Electro-hop
Encyclopedia
Electro hop is the fusion of electro, electroclash
, electropop, electronica
, or electronic dance music
with hip hop
. The music usually has dancing in mind, however some forms of the music are electronica
. The electro hop movement came about after the underground electro movement on the East Coast gained popularity with artists such as Mantronix
, Man Parrish
, Jonzun Crew
, Newcleus
, Planet Patrol
etc. The electro sound was pioneered by Yellow Magic Orchestra
in 1980, and further developed by Kraftwerk
and Universal Zulu Nation
leader and hip hop godfather Afrika Bambaataa
. This style of hip hop began with an underground fanbase based primarily in Southern California
; however, today electro hop artists can be found across the United States.
Electro hop music typically features harsher synthesizer sounds than other styles of hip hop, often utilizing heavily distorted lead and bass sounds, as well as "bleep"-ing square leads and abrasive digital brass effects. Drum sequencing is typically more minimal than other genres, and frequently has characteristic segments where the kick drum stops or is shortened and a march-style snare pattern prevails for 2 or more bars before returning to a typical kick drum-dominated hip hop beat.
. It slowly faded from mainstream throughout the 1990s
. Alonzo Williams was one of the early DJs on the West Coast and many consider him the godfather of West Coast hip hop. He helped usher in the electro hop scene. His Eve After Dark nightclub was important to the future of west coast hip hop and was pivotal in creating the careers of Dr. Dre
and DJ Yella
along with a lot of other west coast hip hop talent getting noticed. The nightclub is also famous for being the place where Eazy-E
met experienced rock manager Jerry Heller
who was interested in the underground electro hop movement who in that period managed World Class Wreckin Cru, Egyptian Lover and a few others. The meeting of Jerry Heller and Eazy-E which led to their partnership and the formation of Ruthless Records and the rise of gangsta rap
.
The acts who represented electro hop were artists such as Egyptian Lover
, LA Dream Team
, World Class Wreckin Cru, The Unknown DJ
and even some of Ice-T
’s early records before he fully glorified gangsta rap
the hip hop genre that would become the main trademark of West Coast rap. Other artists who represented the electro hop scene included Chris "The Glove" Taylor, Uncle Jamm's Army
and Ice Cube
, when he was in the group C.I.A.
.
All artists typically blended a fusion of electronic
music
popularised by electronic pioneers Kraftwerk
as well as using elements of the electro scene that was dominated by their East Coast counterparts using some elements of old school hip hop
typically party-jam based lyrics along with some love
-ballad
influenced sounds with more emphasis on a heavy bass sound than their East Coast and Southern counterparts particularly used by the more popular electro hop acts of that 1984-1986 period World Class Wreckin Cru.
The World Class Wreckin Cru’s most well-known and best selling song Turn Off The Lights was a slow-moving electro ballad that would do reasonably well on the mainstream charts and helped electro hop gain some moderate, if brief, mainstream success. This was produced by Dre and Yella before they left the World Class Wreckin Cru over money disputes.
By the late 1980s the electro hop movement went into decline as a controversial new hip hop
genre was developing on the West Coast: gangsta rap. This was pioneered by Ice-T and popularized by controversial and influential group N.W.A. Although artists such as Arabian Prince
who at one time was a founding member of the N.W.A and Alonzo Williams the founder of the World Class Wreckin Cru released a solo album Phases In Life after Dr. Dre
and DJ Yella
left the World Class Wreckin Cru to join NWA were still bringing out electro hop music. The Unknown DJ like Dr Dre and Yella would embrace the gangsta rap genre producing for gangsta rap artists such as Compton's Most Wanted
, The D.O.C, J.J. Fad, Above The Law
and would reinvent hip hop and change the landscape of hip hop forever.
However, the sound/music production of some early N.W.A material particularly for their first album N.W.A And The Posse were very the roots of the World Class Wreckin Cru with the electro hop/dance/club based sound. The early N.W.A had less of the stripped down, raw sound that the group were known for. Their landmark album Straight Outta Compton
is where they rejected the electro hop sound with the exception of the song Something 2 Dance 2 on the Straight Outta Compton album. Arabian Prince an early member of N.W.A who performed on N.W.A and The Posse and Straight Outta Compton would leave the group and continue his electro hop roots on solo albums with limited success.
Even though the electro hop sound went into decline, the sound became influential in the development of G-Funk
and various other hip hop genres. It is also influential to many hip hop producers including The Neptunes. Artists such as Egyptian Lover still perform music today and continue their cult legacy.
evolved as a more advanced version of disco music (just as disco was a more 'technologically' advanced version of jazz
and funk
), incorporating spoken rhymes as the main vocals (otherwise known as MCing).
After the collapse of disco
, hip hop slowly progressed as more of a vocal form of music, very popular amongst R&B and jazz
listeners. This led on to hip hop music
adopting R&B vocals and vice versa, within the same track of music, hence a new style of (relatively 'underground') music formed called 'Contemporary R&B
'. As soon as the new style of R&B incorporated the more beat-based, almost 'robotic' vocal style of 'rap
', R&B listeners saw this as more of a clubby, seemingly futuristic edge to the older style.
R&B and post-disco
club DJs and (eventually) artists saw this reportedly 'robotic' and 'futuristic' style, blending synthpop
, disco
, psychedelic
and space rock
elements with contemporary R&B
, paving the way (later) for more newer styles, such as eurodance
, drawing in on the earlier space disco
and italo disco
sound.
These fusions of R&B with disco-rock started to occur around about the same time Kraftwerk
started to use breakbeat emulation in their music, their style was known as electrofunk.
Hip hop
artists (such as Afrika Bambaataa
) started to blend instrumental hip hop instrumentation and rap vocals with electrofunk. That style is what became known as 'electro hop'.
Contemporary R&B
was later incorporated into a fusion of electrofunk, pop
and synthpop
. This style became known as electropop, and recently has adopted electronic-styled rap (in other words, 'electro hop') vocals.
Electronic dance music
in general has been noted for its use of robotic rap
and R&B vocals. As this is so, both hip hop
and contemporary R&B
music have been the biggest influence, vocally, on EDM
, and vice versa (hence the electronica
and EDM sounds introduced into 'electro hop'. Therefore, it can easily be said that electro hop is the genre that connects modern hip hop to EDM.
Contemporary R&B and the house
genre UK garage
often crossover with electro hop, both being influenced by hip house
and many kinds of rave music
. Later adopting the sounds of synthpunk
and gangsta rap
, to generate its subgenre, grime music. Similarly, dubstep
and drum n bass has adopted rap and contemporary R&B vocals and musical conventions, mimicking the development and sounds of electro hop, hip house
, bassline
, psychedelic rock
, breakbeat hardcore
and acid house
.
and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo
also helped to give the genre greater exposure to the mainstream audience.
Electroclash
Electroclash is a style of music that fuses New Wave and electronic dance music. It emerged in New York and Detroit in the later 1990s, pioneered by acts including I-F and those associated with Gerald Donald, and is associated with acts including Peaches, Adult, and Fischerspooner...
, electropop, electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, or electronic dance music
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
with hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
. The music usually has dancing in mind, however some forms of the music are electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
. The electro hop movement came about after the underground electro movement on the East Coast gained popularity with artists such as Mantronix
Mantronix
Mantronix was an influential 1980s hip hop and electro funk music group founded by DJ Kurtis Mantronik , and rapper MC Tee...
, Man Parrish
Man Parrish
Man Parrish is an American composer, songwriter, vocalist and producer. He, along with artists such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Art of Noise, Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, John Robie, Jellybean Benitez and Aldo Marin helped create and define electro in the early 1980s...
, Jonzun Crew
Jonzun Crew
Jonzun Crew was an electro and early funk/hip hop group that was active in the 1980s. The group was led by Michael Jonzun, his brothers Maurice Starr and Soni Jonzun, and Carl ....
, Newcleus
Newcleus
Newcleus is an American electro and old school hip hop group that gained popularity in the early 1980s. They are primarily known for their 12-inch singles "Jam-On's Revenge", re-released as "Jam on Revenge " , and "Jam on It" ....
, Planet Patrol
Planet Patrol
Planet Patrol is an American electro group from the 1980s. The members were Arthur Baker, John Robie, and a quintet of vocalists led by Herbert J. Jackson: lead singer Joseph Lites, Rodney Butler, Michael Anthony Jones, and the late Melvin Franklin...
etc. The electro sound was pioneered by Yellow Magic Orchestra
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Sakamoto first worked with Hosono as a member of his live band in 1976, while Takahashi recruited Sakamoto to produce his debut solo recording in 1977 following the split of the Sadistic Mika Band...
in 1980, and further developed by Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
and Universal Zulu Nation
Universal Zulu Nation
|rightThe Universal Zulu Nation is an international hip hop awareness group formed and headed by hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. Originally known simply as the Organization, it arose in the 1970s as reformed New York City gang members began to organize cultural events for youths, combining local...
leader and hip hop godfather Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...
. This style of hip hop began with an underground fanbase based primarily in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
; however, today electro hop artists can be found across the United States.
Electro hop music typically features harsher synthesizer sounds than other styles of hip hop, often utilizing heavily distorted lead and bass sounds, as well as "bleep"-ing square leads and abrasive digital brass effects. Drum sequencing is typically more minimal than other genres, and frequently has characteristic segments where the kick drum stops or is shortened and a march-style snare pattern prevails for 2 or more bars before returning to a typical kick drum-dominated hip hop beat.
History
The electro hop movement began and remained prominent during the 1980s1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
. It slowly faded from mainstream throughout the 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
. Alonzo Williams was one of the early DJs on the West Coast and many consider him the godfather of West Coast hip hop. He helped usher in the electro hop scene. His Eve After Dark nightclub was important to the future of west coast hip hop and was pivotal in creating the careers of Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...
and DJ Yella
DJ Yella
DJ Yella is the stage name of Antoine Carraby , a DJ, drummer, music producer, film director and pornographer from Compton, California. He was a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru along with Dr. Dre. He later became a founding member of the pioneering gangsta rap group N.W.A...
along with a lot of other west coast hip hop talent getting noticed. The nightclub is also famous for being the place where Eazy-E
Eazy-E
Eric Lynn Wright , better known by his stage name Eazy-E, was an American rapper who performed solo and in the hip hop group N.W.A. Wright was born to Richard and Kathie Wright in Compton, California...
met experienced rock manager Jerry Heller
Jerry Heller
Jerry Heller is best known for managing West Coast rap group N.W.A. and rapper Eazy-E. He is co-founder and CEO of Ruthless Records. Heller managed War, Average White Band, Marvin Gaye, Michel'le, A.L.T...
who was interested in the underground electro hop movement who in that period managed World Class Wreckin Cru, Egyptian Lover and a few others. The meeting of Jerry Heller and Eazy-E which led to their partnership and the formation of Ruthless Records and the rise of gangsta rap
Gangsta rap
Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
.
The acts who represented electro hop were artists such as Egyptian Lover
Egyptian Lover
Greg Broussard , better known by his stage name Egyptian Lover is an American musician, vocalist, producer and DJ, and was an important part of the L.A. dance music and rap scene in the early 1980s....
, LA Dream Team
LA Dream Team
The LA Dream Team were a hip hop group based in Los Angeles, California, active 1985-1989, 1993, and 1996. They are known for being one of the early hip hop acts on the West Coast and one of the pioneers of the West Coast electro hop scene.-History:...
, World Class Wreckin Cru, The Unknown DJ
The Unknown DJ
The Unknown DJ, born Andre Manuel, is one of the pioneers of West Coast hip hop. He first started produced electro hop tracks that came out under his own name, the most popular probably being "Basstronic", "808 Beats" and "Let's Jam". He also produced several tracks for Ice-T, among them his first...
and even some of Ice-T
ICE-T
* Ice-T, an American rapper and actor* ICE T , a tilting model of the German InterCityExpress series of high-speed trains...
’s early records before he fully glorified gangsta rap
Gangsta rap
Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
the hip hop genre that would become the main trademark of West Coast rap. Other artists who represented the electro hop scene included Chris "The Glove" Taylor, Uncle Jamm's Army
Uncle Jamm's Army
Uncle Jamm's Army is a former American hip hop crew based in Los Angeles, California in the 1980s. Their singles "What's Your Sign", "Dial-a-Freak", and "Yes, Yes, Yes" were influential to the electro, old school hip hop, and early-West Coast hip hop genres....
and Ice Cube
Ice Cube
O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...
, when he was in the group C.I.A.
C.I.A. (group)
C.I.A. was a hip hop group, which consisted of K-Dee, Sir Jinx and Ice Cube.The group began playing at parties organized by Dr. Dre, a member of a popular local hip-hop group called World Class Wreckin' Cru. C.I.A. was credited for backing vocals on the WCWC song "Cabbage Patch". Ice Cube and Dr....
.
All artists typically blended a fusion of electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
popularised by electronic pioneers Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
as well as using elements of the electro scene that was dominated by their East Coast counterparts using some elements of old school hip hop
Old school hip hop
Old school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...
typically party-jam based lyrics along with some love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
-ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
influenced sounds with more emphasis on a heavy bass sound than their East Coast and Southern counterparts particularly used by the more popular electro hop acts of that 1984-1986 period World Class Wreckin Cru.
The World Class Wreckin Cru’s most well-known and best selling song Turn Off The Lights was a slow-moving electro ballad that would do reasonably well on the mainstream charts and helped electro hop gain some moderate, if brief, mainstream success. This was produced by Dre and Yella before they left the World Class Wreckin Cru over money disputes.
By the late 1980s the electro hop movement went into decline as a controversial new hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
genre was developing on the West Coast: gangsta rap. This was pioneered by Ice-T and popularized by controversial and influential group N.W.A. Although artists such as Arabian Prince
Arabian Prince
Arabian Prince is the stage name of Mik Lezan , a rapper and hip hop producer, best known for being an original member of the rap group, N.W.A.-Biography:...
who at one time was a founding member of the N.W.A and Alonzo Williams the founder of the World Class Wreckin Cru released a solo album Phases In Life after Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...
and DJ Yella
DJ Yella
DJ Yella is the stage name of Antoine Carraby , a DJ, drummer, music producer, film director and pornographer from Compton, California. He was a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru along with Dr. Dre. He later became a founding member of the pioneering gangsta rap group N.W.A...
left the World Class Wreckin Cru to join NWA were still bringing out electro hop music. The Unknown DJ like Dr Dre and Yella would embrace the gangsta rap genre producing for gangsta rap artists such as Compton's Most Wanted
Compton's Most Wanted
Compton's Most Wanted is an American gangsta rap group and one of the pioneers of the West Coast Hip Hop scene still performing today on independent labels. The leader of the group was MC Eiht.-Biography:...
, The D.O.C, J.J. Fad, Above The Law
Above the Law
Above the Law may refer to:*legibus solutus, doctrine of Roman Law*Above the Law , a law blog*Righting Wrongs, a 1986 Hong Kong film titled "Above the Law" for international release...
and would reinvent hip hop and change the landscape of hip hop forever.
However, the sound/music production of some early N.W.A material particularly for their first album N.W.A And The Posse were very the roots of the World Class Wreckin Cru with the electro hop/dance/club based sound. The early N.W.A had less of the stripped down, raw sound that the group were known for. Their landmark album Straight Outta Compton
Straight Outta Compton
The lyrics on the album were mainly written by Ice Cube and MC Ren. Critics of the album expressed their view that the record glamorized Black-on-Black crime, but the emcees stated that the group was simply showing the reality of living in the areas of Compton, California, and South Central Los...
is where they rejected the electro hop sound with the exception of the song Something 2 Dance 2 on the Straight Outta Compton album. Arabian Prince an early member of N.W.A who performed on N.W.A and The Posse and Straight Outta Compton would leave the group and continue his electro hop roots on solo albums with limited success.
Even though the electro hop sound went into decline, the sound became influential in the development of G-Funk
G-funk
G-funk, or Gangsta-funk, is a sub-genre of hip hop music that emerged from Westcoast gangsta rap in the early 1990s. G-funk incorporates multi-layered and melodic synthesizers, slow hypnotic grooves, a deep bass, background female vocals, the extensive sampling of P-funk tunes, and a high-pitched...
and various other hip hop genres. It is also influential to many hip hop producers including The Neptunes. Artists such as Egyptian Lover still perform music today and continue their cult legacy.
Electronic dance music
Originally, hip hopHip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
evolved as a more advanced version of disco music (just as disco was a more 'technologically' advanced version of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
), incorporating spoken rhymes as the main vocals (otherwise known as MCing).
After the collapse of disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, hip hop slowly progressed as more of a vocal form of music, very popular amongst R&B and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
listeners. This led on to hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
adopting R&B vocals and vice versa, within the same track of music, hence a new style of (relatively 'underground') music formed called 'Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
'. As soon as the new style of R&B incorporated the more beat-based, almost 'robotic' vocal style of 'rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
', R&B listeners saw this as more of a clubby, seemingly futuristic edge to the older style.
R&B and post-disco
Post-disco
Post-disco refers to a historically significant period in popular music history beginning with the commercial death of disco music in the late 1970s and ending with the mainstream appearance of house music in late 1980s.The stripped-down musical trends followed from the DJ- and producer-driven,...
club DJs and (eventually) artists saw this reportedly 'robotic' and 'futuristic' style, blending synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
, disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, psychedelic
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
and space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
elements with contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
, paving the way (later) for more newer styles, such as eurodance
Eurodance
Eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s or early 1990s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from House, Techno, Hi-NRG and especially Italo-Disco...
, drawing in on the earlier space disco
Space disco
Space disco is a term used to describe the fusion of disco music with futuristic themes, sounds and visuals, which was popular in the late 1970s...
and italo disco
Italo disco
Italo disco encompasses much of the dance music output in Europe during the 1980s. It is one of the world's first forms of mostly electronic dance music and evolved during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe...
sound.
These fusions of R&B with disco-rock started to occur around about the same time Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
started to use breakbeat emulation in their music, their style was known as electrofunk.
Hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
artists (such as Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...
) started to blend instrumental hip hop instrumentation and rap vocals with electrofunk. That style is what became known as 'electro hop'.
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
was later incorporated into a fusion of electrofunk, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
. This style became known as electropop, and recently has adopted electronic-styled rap (in other words, 'electro hop') vocals.
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
in general has been noted for its use of robotic rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
and R&B vocals. As this is so, both hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
music have been the biggest influence, vocally, on EDM
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
, and vice versa (hence the electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
and EDM sounds introduced into 'electro hop'. Therefore, it can easily be said that electro hop is the genre that connects modern hip hop to EDM.
Contemporary R&B and the house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
genre UK garage
UK garage
UK garage is a genre of electronic dance music originating from the United Kingdom in the early-1990s. UK garage is a descendant of house music which originated in Chicago and New York, United States. UK garage usually features a distinctive syncopated 4/4 percussive rhythm with 'shuffling'...
often crossover with electro hop, both being influenced by hip house
Hip house
Hip house, also known as house rap, is a musical genre that mixes elements of house music and hip-hop. The style rose to prominence during the 1980s in New York and Chicago...
and many kinds of rave music
Rave music
Rave music may either refer the late 1980s genre or any genre of electronic dance music that may be played at an electronic dance party such as a rave. Very rarely, the term is used to refer to less electronic related genres glam, powerpop, psychedelic rock and dub music parties...
. Later adopting the sounds of synthpunk
Synthpunk
Synthpunk is a music genre combining elements of electronic music and punk rock. The term was coined by Damian Ramsey in 1999 as an attempt to retroactively identify a small sub-genre of punk music from 1977 to 1984 that involved musicians playing synthesizers in place of electric...
and gangsta rap
Gangsta rap
Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
, to generate its subgenre, grime music. Similarly, dubstep
Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
and drum n bass has adopted rap and contemporary R&B vocals and musical conventions, mimicking the development and sounds of electro hop, hip house
Hip house
Hip house, also known as house rap, is a musical genre that mixes elements of house music and hip-hop. The style rose to prominence during the 1980s in New York and Chicago...
, bassline
Bassline house
Bassline is a type of music related to UK garage that originated from speed garage, and shares characteristics with fellow subgenres dubstep and grime for their emphasis on bass. The style originated in Sheffield around 2002....
, psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore is a derivative of the acid house and techno, of the late 1980s and early 1990s, that combines four-to-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats, and is associated with the UK rave scene.-The rave scene:...
and acid house
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
.
Exposure
"Eve After Dark" was a nightclub formed in 1979 which gave electro hop exposure. However probably the most important thing to give the west coast hip hop exposure not just for electro hop but beyond would be K-Day the first hip hop radio station to play total non-stop hip hop 24/7 ran by influential DJ Greg Mack. K-Day not only gave electro hop exposure it also helped to get exposure for a lot of early gangsta-rap records and was influential in getting gangsta-rap off the ground as no other radio station would touch gangsta rap due to its lyrical content and seemingly violent nature. K-Day and Greg Mack helped to launch Eazy-E's career as Boyz N The Hood suddenly rose from an underground hit in Compton to increase of record sales due to the consistent record playing of the single on K-Day which help reach to a wider audience. Films such as Breakin'Breakin'
Breakin', released as Breakdance: The Movie in some countries, is a 1984 breakdancing-themed film directed by Joel Silberg. The film setting was inspired by a German documentary entitled Breakin' and Enterin set in the Los Angeles multi-racial hip hop club Radiotron, based out of Macarthur Park in...
and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo is the 1984 sequel to the breakdancing film Breakin. It was first released in the same year as its predecessor by TriStar Pictures, and by Cannon Films the year after...
also helped to give the genre greater exposure to the mainstream audience.
Related genres
- ElectroElectro (music)Electro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of TR-808 drum machines, Moog keytar synthesizers and funk sampling...
- Hip hopHip hopHip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
- SynthpopSynthpopSynthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
- FreestyleFreestyle musicFreestyle or Latin freestyle, sometimes referred to as Latin hip hop, is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1980s. Mostly popular during the mid 80s to the early 90s...
- DanceDance musicDance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
- Hip houseHip houseHip house, also known as house rap, is a musical genre that mixes elements of house music and hip-hop. The style rose to prominence during the 1980s in New York and Chicago...
- Electro house
- Trip hopTrip hopTrip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
- CrunkCrunkCrunk is a music style that originated in Memphis, Tennessee in the mid-to-late 1990s and gained mainstream success around 2003–2004. Performers of crunk music are sometimes referred to as crunksters. An archetypal crunk track most frequently uses a drum machine rhythm, heavy bassline, and...
- HyphyHyphyThe word hyphy is Conor Devlin's preferred short word meaning "hyperactive." It was created by Bay Area rapper Keak Da Sneak when he used the term on an album he recorded in 1994. From the USA Today article: "Every record label was getting at us at that time, but we fumbled the ball," says E-40,...
- Baltimore clubBaltimore ClubBaltimore club, also called "Bmore Club" or "Club Music" is a breakbeat genre. As blend with hip hop and chopped, staccato house music, it was created in Baltimore, Maryland, United States in the late 1980s by 2 Live Crew's Luther Campbell, Frank Ski, Big Tony , Scottie B...
External links
- West Coast Pioneers
- [ Allmusic Overview]