also own the 20 CM Records hip-hop label, signing rap group Anonim and Spike - in 2006 Cheloo, the main Parazitii producer released an album entitled Fabricant de gunoi-The Trash Maker, which features a guest appearance from the Killarmy, the Wu-Tang Killa Beez group). Also, R.A.C.L.A. (originally standing for White Rappers Legally Conceive Warnings) was the first rap group to release a Romanian hip-hop album, touching mainly "social" subjects, the group still exists today, releasing its 5th album in 2005 called "DEXteritate" (Dexterity). In 2005, another explosive rap group, Zale, launched its debut album, Chei Verbale(with the single "Depinde de noi"), which received positive public reaction. Since then, the group has made its own production label, called Chill Brothers Records, signing the well known ragga-rap artist Pacha Man (Known for his successful collaboration with African Reggae artists such as Moweed and Buppy Brown and British hip-hop artist Black Bishop of the Mobstarz and C-Rhyme Family crews), and a couple of other artists like Subsemnatu (Member of the Explicit rap group), Mike Pow ( a very talented R&B artist) and some well-known producers. They released their second album called Chill Brothers in the autumn of 2006.
Albania and Kosovo have been a revolution in the hip-hop industry in Europe. Rap bands like The Bloody Alboz, Etno Engjujt, WNC, 2Po2, Double G Army, Tingulli 3, DMC, Rudi and others have striven to portray the real Albanian attitude of today. Albanian rappers like Rebel aka UniKKatiL, Lyrical Son and Milot have become successful in part because their high sound quality and excellent performance standards are considered the equal of anything available from American or other sources.
Serbia is one of the better known rap states in Europe, thanks to the rap group Beogradski sindikat (The Belgrade syndicate). They, first of all, represent their neighborhood Dorcol (Gornji, Donji Dorcol, Sipka (uCAzaKInje), Maj), and Belgrade, as one of the biggest cities in Europe. The group has "Nine to 99 members", but only a few of them appear on tracks (Fedja, Skabo, Ogi, Darko, Djolo Djolo...). Their last album "SVI ZAJEDNO" was one of the best selling albums in 2005 in Serbia. Other rappers like MC Jeretik (Jera) and Djole (they are group Full Trip) and Gru, Ajs Nigrutin (Bad Copy), Marchelo, V.I.P. and others, are also influential.
Bosnia has famous rappers like Edo Maajka, Frenkie, Univerzalni Vojnici, etc. Edo Maajka is the one of best known rappers from the Balkans. He has a lot of songs about the Bosnian-War and about the situation in Bosnia now. Frenkie is a nationalist rapper in Bosnia and is a member of BH Fanaticos. In Croatia, rap became very popular in the late 1990s with the rise of Tram 11, Bolesna Braca and other rappers who focused on social issues.
Bulgaria during the late '90s saw the formation of the crews "Amnistia" and "Rubber Heads" (Gumeni Glavi), the latter of which included Misho Shamara, Dreben G, Konsa and more. "Rubber Heads"'s label was called R'nB and was very popular. They even had their own clothing line. In 2000 another Bulgarian hip hop label was created and it was called Sniper Records, including famous names like Spens, DJ Stancho, Slim, Shosho and more.
Neighbor Greece caught on the Hip Hop train by the early 90s, too. These days, groups like Goin' Through dominate the mainstream (being signed to the legendary hip hop label Def Jam), while Thessalonian pioneer Sifu VERSUS is among the top names of the underground (notably being one of the very few Greek hip hop artists to expand his career out of Greece).
[edit] Latin America
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. Rap in Puerto Rico was at a popular high in 1989, when Vico C entered the charts with his super hit La Recta Final (The Final Stretch), which gave him worldwide fame.
During the diversification of hip hop in the 1990s, Santi Y Sus Duendes and Lisa M released a single ("Soy Chiquito (No Inventes Papito, No Inventes)") in the Dominican Republic, which gave birth to merenrap, a fusion of hip hop and merengue.
In Mexico, popular hip hop began with the success of Calo in the early 1990s. 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.
And with the success of groups such as Cypress Hill who popularised the hip hop and rap culture throughout Latin America. Groups such as the Chilean Tiro De Gracia began to forment, whom enjoyed widespread popularity not just in Chile, but in Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
An annual Cuban hip hop concert held at Alamar in Havana helped to popularize Cuban hip hop, beginning in 1995. Hip hop grew steadily more popular in Cuba, due to official governmental support for musicians.
Hip hop has become increasingly popular in Brazil in the last 20 years. The b-boys and girls, DJs, rappers, and graffiti writers have traditionally organized themselves into what they call crews, which also perform community service and work to organize young people in their neighborhoods to pass on the art and social consciousness.
[edit] Africa
In the early part of the decade, breakdancing became the first aspect of hip hop culture to reach South Africa, where the crew Black Noise established the practice before beginning to rap later in the decade. Black Noise's raps, starting in 1989, provoked a ban by the apartheid-era government, which lasted until 1993. Later, South Africa produced its own distinctive style in the house fusion Kwaito.
Elsewhere in Africa, Senegalese mbalax fusions continued to grow in popularity, while Tanzanian Bongo Flava crews like X-Plastaz combined hip hop with taarab, filmi and other styles without forgetting the congolese Makoma.
[edit] Canada
North of the U.S. border, in Canada, hip hop became popular thanks to home-grown rap artist Maestro Fresh Wes in the late 1980s. His single, "Let Your Backbone slide", dominated the charts for over a year. In the early '90s, more artists such as Michie Mee and the Rascalz established themselves in the growing Canadian urban music scene, primarily located in the diverse backdrop of Toronto and Vancouver. More recently, rappers such as Choclair, Swollen Members, Saukrates, Kardinal Offishall, Sweatshop Union, Hugh "MC Son" Ryan, Black Jays, Jelleestone and k-os have become household names in the Canadian urban music scene, although they have failed to earn mainstream recognition south of the border in the U.S. market. The Somali-Canadian hiphop artist K'naan, with his distinctive use of both Somali- and English-language texts, has earned considerable celebrity in Canada, Europe and elsewhere. The eclectic, country-influenced underground hip hop of Buck 65 has also achieved considerable international success.
[edit] Australia
Originally highly derivative from American hip hop, a distinctive local style has developed in Australian hip hop since the 1990s. Support from radio stations (especially influential youth radio station Triple J) and the induction of an Urban Award to the annual ARIA Awards were part of a confluence of events that led to South Australian outfit Hilltop Hoods' fourth album, The Hard Road, debuting at #1 on the official Australian album charts in 2006. It was the first album in the history of Australian hip hop to do so, and has proved to be a massive breakthrough for the genre and its acceptance into popular culture. Despite its rising popularity, Australian hip hop remains embedded in the independent music scene. The Hilltop Hoods are the nation's most successful act, and are distributed by Obese Records, Australia's largest indepedent hip hop label, owned by artist Pegz. Other prominent Australian hip hop artists include The Herd, Butterfingers and TZU.
Although Australian hip hop was probably mainly derived from American hip hop, the two styles have drifted apart significantly. Australian hip hop is often very outspoken and proud of being the opposite of American hip hop, concentrating on politically passionate lyrics, and avoiding issues perceived to be shallow. One Butterfingers tracks takes an obvious dig at the West side egoism (American west coast hip hop), "I'm from the Ipa-switch side of town, don't forget to write it down (West side!) What the f---? It ain't Gangster rap! Think you're tougher, then you probably suffer wanker's cramp, and I'll thank you to f--- right off - professional f---wits, take one night off. The organic nature of Australian hip hop and the thought that goes into the lyric writing often results in music that is almost polar opposite to its American Counterparts.1
[edit] Media
Hip hop has major American magazines devoted to it, including The Source, XXL and Vibe. For a long time, BET was the only television channel likely to play much hip hop, but in recent years the mainstream channels VH1 and MTV have played hip hop more than any other genre. Many individual cities have produced their own local hip hop newsletters, while hip hop magazines with national distribution are found in a few other countries. The 21st century also ushered in the rise of online media, and hip hop fan sites now offer comprehensive hip hop coverage on a daily basis.
[edit] Music samples
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[edit] Notes
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
- 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 .
- 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.
- 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
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