Music / Styles A–Z / Rap and bass · 16 of 35
Hip-hop
Hip-hop grew up in New York City in the early 1970s, where DJ Kool Herc stretched the breaks of funk records. Rapping is its voice; the DJ, scratching and beatboxing are its other marks.
- Where and when
- The Bronx, New York, early 1970s
- Tempo
- Not fixed by the style
- Played on
- Voice, turntables, mixer, drum machine, sampler, synthesizer
- Lesson
- Rap and bass →
What it is
Hip-hop, or rap, grew up with its culture in New York City in the early 1970s. Rapping is its defining voice; the DJ, turntablism, scratching and beatboxing are its other marks. At a party his sister Cindy Campbell hosted at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, DJ Kool Herc began stretching the instrumental breaks of funk records by crossfading between two copies of the same disc.
For the producer. The music began as other people's breaks, looped. When samplers, synthesizers and drum machines became affordable in the 1980s, machines such as the Akai MPC 2000, the Linn 9000 and the Roland TR-808, launched in 1980, became its tools.
The records that made it
From the lesson Rap and bass, where the sources are listed · links open a search
- 1979King Tim III (Personality Jock)The Fatback Band · Generally taken as the first commercially released rap song.
- 1979Rapper's DelightThe Sugarhill Gang · Rapped over a re-recording of Chic's Good Times.
- 1980The BreaksKurtis Blow · The first hip-hop single certified gold.
- 1982The MessageGrandmaster Flash and the Furious Five · Opened the way for politically conscious rap.
Hip-hop in this month’s records
New releases the press we read wrote about, tagged hip-hop on MusicBrainz · updated with every build
- Album · 11.06 · hip hopSWALLOW!Shygirl
Single · 11.02 · downtempo · edmddrYaeji
Album · 10.30 · electronic · grimeSongs For SinnersMoses Boyd
Album · 10.30 · hip hop · trapBETTER OVER TIMEBigXthaPlug
- Album · 10.30 · reggaeton · latinLA POSTALDaddy Yankee
Album · 10.23 · soul · neo soulMuseJohn Legend