Hip-Hop

Inner-urban ghettos in the US have acted as the incubator for a number of musical developments including hip-hop. Afro-American and Latin youths in these areas developed a form of live performance music free of the need to own expensive musical instruments. At neighbourhood dances record players were utilised by DJs to play backing music (mostly disco and funk records) over which MCs would rap (spoken word vocals which had been utilized in funk). The ‘decks’ were also turned into a kind of percussive instrument by DJs ‘cutting and scratching’. Sampling of old records made new recordings lo-fi. Subject matter of raps was anything from personal self-aggrandising to political protest at the conditions of ghetto life.

Recording of hip-hop started in the late 70s (beginning in New York) and proliferated in the 80s. Finally by the 90s hip-hop was a world-wide phenomenon embraced by youth of many cultures. Key acts to contribute to the development or promotion of hip-hop include The Sugar Hill Gang, Grand Master Flash, Public Enemy, Ice-T, LL Cool-J, De La Soul, Salt N Peppa, Cyprus Hill, The Fugees, Wu Tang Clan, 2-Pac, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 1200 Techniques. Hip-Hop has had an impact on contemporary soul and on house.