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Hip Hop Music

Characteristics | History | Social Impact | References

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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.
Derivative forms:	Trip hop
Subgenres
Abstract - Alternative - Chopped and screwed - Christian - Crunk - Gangsta - G-funk - Hardcore - Horrorcore - Instrumental - Jazz rap - Latin rap - Nerdcore - Old school - Pop rap
Fusion genres
Country rap - Electro hop - Freestyle - Hip house - Hip life - Ghettotech - Hip-hop soul - Miami bass - Neo soul - New jack swing - Ragga - Rap metal - Reggaeton - Urban Pasifika
Regional scenes
African - American: (East - West - South - Midwest) - French - Japanese - Others...
Other topics
Beatboxing - Breakdancing - Collaborations - DJing (Turntablism) - Hip hop culture - Fashion - Feuds - Graffiti - History - List of rappers - Rapping - Roots - Slang - Timeline

Hip hop music (also referred to as rap or rap music) is a style of popular music. It is made up of two main components: rapping (MCing) and DJing (audio mixing and scratching). Along with breakdancing and graffiti (tagging) these are the four elements of hip hop, a cultural movement that was initiated by inner-city youth (mostly minorities such as African Americans and Latinos) in New York City in the early 1970s.

Typically, hip hop music consists of one or more rappers who tell semi-autobiographic tales, often relating to a fictionalized counterpart, in an 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, rock, 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 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, 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.

Term usage

The terms rap and rap music are often used to describe hip hop music; the terms rap music and hip hop music are generally synonymous, although rap music is usually not used to describe hip hop songs without vocals. Hip hop music is also erroneously used at times to describe related genres of music, such as contemporary R&B, which are primarily sung; while singing is commonly present in hip hop songs, the main vocal (assuming there are vocals) is almost always rapped.

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