Hip hop music

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Hip hop
Stylistic origins	Funk disco soul rhythm and blues jazz[1] spoken word scat singing talking blues performance poetry[1]
Cultural origins	August 11, 1973, The Bronx, New York City, U.S.[2][3][4]
Typical instruments	Rapping singing[5][6] turntables DJ mixer drum machine sampler music sequencer synthesizer keyboard
Derivative forms	Baltimore club breakbeat Florida breaks funk carioca ghetto house ghettotech glitch hop grime illbient Latin freestyle nu metal reggaeton wonky
Subgenres
Alternative Alaskan Hip Hop boom bap bounce British Brooklyn drill chap hop chicano rap chopped and screwed chopper Christian cloud rap comedy conscious crunk crunkcore Desi hip hop dirty rap drill East Coast frat rap freestyle rap gangsta rap g-funk hardcore hipster hop horrorcore hyphy instrumental Islamic jerkin' Jewish Latin Latin trap mafioso rap Memphis rap Miami bass mumble rap nerdcore phonk plugg political progressive road rap snap Southern trap tread turntablism UK drill underground West Coast (complete list)
Fusion genres
Contemporary R&B country rap electro emo rap hip hop soul hip house industrial hip hop jazz rap lofi hip hop new jack swing pop rap punk rap psychedelic rap ragga hip hop rap opera rap rock rap metal trap metal rapcore trip hop Regional fusion genres Afroswing bongo flava boomba music cumbia rap genge gyp-hop hip hop galsen hipco hiplife igbo rap kwaito low bap merenhouse motswako na mele paleoleo nuyorican rap Romany hip hop songo-salsa street pop stronda urban Pasifika vigilante rap zenji flava
Regional scenes
Regional scenes African Algerian Angolan Beninese Botswana Gambian Ghanaian Ivorian Kenyan Mauritian Moroccan Namibian Nigerian Nigerien Senegalese South African Tanzanian Togolese Zambian Zimbabwean Asian Bangladeshi Burmese Chinese Hong Kong Indian Indonesian Japanese Korean Malaysian Nepalese Pakistani Philippine Singapore Sri Lankan Taiwanese Thai Middle Eastern Arabic Azerbaijani Egyptian Iranian Israeli Lebanese Palestinian Saudi Arabian Tunisian Turkish Yemeni European Albanian Austrian Belgian Bosnian and Herzegovinian British Bulgarian Croatian Czech Dutch Finnish French German Greek Portuguese Hungarian Icelandic Irish Italian Macedonian Montenegrin Norwegian Polish Romanian Romany Russian Serbian Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swedish Swiss Ukrainian North American Canadian Cuban Dominican Haitian Mexican Salvadoran US East Coast Southern West Coast Midwest Oceanic Australian New Zealand South American Brazilian Colombian Chilean
Local scenes
Local scenes Brasília Celtic Desi Port Harcourt Scottish US Anchorage Asian American Atlanta Baltimore Chicago Detroit Latino Memphis Miami Minneapolis/St. Paul Native American New Jersey New York City Northwest Omaha Philadelphia Washington, D.C.
Other topics
Old-school hip hop New-school hip hop Golden age hip hop
2024 in hip hop music

Hip hop or hip-hop, formerly known as disco rap,^[7][8] is a genre of popular music that originated in the early 1970s from the African American community. Hip-hop music originated as an anti-drug and anti-violence genre^[9] consisting of stylized rhythmic music (usually built around drum beats) that often accompanies rapping, a rhythmic delivery of poetic speech.^[10] In the early 1990s, a professor of African American studies at Temple University said, "Hip-hop is something that blacks can unequivocally claim as their own."^[11] By the 21st century, the field of rappers had diversified by both race and gender. The music developed as part of the broader hip-hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, breakdancing, and graffiti art.^[12][13][14] While often used to refer solely to rapping and rap music, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture.^[15][16] The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music,^[10][17] though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of the culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.^[18][19]

Hip hop as both a musical genre and a culture was formed during the 1970s, when block parties became increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among African American youth residing in the Bronx.^[20] At block parties, DJs played percussive breaks of popular songs using two turntables and a DJ mixer to be able to play breaks from two copies of the same record, alternating from one to the other and extending the "break".^[21] Hip-hop's early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum machines became widely available and affordable. Turntablist techniques such as scratching and beatmatching developed along with the breaks. Rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or chants along rhythmically with an instrumental or synthesized beat.

Hip hop music was not officially recorded to play on radio or television until 1979, largely due to poverty during the genre's birth and lack of acceptance outside ghetto neighborhoods. The genre of music began spreading through block parties throughout the Black community.^[22] Old-school hip hop was the first mainstream wave of the genre, marked by its disco influence and party-oriented lyrics. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles and spread around the world. New-school hip hop was the genre's second wave, marked by its electro sound, and led into golden age hip hop, an innovative period between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s that also developed hip hop's own album era. The gangsta rap subgenre, focused on the violent lifestyles and impoverished conditions of inner-city African American youth, gained popularity at this time. West Coast hip hop was dominated by G-funk in the early-mid 1990s, while East Coast hip hop was dominated by jazz rap, alternative hip hop, and hardcore hip hop. Hip hop continued to diversify at this time with other regional styles emerging, such as Southern rap and Atlanta hip hop. Hip hop became a best-selling genre in the mid-1990s and the top-selling music genre by 1999. Hip hop became a category at the Grammy Awards in 1989 with the addition of the Best Rap Performance award and was given to DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince for their song "Parents Just Don't Understand". In 1990, they became the first hip hop act to perform at the Grammys.

The popularity of hip hop music continued through the late 1990s to early-2000s "bling era" with hip hop influences increasingly finding their way into other genres of popular music, such as neo soul, nu metal, and R&B. The United States also saw the success of regional styles such as crunk, a Southern genre that emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics, and alternative hip hop began to secure a place in the mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of its artists. During the late 2000s and early 2010s "blog era", rappers were able to build up a following through online methods of music distribution, such as social media and blogs, and mainstream hip hop took on a more melodic, sensitive direction following the commercial decline of gangsta rap. The trap and mumble rap subgenres have become the most popular form of hip hop during the mid-late 2010s and early 2020s. In 2017, rock music was usurped by hip hop as the most popular genre in the United States. In recent years, hip hop's influence has transcended musical boundaries, impacting fashion, language, and cultural trends worldwide.^[23][24][25]

Amidst its evolution, hip hop has also been a vehicle for social commentary and political expression, reflecting the struggles and aspirations of marginalized communities. From its roots in the Bronx to its global reach today, hip hop has served as a voice for the disenfranchised, shedding light on issues such as racial inequality, poverty, and police brutality.^[26] Artists such as Public Enemy, Tupac Shakur, and Kendrick Lamar have used their platforms to address systemic injustices, fostering dialogue and inspiring activism. Hip hop's ability to confront societal issues while simultaneously providing a form of empowerment and self-expression has solidified its significance beyond mere entertainment, making it a significant cultural force worldwide.^[27]