Hip Hop
(also known as Rap)
Emerging mainly on the eastern coast of the United States in the late 1970s, hip hop is a form of music emphasizing rhythmic beat patterns and spoken delivery rather than harmonic melodies and sung vocals. Much of hip hop's roots can be traced to Deejay, a form of Reggae music that an immigrant DJ Kool Herc hoped to emulate in the Bronx borough of New York City. The style quickly took over in uptown neighborhoods such as Harlem and Queens, where many enjoyed the loose, afro-centric nature of the parties Kool Herc would put on. Adapting the format to Disco and Funk breaks rather than the reggae Herc was used to further enhanced the genre's appeal in urban communities.
The music quickly took over in New York and Connecticut while expanding across the United States and eventually other countries through the 1980s and 1990s. Eventually incorporating Soul and Jazz breaks into its musical lexicon, hip hop as it is known today continues to incorporate sampling of both popular and obscure tracks from the past and present that one or more MCs rap lyrics over in a stylized, rhythmic response or addition to the beat.
Abstract Hip Hop
Abstract hip hop is a style of Hip Hop which eschews many of the genre's conventions. It has become a fixture of the underground hip hop scene since the early 2000s. Lyrically, artists tend to focus on more abstract ideas such as existentialism or social institutions rather than everyday problems or braggadocio. The language and presentation of these lyrics also tends to avoid the more upfront, visceral language of typical hip hop, instead preferring extensive metaphors and symbolic word choice. Many artists tend to deviate from the typical conventions of rhyme and rhythm, often employing flows that border on Spoken Word. Musically, most abstract artists also feature unconventional beats that are akin in style to that of Experimental Hip Hop.
Arabesque Rap
Arabesque rap is a form of Hip Hop that emerged from Turkey in late-2000s. Rappers from the Turkish diaspora in Europe (particularly Germany) also had a prominent influence over the genre during its early development. Almost exclusively based on instrumental Arabesque samples, it commonly features aggressive rap vocals that often verge on shouting or screaming. Melodically sung vocal hooks are also present and the genre occasionally attributes influences to Turkish Pop, Turkish Folk Music and Contemporary R&B. Lyrically, it usually deals with unrequited love, breakups, teenage angst and similar personal themes.
Atlanta Bass
(also known as ATL Bass)
Atlanta bass is a sub-genre of Miami Bass that originated in Atlanta. Although there were some bass acts in Atlanta in the 1980s such as MC Shy-D or Tony M.F. Rock, the Atlanta bass scene only started to distance itself from Miami bass in the 1990s. It was pioneered by artists such as DJ Smurf, Lil Jon, and Kilo, and by labels such as So So Def Recordings and Wrap Records.
Atlanta bass borrows Miami bass' hard electro-bass drums, which they often blend with slower, Contemporary R&B songs in order to create a contrast. It also differs from Miami bass with a more melodic approach and a slower tempo. Lyrically wise, Atlanta bass MCs mostly rap sexually explicit lyrics, much like in Miami bass.
It attained its peak of success in 1996 with hit songs such as Ghost Town DJs' "My Boo" and Freak Nasty's "Da' Dip". The genre mostly disappeared during the 2000s with the emergence of other genres in Atlanta such as Crunk and Snap. Atlanta bass is sometimes credited as an influence for those genres.
Bongo Flava
Bongo flava is a Tanzanian Hip Hop genre that originated in the mid-1990s in the Dar es Salaam area. Apart from being rooted in popular styles of American hip hop, bongo flava is influenced by various other genres including Rhythm & Blues, Afrobeat and Dancehall, as well as native Tanzanian music styles such as Taarab and Muziki wa dansi. This heterogeneous combination of influences makes bongo flava one of the most distinctive hip hop genres; its Kenyan counterpart is known as Genge. Both bongo flava and genge are also similar to Kapuka, another East African combination of regional traditions, hip hop and other popular genres such as Reggae. Representative artists of this genre include Gangwe Mobb, Hard Blasters and X Plastaz.
Boom Bap
Boom Bap was a massively popular style of hip hop in the eastern United States during the 1990s. The sound originated in the mid-to-late 1980s, pioneered by groups like Boogie Down Productions and the Juice Crew All Stars. The beats consist of many variations on a simple theme: a booming kick drum followed by hard-hitting snares. The MC generally times their delivery to match the pattern laid out by the beat (notable off-beat exceptions include Masta Ace and RZA), creating a sound focused on the percussive relationship between drums and MCs.
Bop
(also known as Chicago Bop)
Bop is a style of Pop Rap that grew out of the Chicago Drill scene in the early 2010s. It's known for its autotuned vocals and upbeat synth melodies, unlike Trap which is more aggressive and gritty. The accompanying dance style is fast and buoyant, with focus on the elbow and knees.
Bounce
Coming out of New Orleans in the early 1990s, bounce music was initially defined by a slow to mid-tempo beat with a double-time hi-hat on top. This contrast between the two speeds proved effective as dance music, lending the genre its 'bounce' title. Beats were commonly put together with the use of drum machines, particularly the Roland TR-808 and later the MPC2000, as well as synthesizers. Originally mixed live for dancing at block and basement parties in the late 1980s, songs were usually centered around call-and-response or chants, emphasizing repetitive vocals and sexual themes.
"Drag Rap" by The Showboys was one of the original samples to help define bounce music, alongside "Brown Beat" by Cameron Paul. Bounce music was spearheaded by DJ Jubilee under Take Fo' Records, and brought to mainstream prominence by Mannie Fresh's early production for Cash Money Records in the mid 1990s. The genre continued to develop under Magnolia Shorty, Big Freedia, U.N.L.V., Lil Slim, and Katey Red as bounce's influence permeated Southern Hip Hop.
Britcore
Britcore is a British Hardcore Hip Hop style from the late 1980s and early 1990s featuring a fast style of beats and rapping. The productions are influenced by the works of The Bomb Squad and have a higher BPM than regular hip hop beats. The rapping takes cues from Big Daddy Kane with his fast rapping style, but the subject matter is usually more political and militant, and delivered in a very aggressive manner. There is also a strong emphasis on scratching as many groups featured multiple DJs. Most of the groups and artists were from the UK mainland, but the genre also spread to Germany, the Netherlands and other European countries.
Car Audio Bass
(also known as Techno Bass)
Car Audio Bass is a subgenre of Miami Bass, being a more minimal, stripped-down variety with an emphasis on low-frequency bass partitions. As the name suggests, the music was often used as a means to demonstrate the audio systems at car shows. Consequently, most car audio bass releases feature additional test tracks, which consist of varying signals, sweeps and tones. Throughout its evolution, the genre was heavily influenced by Electro. The genre attained regional popularity primarily in the southern United States and in California. DJ Magic Mike's 1989 single "Drop the Bass" has been regarded as a precursor to the genre, as it is one of the first releases to feature audio testing tracks.
Chicano Rap
Chicano rap is a subgenre of Latin Rap with a Mexican twist. It consists of West Coast Gangsta and Southwest Mexicans American (Chicano) culture. It includes many different styles from G-Funk to Latin American Music Flavors. The artists rap in English, Spanish, or both and sometimes also with Mexican Spanish slang known as Calo.
Chopped and Screwed
(also known as Slowed and Throwed)
Chopped and screwed is a Hip Hop remixing technique pioneered by the late Houston producer DJ Screw. Developed in the early 1990s as a primarily Southern Hip Hop style, the technique later spread to other scenes through the sale of screwed mixtapes ("screwtapes") and screwed versions of full length albums. The itself comes from two of the core mixing techniques; "chopping" referring to the skipping effects, and "screwing" referring to the drop in the original music's tempo.
Screw's sound involved slowing the original tracks down to roughly 50-75% their original speed (around 60-70 quarter beats per minute), playing both records on separate turntables at a beat apart and using crossfading to create a skipping effect, as well as other scratching and standard DJ mixing techniques. This gave the tracks a slowed-down, hugely mellow and heavy sound, putting heavy emphasis on the lyrics. Screw's legacy leaves behind a sub-genre hugely prevalent in the hip hop world, one now practised by many producers, with many full albums being released with alternate, chopped and screwed versions.
Christian Hip Hop
(also known as Gospel Rap)
Christian hip hop employs lyrics with a pro-Christianity message in order to profess the performer's faith, and often to attract new attention from potential converts. Christian hip hop became a notable phenomenon in the mid-to-late 80s, through the artists Michael Peace and dc Talk.
Cloud Rap
(also known as Trillwave)
Cloud Rap is a form of Hip Hop which emerged in the early 2010s, known for its relaxed, dream-like and reverb-heavy production style, taking influence from Chillwave, and producers' obscure (by hip hop standards) sample choices. Lyrics tend to focus on usual hip hop themes of braggadocio, sex and drug use, but are also known for their pop culture references, over-the-top humour, surrealism, and moments of emotional sincerity. The genre was pioneered by producer Clams Casino and rappers Lil B, A$AP Rocky, and Main Attrakionz. Later artists such as Metro Zu, Seshollowaterboyz, Yung Lean, and GothBoiClique have diversified the genre, bringing in influences from Trap, Chopped and Screwed, Memphis Rap, Alternative R&B, Witch House, and even Emo and Vaporwave.
Comedy Rap
Comedy rap started in the mid 1980's by artists such as Bobby Jimmy and The Critters. It incorporates comedic lyrics that are often satirical or ironic, with music that may be a parody of Hip Hop itself. It's still practiced today by Afroman and The Lonely Island, to name a few.
Conscious Hip Hop
Conscious hip hop is a term applied to Hip Hop artists whose lyrics deal with social issues. It has parallels with Political Hip Hop, although its focus is extended to topics such as religion, African American culture, everyday life and the state of hip hop itself. The term, while widely used by both fans and writers, is often the subject of controversy; artists such as Mos Def and Talib Kweli have rebelled against being labelled as strictly "conscious" rappers. Musically, conscious hip hop is a very broad sub-genre, embracing the whole spectrum of hip hop. However, a more chilled out Jazz Rap-influenced style of production is perhaps the most commonly used.
Country Rap
(also known as Hick Hop, Rural Rap)
Country rap is a musical style that combines the flow, production-emphasis, and demeanour of Hip Hop with the lyrical content and general approach of Country music. Pioneered in the early 2000s by Bubba Sparxxx and brought to the mainstream by the likes of Colt Ford, Cowboy Troy, and Big Smo during the latter end of the decade, the merges both rural and urban conventions to create a sound that is uniformly distinct from Contemporary Country music and often not as vulgar as Hip Hop.
Crunk
Crunk music originates from the southern United States, particularly Memphis and Atlanta. Nearly all crunk music is heavily reliant on the beat, which unlike most hip-hop is rarely constructed with samples. Instead, Roland TR-808 and 909 drum machines are employed along with aggressive, mid or high tempo stabs of synthesizer. The result is often energetic and dance-oriented in nature, which is enhanced by lyrics that directly address the crowd and give them directions. These lyrics are usually but not always shouted in an aggressive manner, further emphasizing the physical style of the music.
Crunkcore
(also known as Scrunk)
Crunkcore is a style of music which combines both Crunk and Electropop with harsh vocals and screaming. In addition to the aforementioned genres, some bands in the genre are also influenced by Rap Rock. Crunkcore artists include Family Force 5, Brokencyde, 3OH!3 and Dot Dot Curve.
Deejay
(also known as DJ, Toasting, Chatting)
A form of reggae in which a deejay (similar to an MC in hip hop) talks his lyrics over a pre-recorded reggae rhythm. The deejay style originated in the 60s during the ska era, and was made popular during the early reggae era by deejays such as U-Roy and Dennis Alcapone. Deejays became more prominent than singers in the 80s during the early dancehall era, and deejaying is the dominating style in modern ragga.
A reggae deejay should not be confused with a DJ (disc jockey) who selects and plays music. Reggae disc jockeys are called "selectors".
Dirty South
Dirty South is an aggressive style of hip hop originating in the 1990s from the southern United States, particularly from the cities Houston, Atlanta and New Orleans. Closely associated with the Southern Hip Hop scene, it employs heavy bass beats, bouncy rhythms, a "free-flowing" rhyming style and often sexually explicit and/or violent lyrics. Influenced by, among others, UGK's and Geto Boys' early work, the genre takes its name from the Goodie Mob song of the same name, from the album Soul Food (1995). Along with Miami Bass, the genre had a profound influence over Crunk and Trap genres.
Disco Rap
Disco rap refers to the very first wave of recorded Hip Hop music, the genre that was most prevalent during the years 1979 to 1982. The rappers' lyrics are about party-oriented topics and having fun, delivered over the more popular Disco breaks. This genre ended when productions switched to a more synthesized sound, and other sub-genres came to life like Afrika Bambaataa's Electro with "Planet Rock" and Hardcore Hip Hop with Run-D.M.C.'s "Sucker MC's".
Drill
(also known as Drill Hop, Drill Rap)
Drill is a form of Trap that originated in the South Side of Chicago in the early 2010s. There are several characteristics of drill that set it aside from trap, most notably a heavy Footwork influence in the production. Drill rappers employ a distinctive monotonous, drawling flow that is usually at least partially auto-tuned. Whereas trap rappers usually combine stories of drug-dealing with stories of a rise to wealth and party lifestyle, drill is exclusively Gangsta Rap, and is known for its incredibly violent and nihilistic lyrics. It is also known for its minimalistic lyricism, avoiding any use of wordplay and metaphor, which has made it controversial with the wider Hip Hop community. Artists have argued that their lyrical style is not born from a lack of talent, but rather a conscious decision to place the descriptions of the drug-dealer's lifestyle at the center of the listener's attention.
Drill was anticipated in the work of Atlanta rappers Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame and producer Lex Luger. It is generally considered to have been pioneered by producer Young Chop and the rappers he worked with at Glory Boyz Entertainment, particularly Chief Keef, Lil Reese, and Fredo Santana. Other drill rappers not associated with GBE include King Louie, Lil Durk, G Herbo, Katie Got Bandz, and Lil Mouse. Established Chicago rapper Kanye West brought it attention when he incorporated elements of the sound into, and featured several drill rappers and producers on, his albums Cruel Summer and Yeezus.
East Coast Hip Hop
(also known as New York Rap)
East Coast hip hop is a highly influential style of Hip Hop that developed in New York City, particularly in the South Bronx, during the seventies. Its history can be traced back as far as the hip hop genre itself, with artists like Kool DJ Herc, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five and Afrika Bambaataa, and later the hugely successful Run-D.M.C. laying the foundations from which thousands of artists would build upon in the following decades, as well as being highly acclaimed and respected in their own right. While East Coast hip hop’s complex development and endless permutations can never be demonstrated by one particular sound, the late eighties and early nineties specifically saw a number of artists define themselves by hard-hitting, sample-heavy production, as well as lyricism with both a refined social conscience and trademark aggression. This can be seen in the early work of Eric B. & Rakim, Public Enemy and EPMD, and later in the Hardcore Hip Hop of Wu-Tang Clan, Nas and The Notorious B.I.G.. This era also saw the rise of the Native Tongues, a collective incorporating generally good-natured, Afrocentric wordplay into a Jazz Rap sound, most notably De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. While perhaps not as wide-reaching as it had been during the previous decade, East Coast hip hop continued strongly following the turn of the millennium, with artists as diverse as Jay-Z, The Roots and MF DOOM enjoying great critical acclaim and popularity.
Emo Rap
(also known as Sad Rap)
Emo rap is a sub-genre of Hip Hop that implements some musical aspects of Emo, varying in many different styles. Taking elements more specifically from Cloud Rap, Trap, and Alternative R&B, emo rap finds its significance in blending moody production, provocatively dark lyricism, and sullen artist imagery. Emo rap artists tend therefore to have a mournful delivery when flowing over their emo influenced hip hop music. Sampling is also a widely used method to create emo rap, with many artists rapping, crooning, and singing over Midwest Emo, Emo-Pop, and Pop Punk samples. This genre also contributes to the "emo revival" phenomenon, which started in the early 2010s.
In the late 2000s, references to the "emo rap" term were already being made, crediting for instance Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon: The End of Day album for incorporating some emo elements in the lyricism like mentions of concepts like depression, loneliness, and anxiety. Allusions to Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak and Drake's So Far Gone were also being made. However it was the early 2010s that multiple artists such as BONES, Black Kray, and Yung Lean were starting to bring stylistic techniques of emo, melancholic lyricism, and lethargy into hip hop and were getting more attention from listeners and publicists. Seemingly underground artists soon took it upon themselves to flagship this style of hip hop and emo into their own music, with formerly named Yung Bruh, Lil Peep, and the GothBoiClique putting material out in the mid 2010s, with more focused attempts to establish emo rap as a music genre.
Around the mid to late 2010s, emo rap broke through the mainstream and gained renowned popularity and critical attention with the main examples of Lil Peep's "Awful Things", XXXTentacion's "Jocelyn Flores", Lil Xan's "Betrayed" and most notably Lil Uzi Vert's "XO Tour Llif3" being emo rap hits. The genre continues to work on and establish its relevancy in the midst of contemporary hip hop.
Experimental Hip Hop
Experimental Hip Hop is a style of Hip Hop music that refers to the experimental use of eccentric hip hop elements (usually including but not limited to abstract lyrics) in ways unconventional and considered unsuitable for traditional Hip Hop music. While Abstract Hip Hop and Experimental Hip Hop are sometimes used interchangeably, Abstract Hip Hop differs from Experimental Hip Hop in that the former refers directly to Hip Hop music with abstract lyrical content, while Experimental Hip Hop is an umbrella term for Hip Hop music that embodies elements of the genre that fall outside the constraints of convention. Experimental Hip Hop is usually electronically produced and sometimes incorporates elements of other sub-genres such as Turntablism or Plunderphonics.
French Hip Hop
French Hip Hop refers to hip hop artists who originate from France. The first French hip hop songs were mainly made occasionally by artists coming from a Pop background, with songs like "Chacun fait (c'qui lui plait)" by Chagrin d'amour or "Vacances j'oublie tout" by Élégance. Contrary to its American counterpart, French hip hop first started as a commercial and media product before spreading to deprived neighborhoods. Nonetheless, a small underground Parisian scene emerged as early as 1981 with diverse specialized radio shows, open-mic sessions and block parties, where numerous rappers took their first steps. In parallel, a more modest scene also developed in Marseille with the formations of IAM and Soul Swing.
In the early 1990s, French hip hop started to grow. Artists such as MC Solaar, IAM, Assassin and NTM released their first albums and brought French hip hop's sonorities up to date by incorporating elements of Hardcore Hip Hop similar to Public Enemy, and Jazz Rap, adapting to the American tendencies. They also added more lyrical complexity to their songs and started to evoke political and social themes, which were closer to the reality of their neighborhoods, in comparison to the much softer French hip hop songs which preceded them.
From the mid to late 1990s, new artists have appeared, some like Fonky Family, Les Sages poètes de la rue and La Cliqua coming from a more conscious and hardcore budding independent scene, breaking with so-called "mainstream" rap, which was more pop and represented by artists such as Menelik, Doc Gynéco and Alliance Ethnik. French hip hop also continued its expansion beyond Paris and Marseille with groups like Toulouse's KDD and Strasbourg's N.A.P. who released their first albums.
During the 2000s, various rappers started adopting more digital production, inspired by trending US hip hop productions. Adding to Conscious Hip Hop which remained active with new recruits like Médine and Keny Arkana, many rappers such as Booba, Rohff or La Fouine started performing songs that were more and more based on braggadocio. A French Gangsta Rap scene was also born with artists like L.I.M, Alpha 5.20 or Alibi Montana, but it remained underground nonetheless, though it had remarkable popularity beyond media circuits.
In the 2010s, a big change occurred with the introduction of Trap to the mainstream by Booba and also then-less established artists like Kaaris, Gradur and Niro, who set it to a standard type of production. While French hip hop was previously largely influenced by American hip hop, artists with more unique approaches started to appear such as PNL and their own version of Cloud Rap, MHD and his afro trap, and JUL who implemented influences of Reggaeton and other musical styles.
G-Funk
(Gangsta Funk)
Originating on the West Coast through the work of Dr. Dre with Above the Law, G-Funk stood in contrast to many of the dominant Hip Hop sounds of the time. Focusing on the similarly-named P-Funk, Dr. Dre and Cold 187um concocted a form of Hip Hop which sounded much more relaxed and organic than many sample-based Hip Hop tracks. This was achieved through limiting the amount of samples in a track and dressing them up with live instrumentation. By the mid-1990s, this style would have proliferated throughout the Midwest and Southern states, for a period becoming the dominant form of Hip Hop. For a number of reasons G-Funk did not appear often in the East Coast areas although artists like Redman would adopt its emphasis on funk samples.
Oftentimes anonymous female vocals will supply a hook or ad libs. The genre's signature instrument/sound is a high-pitched sine wave pattern played portamento style on an electronic keyboard. A notable feature of most tracks is an emphasis on personal pleasure and living in the moment, even through some incredibly dark scenarios. G-Funk is also usually accompanied by Gangsta Rap, though this is not always the case.
Gangsta Rap
While very similar to Hardcore Hip Hop, gangsta rap specifically refers to artists who rap from a gangster's perspective. Because of the prevalence of gang activity in urban California neighborhoods during the 1980s and 1990s, this style of Hip Hop became the west coast's answer to the east coast's hardcore style. Artists such as Ice-T and N.W.A were highly influential on this period, rapping about day to day situations in gang-related life.
Similar music came out of the south at the same time, with groups like Geto Boys laying the groundwork for enormous independent-minded groups, from Screwed Up Click and South Park Coalition to No Limit Records and Cash Money Records leading into the 2000s.
Genge
Genge, initally coined to refer to the urban music of Kenya, is a Hip Hop genre that combines elements of Dancehall with various traditional music styles of the region. Genge's lyrics typically contain Swahili slang known as Sheng.
Grime
Emerging from London, England, during the early 2000s, Grime is a musical style heavily influenced by a wide range of urban genres, most noticeably UK Garage, as well as Drum and Bass, Dancehall and Hip Hop. It is typically characterised by dark, fast paced, often aggressive beats (generally around 140bpm), as well as lyrical themes that range from social commentary to insults aimed towards rival emcees.
Hardcore Hip Hop
One of the more common forms of hip hop, Hardcore emerged out of the early 1980s in a response to the music's growing commercial appeal. As hip hop continued to focus on boasting and party rhymes, artists such as Run-D.M.C. and Kool Moe Dee popularized a new form of hip hop. Driven by aggressive drum machine beats and layered samples rather than synthesizers and simpler funk breaks, these artists aimed to make music that more closely reflected the harsh environments they lived in. Pioneering artists such as KRS-One and Chuck D took these ideas further, delivering aggressive stories of the street on top of loud, in your face sample-based music. These beats were often piano-, guitar- or brass-based, focusing on brief and attention-grabbing blasts of noise to push the MC's message.
While the subject matter often addresses issues of gang-related violence, drug trafficking, promiscuous sex and other topics attributed to Gangsta Rap, hardcore hip-hop tends to stay within the boundaries of battle raps or social commentary from the artist's personal point of view, whereas gangster rappers adopted and spoke specifically from a gangster's perspective regardless of being a gangster or not.
Hip-Life
Hiplife is a fusion of Ghanaian Highlife with Hip Hop. Mainly sung and rapped in Akan language, it originated in the 1990s from the Ghanaian hip hop scene, with artists such as Reggie Rockstone and VIP. Mainly formulated upon highlife samples and/or digital instrumentation, hiplife is also characterised by its upbeat tone and rhymes, the latter of which utilize the distinct vocalisations of the Akan dialects.
Horrorcore
Horrorcore is a style of Hip Hop whose lyrical content and imagery focus on the macabre and morbid, including such topics as Satanism and suicide, with production generally of a darker nature than is typically found in other Hip Hop. Stylistic origins date back to the early 1990s, and lyrically the genre is often regarded as exaggerative and/or even parodic of the violent lyricism found in Hardcore Hip Hop. The genre is arguably best known for the Gravediggaz' debut album 6 Feet Deep with other major representatives including Esham, Brotha Lynch Hung and Necro.
Hyphy
Hyphy is a form of hip hop mainly produced in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonically distinguished from other hip hop by bass and keyboards tuned to make what are referred to as "slappers", many hyphy rappers also display an immediately recognizable vocal style that is almost guttural in delivery, purposely giving the record an intoxicated feel. Much of the subject matter deals with women and partying, most often by "getting dumb". Like other regional trends in hip hop, slang and locations specific to the area are much more commonly used.
Industrial Hip Hop
(also known as Noise Rap)
Industrial hip hop is an Experimental Hip Hop genre that uses Industrial Music beats and sounds. The production style is generally very dissonant, featuring atonal Noise and loud, distorted drums. Vocals are usually more aggressive than typical hip hop and are sometimes shouted. Lyrical content is usually disturbing and/or confrontational, typically involving dystopian or political themes, and other subject matter typical of industrial music (e.g. war, sexual abuse, BDSM, cults, etc).
Industrial hip hop originated in the late 1980s, inspired by several attempts to combine industrial music with Hardcore Hip Hop and Dub. Public Enemy's intensity and use of unconventional noise elements inspired a darker form of hip hop. Mark Stewart (of The Pop Group) worked with the house band of Sugar Hill Records to blend industrial with elements of dub on As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade. In 1988, The Beatnigs pioneered the genre on their debut album. The next year, the Sugar Hill Records band collaborated with Tackhead to blend industrial with Funk Rock and dub. Consolidated and The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy were also influential on the genre's development. Some contemporary practitioners of the genre employ more Electronic elements in their music, from genres such as Illbient and Glitch Hop.
Instrumental Hip Hop
Essentially Hip Hop without an MC, instrumental hip hop can take many complex or basic forms and span a wide variety of different styles from artist to artist. Hip Hop producers release these sorts of albums in a variety of ways: some can be a collection of used and unused beats such as Special Herbs, Vols. 1 & 2 or conceptual releases like Endtroducing and Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note. Other producers will release instrumentals from a specific album, such as 2001: Instrumentals Only.
Turntablism appears throughout many instrumental releases through vocal samples and scratching, eventually becoming a separate style within the instrumental hip hop community through pioneers like DJ Q-Bert, D. ST. and Mix Master Mike.
Jazz Rap
(also known as Jazz Hop)
A style of Hip Hop born out of the booming Hardcore Hip Hop scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s, jazz rap has a noticeably different feel, instead usually opting for a laid back, mellow sound. Containing rhythms very familiar to other forms of hip hop, samples and extra production details are almost exclusively culled from various forms of Jazz, such as Jazz-Funk, Hard Bop and Soul Jazz, using trumpets, saxophones, looped piano and double bass etc. Early jazz rap groups such as A Tribe Called Quest and Gang Starr initially balanced jazz with traditional hip hop evenly, but in just a few years artists such as Digable Planets and Guru (through his Jazzmatazz series) would introduce live jazz instrumentation as a focus. This live 'feel' would become an important trait of the music, sometimes showcasing improvised vocals or instrumental solos.
Lyrically, most MCs latched onto the idea of jazz as "cool" (Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) being a prime example) and pushed hip hop closer to street poetry, heavily engaging in slang and laid back attitudes that would best express this coolness. These lyrics generally downplay if not completely ignore materialistic themes, opting for Afrocentric and racially positive messages focusing on the past successes and failures of blacks (and to a lesser extent all people) and the ways that communities might succeed going forward.
Jerk Rap
Beats are sparse and tempo'd for jerkin' (the dance) and most songs involve raps about their skinny jeans and other fresh, colorful clothes; jerkin'/being a jerk; or incredibly pornographic raps. The scene and genre rose from a rejection of the typical black fashion style and attitude by mostly high school kids. Instead of dressing and acting like a gangsta, the teenagers put on skinny jeans and the modern interpretations of '80s clothes. Dance crews are commonplace in the jerk scene (Them P Rangers, UCLA Jerk Kings, Fla$hy Inc), and the music and attitude is all about staying positive, a return to the original attitude of Hip Hop. Jerk rap is also a direct descendant of Hyphy, although jerks make it clear they don't get hyphy, rejecting that as well. Notable artists of the jerk scene are New Boyz, Audio Push, and The Ranger$.
Jook
Jook is a style of Hip Hop that originated in the house parties and clubs of Tampa Bay in the early 2000s. It later expanded to Miami, whose scene invented an accompanying dance called jookin'.
Jook is characterized by a fast pace, and draws influence from Bounce, Miami Bass, and even some Dancehall elements. In the 2010s, jook evolved with artists like Ice Billion Berg and BallGreezy who started to slow down their sound. It also once gained international interest in 2017 with DJ Khaled's "To the Max".
Latin Rap
Latin rap is a style of Hip Hop primarily done in Spanish that incorporates Latin American Music elements into its sound. New York-based Puerto Rican crew The Mean Machine were pioneers, rapping in Spanish in their single “Disco Dream”, but it was the use of Latin American Music, from distinguishing Latin Pop samples to indigenous Latin American instrumentation, as well as a prouder display of diverse regional accents, that unified the genre.
In the West Coast, artists such as Mellow Man Ace, Frost, and Cypress Hill took the first steps in developing what would become Chicano Rap later. On the other hand, Puerto Rican Vico C brought the Latin rap sound from the East Coast to the Caribbean, rapping only in Spanish and embracing his accent and native slang.
In recent years, Latin rap has been exposed to a more global audience through artists such as Bad Bunny, whose tracks have charted internationally. Trap music’s increasing popularity in the modern hip hop scene has fostered the development of Latin trap, as well.
Lo-Fi Hip Hop
(also known as Lo-Fi Beats, Chill-Hop)
Lo-fi hip hop is a relaxed, Downtempo-influenced type of Instrumental Hip Hop which developed in the early 2010s with influence from Japanese producer Nujabes and American producer J Dilla. Unlike other common definitions of the term which have to do with equipment quality, the genre's "lo-fi" sound comes from the warm analogue crackles intentionally mixed in by producers to emulate the sound of vinyl records. Tracks commonly feature samples of Jazz piano, in conjunction with off-kilter beats as found in Wonky.
The genre would become popular on YouTube due to several 24-hour live streams, often labelled as "beats to relax or study to" and paired with anime and other Japanese-related imagery. In addition, it would gain a following on Spotify through their "Lo-Fi Beats" playlist.
Memphis Rap
Known for its darkness, heavy bass and fast flows, Memphis rap originated in the early nineties with the likes of DJ Squeeky, Al Kapone, and early Three 6 Mafia. In contrast to most styles of southern rap, Memphis rap is remarkably down-tempo and decidedly not party-oriented. Memphis rap rarely, if ever, samples old R&B or Rock songs, a practice that has become commonplace in southern rap. Sampling is confined mostly to movie sound-bites.
Memphis rap was crucial in the Horrorcore movement, as the genre's dark, sinister sound was perfectly suited for the style's frightening lyrics. Perhaps most notably, it was Memphis rap, along with Miami Bass, that laid the groundwork for Crunk.
The style fell out of popularity during the 2000s, with many rappers coming out of Memphis abandoning the genre in favor of a broader Southern Hip Hop sound, but the style was kept alive by rappers like Evil Pimp and Mr. Sche. In the early-mid 2010s, the genre underwent a popular underground revival as artists such as Lil Ugly Mane, SpaceGhostPurrp, and the Raider Klan posse gained popularity through music blogs.
Miami Bass
(also known as Booty Bass, Bass Music)
Miami bass is a dance oriented form of Hip Hop that originated from Miami in the mid to late 1980s. It is characterized by sustained Roland TR-808 kick drums and faster tempos, along with a distinct Electro influence. Lyrics are often sexually explicit, though instrumental tracks are also common. Audio engineer Amos Larkins II's work on mid-1980s singles such as "Bass Rock Express" has been regarded as helping to pioneer the sound of the genre.
While Miami bass's popularity did not exceed beyond the Florida club scene (with exceptions of some larger acts such as 2 Live Crew), the genre eventually inspired numerous Southern Hip Hop-affiliated music genres such as Trap and Crunk, as well as some forms of Electronic Dance Music. A more stripped-down off-shoot of the genre, Car Audio Bass, also emerged in the late 1980s.
Mobb Music
Mobb Music is a style of production that began in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was pioneered in the early '90s with producers such as Ant Banks and Khayree, building on the slowed down Funk (often utilizing live elements) of Too $hort and various local San Francisco MC's selling tapes on a DIY basis, such as E-40. By the mid '90s, a flourishing local scene had developed around San Francisco and Sacramento with a large regional Gangsta Rap scene, distinct from the Southern California sounds of G-Funk popularized by Dr. Dre.
Mobb Music itself usually has a slow tempo, heavily using synthesizers, deep bass and less usage of Parliament/Funkadelic samples than G-Funk and often using live-in-the-studio instrumentation.
Nerdcore
(also known as Geeksta Rap)
Originally coined by MC Frontalot, nerdcore is a form of Hip Hop with themes that touch on such nerd mainstays as science, computers and science fiction. Nerdcore beats are almost always made on consumer grade equipment and often sampling of video games or other technology is employed.
Phonk
Emerging from a pool of influences closely associated with the Memphis Rap revival of the early 2010s, phonk music quickly rose to popularity in online scenes, and Soundcloud in particular, where it's commonly made by producers from all over the globe.
Phonk implements into an Instrumental Hip Hop setting influences from a varied array of hip hop genres, including, but not limited to, drum programming and other prominent features of 2010s Trap music, the aforementioned percussion sounds and vocal samples of Memphis rap, and less prominently - Cloud Rap, Chopped and Screwed, and Lo-Fi Hip Hop's laid-back Jazz samples and Downtempo undertones. Certain other forms of Electronic music are occasionally present as well, in addition to influences and samples from other forms of classic Hip Hop, and Southern Hip Hop in particular, though influences from the West and East coast are also present, occasionally in the form of G-Funk-like Funk loops.
Even though different producers developed different visual styles with time, the genre commonly features surrealist, gothic imagery and titles, and psychedelic, distorted, DIY-esque graphics usually in pink or purple color palettes. These are sometimes meant to evoke a sense of nostalgia, as with other 2010s online trends.
While the term 'phonk' was originally popularized by SpaceGhostPurrp and the Raider Klan collective for their eerie, dark Memphis rap style, it quickly came to be used for an associated-yet-separate scene with a comparably lighter, more "screwed" and jazzier sound, originally spearheaded and popularized by DJ Smokey. Smokey helped to develop and define the sound of phonk throughout the mid and late 2010s along with later prominent figures such as DJ Yung Vamp, Soudiere, Mythic, Emune and SwuM.. Many YouTube-based mix makers became popular for promoting and compiling mixes of the genre, which typically feature surrealist imagery influenced by 1990s cartoons and other nostalgia-inducing visuals. Online labels and producer collectives dedicated to phonk, like Holy Mob and PURPLEPOSSE, formed in the mid-2010s with the genre's growing popularity.
Political Hip Hop
Political hip hop is a style of Hip Hop music that developed in the 1980s: Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five released the first well-known political rap single in 1982 called "The Message", which encouraged numerous hip hop artists to address social/political subjects.
The musical style refers to artists, who have overt political affiliations and agendas. It can also be used to include political artists of all ideological stripes: black nationalist (Public Enemy together with affiliates Ice Cube and Paris), Marxist (The Coup, Marxman), socialist (Dead Prez, Immortal Technique) and even anarchist (Emcee Lynx).
Pop Rap
Pop rap is a loosely defined term that refers to the fusion of hip hop's rapping with pop music elements such as melodious vocals and light, catchy tunes. While tracks often vary in sound, most of them stick to simple verse-chorus pop structures and lyrics are often more lighthearted and radio-friendly than other hip hop genres.
Such fusions can be found as early as the early 1980s, like the successful single "Wot! / Strawberry Dross". Certain early pop rap artists made hip hop with pop appeal by telling humorous stories in their lyrics, notably DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, and others, like Heavy D & The Boyz, brought hip hop's aggressive and macho lyricism to a more family-orientated place. Despite the presence of early examples, pop rap only became a prominent and established hip hop genre in the 90s and towards the end of the millennium, with artists such as Vanilla Ice and M.C. Hammer becoming increasingly popular. As hip hop broke out into the mainstream, more artists turned to pop rap and started incorporating sung hooks and lighter lyricism, including Hardcore Hip Hop artists like The Notorious B.I.G., Ja Rule and 2Pac. This turn resulted in plenty of rappers and hip hop acts in the 2000s, including Black Eyed Peas, Eminem, 50 Cent and Missy Elliott enjoying extreme chart success and wide mainstream attention.
In the 2010s pop rap became more popular, with many pop artists collaborating and working with rappers to create hits. Other key factors in the growth of pop rap include the introduction of auto-tune, a production technique which corrects singing, and the influence of artists such as Kanye West and Drake who experimented and expanded the realms of pop rap. As a result, pop rap maintains prominence in both underground and mainstream scenes, where it's often combined with genres like Trap and Contemporary R&B. Many pop rap artists also both sing and rap in their music.
Rap Rock
Rap Rock is the fusion of Hip Hop and Rock, often featuring the former’s rhythmic vocal delivery and the latter’s heavy, distorted instrumentation. The genre increased in popularity during the late 1980s, with Run-D.M.C.'s collaboration with Aerosmith on “Walk This Way” proving particularly successful, though it was with the rise of Nu Metal in the 1990s that Rap Rock’s fanbase peaked. This style typically combined certain styles of Alternative Rock with Hip Hop beats, as well as the occasional use of Turntablism, as seen in the music of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. Hip Hop’s flirtation with Rock music precedes the common usage of this term, however, with Beastie Boys coming from a Punk Rock background and Public Enemy sampling from Heavy Metal, though both remained more deeply rooted in straightforward Hip Hop than those labelled Rap Rock.
Snap
Snap is a style of club music first made popular in Atlanta, Georgia that later gained nationwide popularity through groups such as D4L and Ying Yang Twins. It is characterized by prominent 808 bass and finger snaps, with lyrics rarely venturing away from nightclub topics (such as sex, drugs and alcohol). The genre is similar to Crunk, albeit with a less violent, dance-oriented atmosphere.
Southern Hip Hop
Within the hip hop community the south was the last region to gain any real critical acceptance, and this fact weighs heavily on both the lyrical direction and production aesthetic of many albums released in the 1990s. However, the south can be traced slightly further back to Miami Bass, in particular 2 Live Crew. Because of this root in bass-oriented music, the low-end has been emphasized in most southern hip-hop beyond most productions from other regions, especially the TR-808 synthesizer.
Productions are also noticeably southern in sound, utilizing samples of southern-bred soul artists as well as touches of southern style guitar and brass instruments. Vocally, southern artists often (but not always) rap much slower than their counterparts in other regions, keeping their lyrics simple and heavily informed by regional slang.
Trap
Trap music is a form of Hip Hop originating in Atlanta in the early 2000s. While trap is diverse stylistically, it is united by its distinctive fast hi-hat sound and heavy bass at moderate tempos. Trap has its roots in Southern Hip Hop, particularly the Atlanta scene, stretching back to the 1990s. "Trap" is a slang term denoting a place where drugs are sold; it can be heard in songs such as OutKast's 1998 song "SpottieOttieDopaliscious". However, it was T.I.'s 2003 album Trap Muzik that first coined "trap music" as a description of a style of music, and trap is usually said to begin with this album. Along with T.I., Jeezy and Gucci Mane are also considered early pioneers in trap. These rappers mixed 808-driven beats with fast hi-hats with lyrics dealing with drug dealing, gang activity, and other topics characteristic of Gangsta Rap. The new style was less dance-oriented than Crunk and somewhat less aggressive than Dirty South.
Towards 2010, trap began to change stylistically as rappers such as Waka Flocka Flame of influential trap label 1017 Brick Squad Records, began producing music in the style. In particular Waka Flocka Flame's album Flockaveli, much of it produced by Lex Luger, is considered a landmark in the genre, inaugurating a more aggressive form of the style. This style was to become very popular in trap for the next few years and exerted much influence on later trap. This style particularly had an influence in Chicago, where it led to the emergence of Drill.
However, starting in about 2012, a more melodic, atmospheric form of trap began to take shape. Future's 2012 single "Turn On the Lights", produced by Mike WiLL Made It, was a trailblazer of the style, with its repetitive, catchy synthesizer riffs, its atmospheric, melancholic synth background, and Future's melodic, sing-song rapping. Later rappers such as Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, Rich Homie Quan, and Lil Yachty, as well as producers such as London on da Track and Metro Boomin, continued in this style, to much commercial success. This style may also include samples of acoustic instrumentation or acoustic-sounding instrumentation in a more atmospheric style than earlier trap music, including pianos in much of Zaytoven's work and flute in Future's 2017 song "Mask Off" produced by Metro Boomin.
While many famous trap rappers still come from Atlanta, trap's reach has become global due to its commercial success, and it has inspired music in genres outside of hip hop as well. Beginning in 2010, trap inspired a form of Electronic Dance Music known as Trap EDM, which took influence from trap instrumentation and rhythms and combined it with elements of Dubstep and Moombahton. By 2015, trap had become an incredible commercial force, with multiple trap songs crossing over to mainstream audiences. Additionally, trap instrumentation became influential in Pop music, initially in independent releases such as Purity Ring's 2012 Shrines and crossing over to hugely successful pop stars such as Rihanna and Katy Perry by 2013. In the late 2010s, sounds derived from trap, most prominently including fast hi-hats, are very common in pop music as a whole. Trap has also been influential in Contemporary R&B, particularly in Alternative R&B. Major alternative R&B artists such as The Weeknd often use trap-derived instrumentation as well as collaborating with trap artists such as Future. Other artists such as Bryson Tiller and Post Malone fuse alternative R&B and trap, resulting in a style sometimes called "trap soul."
Trap Metal
(also known as Hardcore Trap, Industrial Trap)
Trap Metal is a subgenre of Trap pioneered in the mid 2010s by rappers such as BONES, Sybyr and XXXTentacion. The genre's sound is defined by trap rap percussion with loud, distorted 808s and aggressive vocals that are usually yelled or screamed. It's not uncommon for producers to sample (or occasionally, play) Metal inspired guitar loops in their beats, although it is not a necessary component of the genre. Trap metal reached mainstream prominence in early 2017 with the success of the single "Look at Me!" and has since become a popular form of trap music.
Tread
Tread music is a subgenre of Trap that originated in Philadelphia in the mid-2010s from the work of production collective Working on Dying. Tread is characterized by high-tempo production, which exceeds trap's 140 BPM range and is usually set around 160 to 190, icy synths, busier drum programming with distinctive 808 patterns, often implementing off-beat hi-hats in addition to trap's triplets and a fast style of lethargic rapping. It's also common for producers to incorporate influences from Cloud Rap such as dragged, lush synth pads and reverb-heavy production. Certain producers emphasise raw, lo-fi mixing, further adding to the harsh, rough sound of tread. Many tracks are short in length, often not being longer than three minutes, and it's not uncommon for rappers to make tracks without hooks at all. Tread grew alongside other internet-era rap trends and genres and is typically made with a DIY, independent intent, which is reflected in sloppily designed covers, chaotic, rampant low-budget music videos and rappers who often freestyle their lyrics or write them in a short amount of time.
Tread became a prominent sound in underground scenes, particularly in SoundCloud due to the popularity of the music of rappers such as Black Kray and Chxpo, both of whom were associated with Working on Dying. Tread was first exposed to a wider audience in 2017 when "Overwhelming" went viral. The term "tread" was coined by Bootychaaain, named after its high-tempo, rhythm-centered production. Tread was mostly associated with its local scene in Philadelphia and surrounding areas in its early years but soon began to spread across to other places in and outside the United States during the late 2010s.
Turntablism
Developing out of production techniques in the studio and on the stage, turntablism is the process of manipulating and re-appropriating vinyl records using a turntable and DJ mixer. Artists who focus specifically on this genre emphasize a use of scratching and beat juggling to mix two or more recordings into original, unique tracks. While artists like Invisibl Skratch Piklz and DJ Q-Bert helped the genre explode in the mid-1990s, many turntable techniques can be traced back to the very earliest Hip Hop DJs such as Grand Wizard Theodore.
UK Drill
UK drill is a style of Drill that originated in the South London district of Brixton in the 2010s. It later expanded to the whole Greater London region. There are several characteristics of UK drill that set it aside from US drill, most notably a deeper bass and a faster and more complex rhythm which denotes a Grime influence in the production. Contrary to American drill rappers, UK drill rappers almost never use autotune.
The lyrics are very violent and deal with boasting, drug dealing and gang violence, to the point that it has been accused by the media, academics and public officials of being dangerous. Defenders of the genre claim that the genre only reflects the artists’ environments and is rather a product of violence than its origin. Some artists have faced censorship, with their music videos being removed from YouTube, or with being prohibited by court order from mentioning certain topics or certain postcodes in a "gang context" in their songs.
It was particularly pioneered by producer Carns Hill and rappers such as 67, 150, 410, K-Trap and Harlem Spartans. Attention was brought to the genre with songs such as 67’s "Lets Lurk" and SL’s "Gentleman". Big Shaq's humoristic "Man's Not Hot" even ended up achieving global interest. Since then UK drill has spread across the planet, with artists such as Sydney's Onefour and Brooklyn's Pop Smoke finding success using the sound, as well as it inspiring a scene of drill rappers in Ireland.
UK Hip Hop
(also known as British Rap, Brithop)
The UK Hip Hop scene emerged in the 1980s, with many early acts paying homage to American heroes such as Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five or Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force, crafting Electro epics for the dance floor (examples being Broken Glass and Newtrament). These artists would imitate their heroes heavily prior to groups such as London Posse, who rapped in their native accents and thus creating truly British, unique hip hop.
By the 1990s, the UK had progressed to a denser, more aggressive style similar to Public Enemy termed Britcore and eagerly moved beyond imitating American accents and inflections. This coincided with a growing trend: the use of patois, a form of Caribbean slang used in Yardie and Rastafarian culture. This different slang lexicon helps differentiate some UK artists from other regions.
UK hip hop was mostly supplanted in popularity in the mid-2000s with the emergence of Grime, an urban Electronic Dance Music style heavily influenced by UK Garage and hip hop.
West Coast Hip Hop
West Coast hip hop refers to Hip Hop artists who originate from the West Coast region of the United States. While there is no single defining sound, many different styles exist that developed from the sub-regions of the area. An early landmark of the genre was in 1981, when Duffy Hooks launched the first West Coast rap label, Rappers Rapp Records, with its first act being the duo of Disco Daddy and Captain Rapp with their debut single "Gigolo Rapp". Unlike their East Coast counterparts, the sound emerging from the West Coast was more fast-paced and influenced by Electronic music as exemplified by acts such as World Class Wreckin Cru and Egyptian Lover in the early to mid 1980s. This could be largely credited to the fact that the early local West Coast hip hop scene revolved more around DJing than rapping.
The late 1980s saw the rise of Gangsta Rap as a response to the East Coast's Hardcore Hip Hop with the seminal act N.W.A and rapper Ice-T focusing on life and adversities in South Los Angeles. This subgenre began to dominate radio play and sales during the early 1990s with the birth of G-Funk and the emergence of Dr. Dre's Death Row Records. Around this time, the Mobb Music style of production was developing in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento popularized by artists including Too $hort and E-40 with a strong G-Funk influence and similar subject matter to gangsta rap. The 2000s saw the rise of the Hyphy scene in the Bay Area which was more uptempo and club-oriented than its predecessor and maintained popularity in the mainstream throughout the 2010s in the form of Jerk Rap with producers like DJ Mustard.
Many underground West Coast hip hop scenes emerged during the 1990s that provided an alternative to the gangsta themed lyrics prevalent in the mainstream, most notably the Hieroglyphics collective in Oakland and the freestyle scene associated with Freestyle Fellowship and the Project Blowed crew in Los Angeles. The late 2000s saw the rise of the L.A. beat scene centered around the Low End Theory nightclub in Los Angeles that consisted of a loose collective of producers who would frequent the venue specializing in Instrumental Hip Hop, Glitch Hop and Wonky music.
Definitions courtesy of rateyourmusic.com