Happy hardcore

For other uses, see Happy hardcore (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Hardcore (electronic dance music genre).
"UK hardcore" redirects here. For the UK hardcore punk scene, see Hardcore punk in the United Kingdom.

Happy hardcore
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsEarly 1990s, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany
Derivative formsUK hardcore

Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or "hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990s. The thing that makes happy hardcore stand apart from Gabber, is that happy hardcore tends to have breakbeats running alongside the 4/4 kick drum.[1]

  1. ^ Reynolds 2013, chpt. 11: "The difference between happy hardcore and happy gabba is slight: basically, the English tracks have sped-up breakbeats running alongside the stomping four-to-the-floor kick-drum, and at 170 b.p.m., they're slightly slower than happy gabba.".