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{{Short description|Rhythmic music accompanied by rap}}
{{About|the musical genre|its cultural origins|Hip-hop culture|other uses|Hip-hop (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Rap music|the form of vocal delivery associated with hip-hop music|Rapping|the Killer Mike album|R.A.P. Music}}
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{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Hip-hop
| native_name       = 
| etymology         = 
| other_names       = 
| image             = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = 
|stylistic_origins=[[Disco]], [[Funk]], [[Jazz]], [[Rhythm and blues]], [[Scat singing]], [[Soul music|Soul]], [[Spoken word]], [[Talking blues]], [[Performance poetry]]
| cultural_origins  = Early 1970s in [[The Bronx]], New York City, U.S.
|instruments= [[Human voice|Voice]] ([[Rapping]], [[Singing]]), [[Turntablism|Turntable]], [[DJ mixer|Mixer]], [[Drum machine]], [[Sampler (musical instrument)|Sampler]], [[music sequencer|Sequencer]], [[Synthesizer]], [[Electronic keyboard|Keyboard]]
| derivatives= [[Breakbeat]], [[Grime (music)|Grime]], [[Nu metal]], [[Reggaeton]], [[List of hip-hop genres#Derived genres|et al.]]
| other_topics      = * [[Old-school hip-hop]]
* [[New-school hip-hop]]
* [[Golden age hip-hop]]
| footnotes         = 
| current_year      = yes
}}

'''Hip-hop''' or '''hip hop''' (originally '''disco rap''') is a [[popular music]] [[Music genre|genre]] that emerged in the early 1970s from the [[African Americans|African-American]] community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip-hop includes [[rapping]] often enough that the terms can be used synonymously. However, "hip-hop" more properly denotes an entire [[hip-hop culture|subculture]]. Other key markers of the genre are the [[disc jockey]], [[turntablism]], [[scratching]], [[beatboxing]], and [[hip hop production|instrumental tracks]]. Cultural interchange has always been central to the hip-hop genre. It simultaneously borrows from its social environment while commenting on it.

The hip-hop genre and culture emerged from [[block parties]] in ethnic minority neighborhoods of New York City, particularly [[The Bronx|Bronx]]. DJs began expanding the instrumental [[Break (music)|breaks]] of popular records when they noticed how excited it would make the crowds. The extended instrumental breaks provided a platform for [[Breakdancing|break dancers]] and rappers. These breakbeats enabled the subsequent evolution of the hip-hop style. Many of the records used were [[disco]] due to its popularity at the time.

This disco-inflected music is known as [[old-school hip-hop]]. The genre became more stylistically diverse in the 1980s as [[electro music]] started to inform [[new-school hip-hop]]. The transition between the mid-1980s and 1990s became known as hip-hop's [[Golden age hip-hop|Golden age]] as the genre started to earn wide critical acclaim and generate massive sales.

The popularity of hip-hop music expanded throughout the late 1990s and into the 21st century, where it became a worldwide phenomenon. Most countries have local variations on the style. By 2017, hip-hop had become the bestselling genre of popular music.

==Etymology==
"Hip-hop" has been in use since the 17th century to mean a succession of hops.<ref>"[https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/9343906690 Hip-hop, Adv.]", ''Oxford English Dictionary''. [[Oxford University Press]]. December 2024.</ref><ref>''[https://archive.org/details/newenglishdicpt105murruoft/page/296/mode/1up A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, vol. 5, H to K]''. Edited by James A.H. Murray. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1901. 296.</ref> In [[George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham|George Villiers]]' 1671 play ''[[The Rehearsal (play)|The Rehearsal]]'', Prince Volscius exits a scene awkwardly with one boot on and the other off. The director of the scene exclaims, "to go off hip hop, hip hop, upon this occasion, is a thousand times better than any conclusion in the world".<ref>[[George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham|Villiers, George]]. ''[https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1641-1700_the-rehearsal-_buckingham-george-villi_1673/page/30/mode/1up The Rehearsal]''. London: Thomas Dring, 1630. 30.</ref>

A common variation on "hip hop" is "hippity hop", which was in wide usage by the 19th century. It appears in works like a poem from 1882 where four children sing, "Hippity hop to the candy Shop!"<ref>Cummings, Elizabeth. "[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Wide_Awake/7WJEAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA389&printsec=frontcover Spring Weather]", ''[[Wide Awake (magazine)|Wide Awake]]'', vol. 16. Boston: D. Lothrop & Company, 1883. 388–9</ref> It was a common refrain in [[List of children's games|skipping games]].<ref>Douglas, Norman. ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/London_Street_Games/QpiwAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA76&printsec=frontcover London Street Games]''. St. Catherine Press, 1916. 51, 76–7.</ref>

Many [[dance]] steps include a hop. By the 18th century, "hop" began to be used interchangeably with "dance" as both a noun and a verb.<ref>"[https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1877666082 Hop, N. (2)]", ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford UP, September 2024.</ref>

=== Usage ===
[[File:Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five (1982 Sugar Hill Press Photo).jpg|thumb|right|[[Keef Cowboy]] (''top right'') with [[Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five]] in 1982]]An early usage of "hip hop" in recorded popular music is found in [[The Dovells]]' 1963 dance song "[[You Can't Sit Down]]", "...you gotta slop, bop, flip flop, hip hop, never stop".<ref>[[The Dovells]], "You Can't Sit Down". [[Cameo-Parkway Records|Parkway]], 1963.</ref> A decade later, [[Disco]] [[disc jockey]]s would pepper their sets with exhortations to the crowd, which is why the emerging style was originally known as "disco rap". One of [[DJ Hollywood]]'s chants was "hip hop de hippy hop the body rock".<ref>Lawrence, Tim. ''Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor, 1980-1983''. [[Duke University Press]], 2016.</ref>{{rp|183f}} [[Lovebug Starsky]] recalls originating the phrase when he messed up the change between records, "I picked up the mic and just started saying 'a hip hop, hip hop, de hibbyhibbyhibbyhibby hop'".<ref>"Hip, Hop, Hip, Hop Hibbyhibby Hop." ''[[The Observer]]''. June 15, 1986. 27.</ref> He was claiming credit for inventing the name by 1979.<ref>Flipping, Robert Jr. "Hollyburgh Swingers 'If You Funk Us, We'll Funk You'". ''[[New Pittsburgh Courier]]'', February 24, 1979.</ref>

In another version of Starsky's tale, he coined "hip-hop" with [[Keef Cowboy]] from [[Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five]] as they traded jibes at a friend who was going into the Army.<ref>Caramanica, Jon. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/obituaries/lovebug-starski-hip-hop-dead.html Lovebug Starski, Hip-Hop Trailblazer, Is Dead at 57]". ''[[The New York Times]]'', February 9, 2018. B8.</ref> [[Kidd Creole]] recalls the scene without Lovebug present, "Cowboy was on the mic playin around doing that Army cadence: Hip/Hop/Hip/Hop...Disco was king at the time, and the Disco crowd referred to us as those 'Hip Hoppers', but they used it as a derogatory term. But Cowboy was the first one I heard do that to music, as part of his crowd response."<ref>JayQuan, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20060317071002/http://www.furious5.net/cowboy.htm Remembering Keef Cowboy]", Furious5.net. Archived March 17, 2006.</ref><ref>Ewoodzie, Joseph C. ''Break Beats in the Bronx: Rediscovering Hip-Hop's Early Years''. [[University of North Carolina Press]], 2017. 129.</ref>

The phrase was in common usage by the time [[The Sugarhill Gang]] recorded "[[Rapper's Delight]]" in 1979.<ref>Chang, Jeff. "[https://medium.com/cuepoint/how-hip-hop-got-its-name-a3529fa4fbf1 How Hip-Hop Got Its Name]". ''Medium''. April 10, 2016.</ref> The chorus begins, "I said a hip-hop, the hippie, the hippie/To the hip, hip-hop and you don't stop the rockin'".<ref>Sugarhill Gang. "[[Rapper's Delight]]". [[Sugar Hill Records (hip-hop label)|Sugar Hill]], 1979.</ref>

By the early 1980s, hip-hop's definition had expanded into "the all inclusive tag for the rapping, breaking, graffiti-writing, crew fashion wearing street sub-culture".<ref>[[Michael Holman (filmmaker)|Holman, Michael]]. "[https://ahsblog2014.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/eye1982.pdf#page=22 An Interview with DJ Africa Bambaata of the Zulu Nation]," ''East Village Eye''. January 1982, 22.</ref> [[Afrika Bambaataa]] was instrumental in turning the term into a positive force through his [[Universal Zulu Nation]].<ref name=Vibe>''[https://archive.org/details/vibehistoryofhip0659unse/mode/1up The VIBE History of Hip-Hop]''. Edited by Alan Light. Three Rivers Press, 1999.</ref>{{rp|44f}} Their [[social movement]] was anti-drug and anti-violence.<ref>Stearns, David Patrick. "[https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-hip-hop-makes-its-mark/156959081/ Hip-Hop Makes its Mark]". ''News-Press'', July 6, 1984. 43.</ref><ref name=Hager>Hager, Steven. ''[https://archive.org/details/hiphopillustrate0000hage/page/33/mode/1up Hip Hop: The Illustrated History of Break Dancing, Rap Music, and Graffiti]''. St Martins Press, 1984.</ref>{{rp|33}}

As rappers began to dominate hip-hop, the terms became synonymous. However, hip-hop's definition has always applied to its entire culture.<ref>Randel, Don Michael, editor. "Hip Hop." ''The [[Harvard Dictionary of Music]]'', 4th ed., [[Harvard University Press]], 2003.</ref><ref name="Britannica">Tate, Greg, Light, Alan, Ray, Michael. "[https://www.britannica.com/art/hip-hop Hip-hop]", ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. Apr 14, 2025</ref> Its four principal elements include rapping, DJing, breakdancing, and graffiti art.<ref>"[https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/2732021992 Hip-hop, N.]" ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''. Oxford University Press, December 2024.</ref><ref>Kugelberg, Johan. ''Born in the Bronx''. [[Oxford University Press]], 2007. 17.</ref><ref name=Chang2>[[Jeff Chang (journalist)|Chang, Jeff]]. ''[https://archive.org/details/cantstopwontstop2005chan/page/1 Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation]''. St. Martin's Press, 2005.</ref>{{rp|90}} Knowledge is sometimes described as a fifth element, underscoring its role in shaping the values and promoting empowerment and consciousness-raising through music.<ref>Gosa, Travis L. "[https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-hiphop/fifth-element-knowledge/569B855E34A01A53C11AA58FCE4F0D3A The Fifth Element: Knowledge]." ''The Cambridge Companion to Hip-Hop''. Ed. Justin A. Williams. [[Cambridge University Press]], 2015. 56–70.</ref>

[[KRS-One]] identified additional elements: self-expression, street fashion, street language, street knowledge, and street entrepreneurialism. He also recognized girls' [[Double Dutch (jump rope)|Double Dutch jump rope]] as a key stylistic component of breakdancing.<ref>McCabe, Allyson. "[https://www.opb.org/article/2022/12/06/how-the-fantastic-four-took-double-dutch-to-new-heights/ How the Fantastic Four took Double Dutch to new heights]", ''[[Oregon Public Broadcasting]]''. Dec 6, 2022.</ref><ref name=KRS/>{{rp|87, 113}}

In addition to borrowing from the culture, hip-hop simultaneously comments on it. From its roots in the Bronx to its current global reach, hip-hop has served as a voice for the disenfranchised, shedding light on issues such as racial inequality, poverty, and police brutality.<ref>Nasir, Noreen. "[https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/hip-hop-50th-history/in-the-beginning-there-was-the-bronx.html In the beginning, there was the Bronx]", [[Associated Press]]. August 9, 2023.</ref>

==Historical background==
[[File:Turntables and mixer.jpg|thumb|left|Set of [[Technics SL-1200|Technics 1200]] [[Direct-drive turntable|turntables]] with a [[Vestax]] PMC-06 Pro A mixer]]Hip-hop's initial medium was the turntable. Vinyl records were the primary source for DJs who reworked songs into new material for dancing. The process echoed the appropriation of styles that created [[jazz]] decades earlier. The genres hip-hop initially assimilated were wide-ranging, but its primary sources were disco and [[funk]] records.

Nowhere was this cross-pollination of musics better typified than in the [[Caribbean]] island of [[Jamaica]], where [[AM radio]] signals from [[Miami]], Florida, were audible. In the late 1950s, the U.S. stations played much more invigorating [[rhythm and blues]] music than the staid [[BBC]] which was syndicated by the island's only radio channel, [[Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation]].<ref name=Davis/>{{rp|99}} American DJs like [[Jocko Henderson]] and [[Joseph Deighton Gibson Jr.|Jockey Jack]] introduced R&B records and jive talking to the island. Local DJs soon began setting up [[Sound system (Jamaican)|sound systems]] for outdoor parties.<ref name=Brewster>Brewster, Bill and Frank Broughton. ''[https://archive.org/details/lastnightdjsaved0000brew/mode/1up Last Night a DJ Saved My Life]''. Headline, 1999.</ref>{{rp|39f, 119ff}} A vibrant music scene emerged. The jive of American DJs transmuted into [[Toasting (Jamaican music)|toasts]] in [[Jamaican Patois]].<ref>Augustyn, Heather. "[https://libkey.io/libraries/1691/10.1080/00086495.2015.11672548 Spinning Wheels: The Circular Evolution of Jive, Toasting, and Rap]," ''[[Caribbean Quarterly]]'' 61 (1). 2015. 60–74.</ref>

[[Jive talk]] popularized [[black-appeal stations]] in the post-war era. Its double entendres were a godsend to radio, re-invigorating ratings at flagging outlets. It emerged from traditions like [[call and response]], [[signifyin']], [[the dozens]], capping, and [[jazz poetry]].<ref>Hilmes, Michele. ''Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922-1952''. [[University of Minnesota Press]], 1997. 273.</ref><ref name="Neumann 2000 51–63">Neumann, Friedrich. "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/41699313 Hip Hop: Origins, Characteristics and Creative Processes]." ''The World of Music'', vol. 42, no. 1, 2000, pp. 51–63.</ref> The transition from oral tradition to the commercial airwaves was exemplified by [[WDIA]] disc jockeys like [[Nathanial Dowd Gaston Williams|Nat D.]] and [[Rufus Thomas]]. Their on-air jive was honed during their hosting duties at the Palace Theatre's Amateur Night on [[Beale Street]] in [[Memphis, Tennessee]].<ref>Jenkins, Earnestine. "[http://www.jstor.org/stable/42627966 The 'Voice of Memphis:' WDIA, Nat D. Williams, and Black Radio Culture in the Early Civil Rights Era]", ''Tennessee Historical Quarterly'', vol. 65, no. 3, 2006. 259.</ref> D.J's like Chicago's [[Al Benson]] ([[WYLL|WJJD]]), Austin's [[Dr. Hepcat|Doctor Hep Cat]] (KVET), and [[Atlanta]]'s [[Joseph Deighton Gibson Jr.|Jockey Jack]] ([[WERD (Atlanta)|WERD]]) spoke the same rhyming, cadence-laden rap style.<ref>George, Marsha Washington. ''Black Radio...Winner Takes All: America's 1St Black DJs''. Xlibris US, 2002. 100f</ref> They might introduce a great musician like, "Here is a guy that will move you in from the outskirts of town because he breathes natural gas...so droop to listening to a real gone cat whose loaded his knowledge box in the house of the righteous, and can lo blow."<ref>Dr. Hepcat. ''[https://w3.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/temp/hepcat_full.pdf The Jives of Dr. Hepcat]''. Lavada Durst, 1953. 7.</ref> Many white DJ's like [[John R.|John R Richbourg]] on Nashville's [[WLAC]] emulated the southern 'mushmouth' and jive talk, and switched out [[swing music]] for [[blues]] and [[bebop]].<ref>"[https://tennradiohalloffame.org/john-r-richbourg/ John R. Richbourg]", Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame. Accessed May 21, 2025.</ref><ref>Cox, Jim. ''Music Radio: The Great Performers and Programs of the 1920s Through Early 1960s''. McFarland, 2024. 157f.</ref> The jive-talking rappers of 1950s radio inspired musical comedians like [[Rudy Ray Moore]], [[Pigmeat Markham]], and [[Blowfly (musician)|Blowfly]], along with [[Soul music|soul]] singer [[James Brown]]. They have been called "godfathers" of hip-hop music.<ref name=Brewster/>{{rp|249}}

[[File:Cassius Clay - Sept 1963 - Boxing & Wrestling Magazine Cover.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|[[Muhammad Ali]], a major influence on hip-hop]]The rhythmic speech of rap is an ancient practice, first codified by the [[History of poetry|Greeks]]. In 20th-century Western music, it was a widely used practice in everything from [[Sprechgesang#Sprechstimme|sprechstimme]] to the [[talking blues]]. The roots of rapping in [[African-American music]] are easily traced to the [[griots]] in West African culture.<ref>[[Ted Gioia|Gioia, Ted]]. ''[https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/g/gioia-jazz.html The History of Jazz]'', 3rd Edition. [[Oxford University Press]], 2021. 8.</ref><ref>Campbell, K.E. ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Gettin_Our_Groove_on/gjsjb0QGCJIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA30&printsec=frontcover Gettin' Our Groove On: Rhetoric, Language, and Literacy for the Hip Hop Generation]''. [[Wayne State University Press]], 2005. 30ff.</ref> [[Bo Diddley]] made several influential talking records, and the gospel group [[The Jubalaires]]' 1946 song "Noah" is frequently seen as a forerunner of [[Rapping|rap]].<ref>Sarachik, Justin. "[https://rapzilla.com/2016-07-the-jubalaires-were-doing-gospel-rap-back-in-the-1940s/ The Jubalaires Were Doing Gospel Rap Back in the 1940s]". ''[[Rapzilla]]''. July 11, 2016.</ref><ref name=Vibe/>{{rp|8}} Other notable talking records were [[Muhammad Ali]]'s ''[[I Am the Greatest (Cassius Clay album)|I Am the Greatest]]'' (1963) and [[Pigmeat Markham]]'s "[[Here Comes the Judge (Pigmeat Markham song)|Here Comes the Judge]]" (1968).<ref>"[https://library.louisville.edu/ali/artist  The Artist]" in ''[https://library.louisville.edu/ali/home Muhammad Ali: A Transcendent Life]'', [[University of Louisville]] Muhammad Ali Institute and the University Libraries. 2021.</ref><ref>Taylor, Yuval and Jake Austen. ''Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop''. W. W. Norton, 2012. 236.</ref> Ali's patter was an enormous influence on hip-hop. He was known as a "rhyming trickster" due to the funky delivery of his boasts, trash talk, and indelible phrases.<ref>Reeves, Mosi. "[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/muhammad-ali-worlds-greatest-boxer-was-also-hip-hop-pioneer-152560/ Muhammad Ali: World's Greatest Boxer Was Also Hip-Hop Pioneer]", ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. June 4, 2016.</ref> Many of his monologues were [[Freestyle rap|freestyle]] improvisations which would become a vital skill [[Old-school hip-hop]] rappers.<ref>Rubin, Mik. "[https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/muhammad-ali-4-ways-he-changed-america-155463/ Muhammad Ali: 4 Ways He Changed America]". ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. June 5, 2016.</ref>

In New York City, [[spoken word|spoken-word]] poetry by artists like [[The Last Poets]], [[Jalal Mansur Nuriddin]], and [[Gil Scott-Heron]] had a significant impact on the post-civil rights era. They helped establish the cultural environment in which hip-hop music was created.<ref>Cepeda, Raquel. ''And It Don't Stop: The Best American Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years''. [[Faber & Faber]], 2004. xvi.</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/06/jalal-mansur-nuriddin-last-poets-obituary-grandfather-of-rap "Jalal Mansur Nuriddin: farewell to the 'grandfather of rap'"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 6 June 2018.</ref>

During these proto-rap years in America, Jamaican music regularly featured talking records like [[U-Roy]] and [[Peter Tosh]]'s "Righteous Ruler" and [[King Stitt]]'s "Fire Corner" in 1969.<ref name=Brewster/>{{rp|126}} Jamaican DJs were also heavily remixing recorded music to generate new sounds. [[Duke Reid]] would preside over his sound system, tweaking knobs until the record he was playing became unrecognizable. In the studio, artists like [[King Tubby]] would strip the vocals out of records to create a new version.<ref name=Davis/>{{rp|99f}} The public appetite for these remixes became so strong that singles were released with the original on one side and the "[[Dub music#"Versions" and experiments with studio mixing (late 1960s)|version]]" on the other.<ref>
Veal, Michael E. ''Dub: Songscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae''. [[Wesleyan University Press]], 2007. 52.</ref><ref>Moskowitz, David V. ''Caribbean Popular Music: An Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall''. ABC-CLIO, 2005. 94.</ref> The eclectic stew of production techniques came to be known as [[dub music]], and it is the strongest artistic precedent for hip-hop.<ref>[[Bruno Blum|Blum, Bruno]]. ''Le Rap Est Né En JamaïQue''. Castor Astral, 2009.</ref><ref name=Brewster/>{{rp|132}}

==Birth of hip-hop==
===Breaking===
By the 1970s, [[The Bronx]] had been cut in half by the [[Cross Bronx Expressway]].<ref name=Hager/>{{rp|2ff}} The construction accelerated "[[white flight]]" from the neighborhood and concentrated lower income African American, [[Latin Americans|Latin American]], and [[West Indian Americans|Caribbean]] residents in the southern half of the borough.<ref name=Breaking/>{{rp|27f}} This massive, multi-ethnic, [[working class]] community is where hip-hop was born.<ref>Trapp, Erin. "[https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764205277427 The Push and Pull of Hip-Hop]". ''[[American Behavioral Scientist]]''. 48 (11), 2005. 1482–1495.</ref><ref>Leach, Andrew. "[https://doi.org/10.1353/not.0.0039 'One Day It'll All Make Sense': Hip-Hop and Rap Resources for Music Librarians]". ''[[Notes (journal)|Notes]]''. 65 (1), 2008. 9–37.</ref> The traditions of these ethnicities all informed the emerging genre.<ref>Castillo-Garsow, Melissa; Nichols, Jason. ''La Verdad: An International Dialogue on Hip Hop Latinidades''. [[Ohio University Press]], 2016. ix.</ref><ref>Thompson, Robert Farris. "[http://ereserve.library.utah.edu/Annual/DANCE/1099/Christensen/hip.pdf Hip Hop 101]", in ''Droppin' Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture''. Edited by William Eric Perkins. [[Temple University Press]], 1996.</ref><ref name=Chang2/>{{rp|90}} As all music does, hip-hop reflected the social, economic, and political realities of its creators, who were sometimes disenfranchised and marginalized.<ref>Crossley, Scott. "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/40033689 Metaphorical Conceptions in Hip-Hop Music]". African American Review. 39 (4), 2005. 501–512.</ref><ref>Alridge, Derrick P.; Stewart, James B. "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/20063997 Introduction: Hip Hop in History: Past, Present, and Future]", ''[[The Journal of African American History]]'', 90 (3), 2005. 190–195.</ref><ref>Ogbar, Jeffrey. "[http://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/CA/00/40/02/69/00001/PDF.pdf 'Yele, Yele': Caribbean Identity and the Rubric of Race in U.S-Based Hip-Hop]", University of Florida Digital Collections, May 2001.</ref>

The dominant genre of the time was [[disco]]. Even black radio stations were playing hit disco records as they targeted larger suburban audiences. The way Europe stripped the blackness out of [[funk]] and disco and streamlined it became a target for parody in the black community. [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]] mercilessly lampooned it as "The Placebo Syndrome" in his [[P-Funk mythology]].<ref name=Nelson>George, Nelson. ''The Death of Rhythm & Blues''. Plume, 1988.</ref>{{rp|155ff}} Even though disco birthed hip-hop, much of the genre's early spirit was a rebellion against its parent.<ref>Asante, Molefi K. ''It's Bigger Than Hip Hop: The Rise of the Post-Hip-Hop Generation''. [[St. Martin's Press]], 2008. 9f.</ref> Hip-hop first had to inherit the rich trove of studio and DJ techniques that disco innovated.<ref name=Brewster/>{{rp|139}}

[[File:Dj Kool Herc-03.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|[[DJ Kool Herc]] in 1999]]
It became trendy for dancers to use the [[Break (music)|instrumental break]] in a song to show off their best moves. Some would even forego dancing until the break in a record came on.<ref name=Brewster/>{{rp|225f}} The practice became known as "breakdancing", and it increased demand for breaks that DJs would soon supply.<ref>McNamee, David. "[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jan/11/hey-whats-that-sound-turntablism Hey, what's that sound: Turntablism]". ''[[The Guardian]]'', January 11, 2010.</ref> These dancers became known as "B-birls" and "-boys". "B" could be short for "break", "beat", "battle", or "Bronx" depending on who was using it.<ref>Schloss, Joseph G. ''Foundation: B-Boys, B-girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York''. [[Oxford University Press]], 2009. 59.</ref>

One of the most popular clubs was the Plaza Tunnel in the basement of the [[Concourse Plaza Hotel]] where DJ John Brown held sway. To keep people moving, he would mix a wide range of records like [[Jimmy Castor|Jimmy Castor Bunch's]] "[[It's Just Begun]]", [[The Isley Brothers]]' "Get Into Something", [[Earth, Wind & Fire]]'s "Moment of Truth", [[Rare Earth (band)|Rare Earth's]] "[[Get Ready (The Temptations song)#Rare Earth version|Get Ready]]", [[Redbone (band)|Redbone's]] "Maggie", and [[Chicago (band)|Chicago's]] "[[I'm a Man (The Spencer Davis Group song)#Chicago version|I'm a Man]]".<ref name=Breaking/>{{rp|38}}

Breakdancers prized originality. They created signature moves that other breakers would only imitate in order to outdo them.<ref>Vernon, Jim. ''Hip Hop, Hegel, and the Art of Emancipation: Let's Get Free''. Springer International Publishing AG, 2018. 108.</ref> The emphasis on creativity extended to DJs who would battle each other. They would even replicate the Jamaican practice of removing record labels to keep their breaks a secret from other DJs.<ref name=Vibe/>{{rp|16}} Many early hip-hop DJs were immigrants from the Caribbean.<ref>Karon, Tony. "[https://time.com/archive/6912292/hip-hop-nation-is-exhibit-a-for-americas-latest-cultural-revolution/ 'Hip-Hop Nation' Is Exhibit A for America's Latest Cultural Revolution]", ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', September 22, 2000.</ref><ref>Farley, Christopher John. "[https://time.com/archive/6736661/music-rocks-new-spin/ Rock's New Spin]", ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', October 18, 1999.</ref> The techniques they used to generate new material from existing vinyl records was familiar to Jamaican [[dub music]].<ref>''[https://www.discogs.com/release/811578-Various-The-Sound-Of-Channel-One-King-Tubby-Connection The Sound Of Channel One: King Tubby Connection]''. Liner Notes. Motion Records, 1999.</ref><ref name=Davis>Davis, Stephen. ''[https://archive.org/details/reggaebloodlines00davi/page/100/mode/1up Reggae Bloodlines: In Search of the Music and Culture of Jamaica]''. Da Capo Press, 1992.</ref>{{rp|100}} Hip-hop began to develop its own moral code that prized truth and ingenuity over limpid mimicry.<ref name=KRS>[[KRS-One]]. ''The Gospel of Hip Hop: First Instrument''. Powerhouse Books, 2009.</ref>{{rp|692, 742}}

DJs found certain breaks to be extremely popular from records like [[Baby Huey (singer)|Baby Huey's]] "Listen To Me", [[James Brown]]'s "[[Give It Up or Turnit a Loose]]", [[Dennis Coffey]]'s "Son of Scorpio", [[Cymande]]'s "[[Bra (song)|Bra]]", Dynamic Corvettes' "Funky Music Is the Thing", Jeannie Reynolds' "Fruit Song", as well as the [[Incredible Bongo Band]]'s "[[Apache (instrumental)#Incredible Bongo Band version|Apache]]" and "[[Bongo Rock#Incredible Bongo Band version|Bongo Rock]]".<ref name=Billboard/><ref name=Brewster/>{{rp|226f}} DJ Kool Herc figured out a way to prolong these breaks by [[Fade (audio engineering)#Crossfading|crossfading]] between two copies of the same record. Herc's initial claim to fame was his sound system which featured a [[McIntosh Laboratory]] amplifier and two columns of [[Shure]] speakers. He dubbed it "The Herculords", and it earned him a massive following.<ref name=Hager/>{{rp|33}}
[[File:DJ Hypnotize and Baby Cee.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Two DJs work the turntables and mixer]]
His method of playing breaks was extremely crude, however. Herc would just estimate where the break was as he tried to extend it. Often, he would have to talk over the transition as the breaks did not match up.<ref name=Brewster/>{{rp|227}} It was DJs like [[Grand Wizzard Theodore]], [[Jazzy Jay]], and [[Grandmaster Flash]] who perfected the trick. They developed a technique known as [[Needle drop (DJing)|needle dropping]] by precisely cuing up the breaks in headphones in order to create a perfect transition between the two phonographs.<ref name=Britannica/><ref name=Hager/>{{rp|36}} As the first break finished, they would crossfade to the second turntable which was cued up at the beginning of the break. While the second record played, they would spin the first record backwards to the beginning of the break and crossfade into it when the second break was over. This method allowed a break to be prolonged indefinitely. These extended breaks became known as a "[[Breakbeat#1970s—1980s: Classic breaks and hip hop production|breakbeat]]".<ref name=Vibe/>{{rp|15}} When a playing record is reversed, the sound is distorted. The effect became trendy and eventually evolved into the hip-hop technique known as "[[scratching]]".<ref>"[https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigation/birthplace-of-hip-hop/ Birthplace Of Hip Hop]", ''[[History Detectives]]''. Season 6, episode 11.</ref>

===Block parties===
Outside of the dance clubs, the biggest incubator of hip-hop was the [[block party]]. DJs would hook their sound systems up to the street lights.<ref>Lee, Jennifer 8. "[http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/tenants-might-buy-the-birthplace-of-hip-hop/ Tenants Might Buy Birthplace of Hip-Hop]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. January 15, 2008.</ref> One prominent host of these parties in the early 1970s was [[Disco King Mario]].<ref>"[https://bronx.news12.com/hip-hop-icon-disco-king-mario-honored-with-street-co-naming-as-part-genres-50th-birthday-celebrations Hip-hop icon 'Disco King Mario' honored with street co-naming as part genre's 50th birthday celebrations]", ''[[News 12 Networks|News 12]]''. July 1, 2023.</ref><ref>Abrams, Jonathan. ''The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop''. Crown, 2023.</ref>{{rp|6}} As a leader of the [[Black Spades]] from the [[Sotomayor Houses|Bronxdale Houses]], Mario relied on the gang to protect his events.<ref>3stacks, Andrea. "[https://hiphopgoldenage.com/forgotten-founding-father-disco-king-mario/ Beyond DJ Kool Herc: The Unsung Pioneers and Communities That Shaped Hip-Hop's Early Evolution]", ''The Hip Hop Museum''. July 16, 2024. Accessed June 3, 2025.</ref><ref>Falls, Niya. "[https://hiphopgoldenage.com/forgotten-founding-father-disco-king-mario/ Forgotten Founding Father: Disco King Mario]". ''Hip Hop Golden Age'', August 16, 2019.</ref>

[[File:1520 Sedwick Ave., Bronx, New York1.JPG|thumb|right|upright=0.6|[[1520 Sedgwick Avenue]] in the Bronx, site of Cindy Campbell's party]]Kool Herc first began extending breaks at a [[Back to school (marketing)|back-to-school]] [[rent party]] his sister Cindy Campbell hosted in the recreation room of their building at [[1520 Sedgwick Avenue]] on the southwest side of the Bronx.<ref>Gonzales, Michael A. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20190402021917/http://archive.massappeal.com/kool-herc-oral-history-party-over-here-birth-of-hip-hop/ Party Over Here: An Oral History of Kool Herc's Historic Back-to-School Jam]", ''Mass Appeal''. August 11, 2017. Archived April 2, 2019.</ref> The date of the party, August 11, 1973, has been aggressively marketed as the "Birth of Hip-Hop".<ref>Laurence, Rebecca. "[http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130809-the-party-where-hip-hop-was-born Culture – 40 years on from the party where hip hop was born]", ''[[BBC]]''. August 9, 2013.</ref><ref>Browne, David. "[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/kool-herc-hip-hop-50-august-11-1973-1234802035/ Kool Herc and the History (and Mystery) of Hip-Hop's First Day]". ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. August 11, 2023.</ref> The Campbells emigrated from Jamaica when Herc was 12. Initially, Herc denied any connection between the Jamaican music scene and his work.<ref name=Hager/>{{rp|45}} Later in life, he embraced the parallels.<ref>Walker, Noel Cymone. "DJ Kool Herc Is Ready to Bring Hip-Hop Back to Its Roots With a Museum in Jamaica", ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', February 24, 2020. Archived December 1, 2021.</ref><ref name=Breaking>Aprahamian, Serouj "Midus". ''The Birth of Breaking: Hip-Hop History from the Floor Up''. Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, 2023.</ref>{{rp|35}}

Kool Herc's style attracted a following that outgrew the rec room, and he joined the thriving block party scene.<ref>Lamotte, Martin. "Rebels Without a Pause: Hip-hop and Resistance in the City",  ''International Journal of Urban and Regional Research'', vol. 38, no. 2. 2014. 686-94.</ref> These parties were an outlet for teenagers, where "instead of getting into trouble on the streets, teens now had a place to expend their pent-up energy." Tony Tone, a member of the [[Cold Crush Brothers]], stated that "hip hop saved a lot of lives".<ref>Chang, Jeff. "[https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/10/12/its-a-hip-hop-world/ It's a Hip-hop World]". ''[[Foreign Policy]]'' no. 163, November–December 2007. 58–65.</ref> For inner-city youth, participating in hip-hop culture became a way of dealing with the hardships of life as minorities within America, and an outlet to deal with the risk of violence and the rise of gang culture. MC Kid Lucky mentions that "people used to break-dance against each other instead of fighting".<ref>Zimmer, Amy. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080805093003/http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/Bringing_that_beat_back__on_the_E_train/1200.html Bringing that beat back – on the E train]". ''[[Metro New York]]''. February 20, 2006. Archived August 5, 2008.</ref><ref>del Barco, Mandalit. "[https://www.npr.org/2002/10/14/1151638/breakdancing-present-at-the-creation Breakdancing, Present at the Creation]", ''Morning Edition'', ''NPR''. October 14, 2002.</ref>

A typical hip-hop event was a triple bill featuring the DJ, MC, and breakdancers. Graffiti artists would decorate the stage and design flyers and posters.<ref>
Rose, Tricia. ''Black Noise''. Wesleyan University Press, 1994.</ref>{{rp|35}} Much of the graffiti, rapping, and [[Breakdancing|b-boying]] at these parties were artistic variations on the one-upmanship of [[Gang|street gangs]]. Sensing that gang members' often violent urges could be turned into creative ones, Afrika Bambaataa founded the [[Universal Zulu Nation|Zulu Nation]], a loose confederation of street-dance crews, graffiti artists, and rap musicians. [[Rock Steady Crew]] were a group of breakdancers which included members from [[Puerto Rico]].<ref name=Breaking/>{{rp|143}}

During the [[New York City blackout of 1977]], DJ equipment was heavily looted due to the popularity of the emerging genre. Kool Herc recalls, "The next day there were a thousand new D.J.'s."<ref>Rosen, Jody. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/arts/music/12rose.html A Rolling Shout-Out to Hip-Hop History]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. February 12, 2006. B1.</ref> By 1978, ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine was taking notice of the popularity of "B-beats" in the Bronx.<ref name=Billboard>Ford Jr., Robert. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=9CQEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PT76&dq=B%20Beats%20Bombarding%20Bronx%20billboard&pg=PT76#v=onepage&q&f=false B-Beats Bombarding Bronx]", ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''. July 1, 1978. 6.</ref><ref name=Joint>Neal, Mark Anthony. ''That's the Joint! The Hip-hop Studies Reader''. Routledge, 2004.</ref>{{rp|2}}

===Rapping===
{{main|Rapping}}
Hip-Hop evolved without rap as a requirement of the genre, but the two terms became functionally synonymous.<ref>The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "[https://www.britannica.com/art/rap Rap]". ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. April 9, 2025.</ref> Hip-hop DJs continued the disco DJ practice of intermittently rapping with the crowd. As their duties became more complex, a [[Master of ceremonies]] (MC) was often present to introduce the DJ and hype the crowd.<ref>''Yes Yes Y'All: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip Hop's First Decade''. Edited by Jim Fricke and Charlie Ahearn. Da Capo Press, 2002. 128.</ref>

Kool Herc found Jamaican [[Toasting (Jamaican music)|toasts]] did not resonate with dancers. He and [[Coke La Rock]] developed an influential rapping style over their funk breaks. MCs relied on call and response chants and eventually developed more sophisticated routines. As with other practitioners of hip-hop, MCs strove to set themselves apart with their creativity and competitiveness.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20110714161251/http://www.ncimusic.com/tutorial/history/hiphop/oldschool.html History of Hip Hop – Old School]", ''nciMUSIC''. Archived July 14, 2011.</ref><ref name="Neumann 2000 51–63"/>

Just as many of the best breakdancers were women, the birth of hip-hop included female rappers like the [[Funky 4 + 1]]'s [[Sha-Rock|MC Sha-Rock]]. Sugar Hill Records signed [[The Sequence]], a trio that included [[Angie Stone]]. Their single "[[Funk You Up]]" was the first hip-hop hit by an all-female group.<ref name=Vibe/>{{rp|28}}<ref>Sha Rock and Iesha Brown. ''The Story of the Beginning and End of the First Hip Hop Female MC...Luminary Icon Sha-Rock''. OuttaDaBluePublishing, 2010.</ref><ref>Weingarten, Christopher R. "[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/the-sequence-the-funked-up-legacy-of-hip-hops-first-ladies-118369/ The Sequence: The Funked-Up Legacy of Hip-Hop's First Ladies]", ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. May 24, 2017.</ref>

Often these were collaborations between former [[gang]]s, such as [[Afrikaa Bambaataa]]'s [[Universal Zulu Nation]]—now an international organization. [[Melle Mel]], a rapper with the [[Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five|Furious Five]] is often credited with being the first rap lyricist to call himself an "MC".<ref>Watkins, Grouchy Greg. "[https://allhiphop.com/2007/01/16/grand-master-mele-mel-gun-show-part-one/ Grand Master Mele Mel: Gun Show Part One]", ''All Hip Hop''. January 16, 2007.</ref>

Although there were some early MCs that recorded solo projects of note, such as [[DJ Hollywood]], [[Kurtis Blow]], and [[Spoonie Gee]], the frequency of solo artists did not increase until later with the rise of soloists with stage presence and drama, such as [[LL Cool J]]. Most early hip-hop was dominated by groups where collaboration between the members was integral to the show.<ref>[[Toop, David|David Toop]]. ''[https://archive.org/details/rapattack2africa0000toop/mode/2up Rap Attack II: African Rap To Global Hip Hop]''. [[Serpent's Tail]], 2000. 94ff.</ref> The first hip-hop artist to appear on national television were the group Funky 4 + 1, who appeared on ''[[Saturday Night Live season 6#Episodes|Saturday Night Live]]'' in 1981.<ref>Bynoe, Yvonne. ''Encyclopedia of Rap and Hip-Hop Culture''. [[Greenwood Publishing Group|Greenwood Press]], 2006. 146.</ref>

===Recordings===
Hip-hop was a live music genre for its first several years. By 1977, [[Bootleg recordings|bootleg tapes]] made from the [[Soundboard recording|soundboards]] of hip-hop DJs were being circulated beyond New York City. The first dub recording, also known as a "mixed plate", was released by [[DJ Disco Wiz]] and [[Grandmaster Caz]].<ref>Hess, Mickey. ''Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide: Volume 1: East Coast and West Coast''. Greenwood, 2009. xxxiii.</ref>

[[File:Sugarhill Gang Tour, 2016 (2).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[The Sugarhill Gang]], 2016]]In March 1979, [[Fatback Band]] released "You're My Candy Sweet" as a single. The [[A-side and B-side|B-side]] was called "[[King Tim III (Personality Jock)]]", and it is generally considered the first commercially released rap song.<ref>Heard, Chris. "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3727320.stm Silver jubilee for first rap hit]", [[BBC News]]. October 14, 2004</ref><ref name=Toop/>{{rp|81}}

Three months later, [[Chic (band)|Chic]] released "[[Good Times (Chic song)|Good Times]]". It became a #1 single on August 18. The track quickly became a favorite for rappers. As it climbed the pop charts on August 2, [[Sylvia Robinson]], the singer and owner of [[Sugar Hill Records (hip-hop label)|Sugar Hill Records]], hired a band to [[Sound-alike|recreate]] "Good Times" in the studio. Looking to cash in on the hip-hop trend, Robinson assembled [[The Sugarhill Gang]] to rap over the instrumental.<ref name=Chang2/>{{rp|132}} They recycled phrases from other rappers like [[The Cold Crush Brothers]].<ref name=Toop>Toop, David. ''[https://archive.org/details/rapattackafrican0000toop/page/1/mode/1up The Rap Attack: African Jive to New York Hip Hop]''. Boston: South End Press, 1984.</ref>{{rp|81}} It was a [[Top 40]] single, and what had become passé in the Bronx exploded in popularity around the country. The arrival of mainstream hip-hop recordings has been described as "The First Death of Hip-Hop".<ref name=Chang2/>{{rp|127ff}}

One of the composers of "Good Times", [[Nile Rodgers]] had been exposed to hip-hop in 1978 when [[Debbie Harry]] and [[Chris Stein]] from [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]] took him to a show.<ref>Pollock, Bruce. ''America's Songs III: Rock!''. [[Taylor & Francis]], 2017. 189.</ref> Rodgers and his co-writer [[Bernard Edwards]] sued Sugar Hill Records for copyright infringement and won songwriting credit on "Rapper's Delight".<ref>Demers, Joanna. ''Steal This Music: How Intellectual Property Law Affects Musical Creativity''. [[University of Georgia Press]], 2010. 91f.</ref>

In 1971, one city councilman had dubbed [[Philadelphia]] "The Graffiti Capital of the World".<ref>Janson, Donald. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/25/archives/spray-paint-adds-to-graffiti-damage.html Spray Paint Adds to Graffiti Damage]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. July 25, 1971. 31.</ref> It was one of the first hip-hop centers outside of New York, and by 1979, hip-hop recordings such as [[Jocko Henderson]]'s "Rhythm Talk" and [[Lady B]]'s "To the Beat, Y'all" were emerging from the city.<ref>Katz, Mark. ''Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip Hop DJ''. [[Oxford University Press]], 2012. 101.</ref>

[[Mercury Records]] was the first [[Record label|major label]] to sign a rapper. In 1979, they released [[Kurtis Blow]]'s "Christmas Rappin'" which sold 400,000 copies.<ref name=Nelson/>{{rp|191}} The song peaked at #30 on the UK charts on December 15 that year and went on to become a holiday classic.<ref>Adler, Bill. "[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/every-year-just-bout-time-kurtis-blow-celebrates-rhyme-180973639/ Every Year Just ‘Bout This Time, Kurtis Blow Celebrates With a Rhyme]", ''[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]''. December 3, 2019.</ref>

==1980s: The end of old-school==
{{main|Old-school hip-hop}}
The period from 1973 to 1983 is referred to as "old-school hip-hop".<ref>Rabaka, Reiland. ''The Hip Hop Movement: From R&B and the Civil Rights Movement to Rap and the Hip Hop Generation''. [[Lexington Books]], 2013. 43.</ref> The genre exploded in popularity. Kurtis Blow's "[[The Breaks (song)|The Breaks]]" (1980) was the first hip-hop single [[Music recording certification|certified gold]].<ref name=Anthology>''The Anthology of Rap''. Edited by Adam Bradley, and Andrew DuBois. [[Yale University Press]], 2010.  24.</ref><ref name=Nelson/>{{rp|191}}

[[File:Roland TR-808 drum machine.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|The [[Roland TR-808]] Rhythm Composer]]As hip-hop became mainstream, it also grew vastly eclectic. Part of this evolution was enabled by technology. The 1980s saw the miniaturization of recording technology, making samplers, synthesizers, and drum machines affordable. Devices like the [[Akai]] MPC 2000, [[Linn 9000]], and [[Roland TR-808]] drum machine became beloved tools for hip-hop creators.<ref>''The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Music Industry Studies''. Springer Nature Switzerland, 2024. 340.</ref>

In 1980, the [[Roland Corporation]] launched the TR-808 Rhythm Composer. It was one of the earliest [[Programming (music)|programmable]] drum machines, with which users could create their own rhythms rather than having to use preset patterns. Though it was a commercial failure, over the course of the decade the 808 attracted a [[cult following]] among underground musicians for its affordability on the used market, ease of use, and idiosyncratic sounds, particularly its deep, "booming" [[bass drum]].<ref>"[https://www.factmag.com/2014/01/16/roland-tr-808-beginners-guide-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-introduction Everything you ever wanted to know about the Roland TR-808 but were afraid to ask]". ''[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]''. January 16, 2014.</ref><ref>Hamilton, Jack. "[http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2016/12/_808_the_movie_is_a_must_watch_doc_for_music_nerds.html 808s and Heart Eyes]". ''Slate''. December 16, 2016.</ref><ref>Norris, Chris. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20200504122454/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-808-heard-round-the-world The 808 heard round the world]", ''[[The New Yorker]]''. August 13, 2015. Archived  May 4, 2020.</ref> Popularized by hits like [[Marvin Gaye]]'s "[[Sexual Healing]]", it became a cornerstone of the emerging electronic, dance, and hip-hop genres.<ref>Beaumont-Thomas, Ben. "[http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/14/roland-launch-new-instruments-808-909-303 Roland launch new versions of the iconic 808, 909 and 303 instruments]". ''[[The Guardian]]''. February 14, 2014.</ref> The 808 was eventually used on more hit records than any other drum machine. Its popularity with hip-hop in particular has made it one of the most influential inventions in popular music, comparable to the [[Fender Stratocaster]]'s influence on rock.<ref>Brabazon, Tara. ''Popular Music: Topics, Trends & Trajectories''. [[SAGE Publications]], 2011. 48.</ref>

===Diversification of styles===
{{Further|List of hip-hop genres}}
[[File:Dj Grandmaster Flash-01-mika.jpg|thumb|[[Grandmaster Flash]]]]
[[Grandmaster Flash]]'s "[[The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel]]" (1981) typified the diversification of hip-hop in the new decade. The single consists entirely of sampled tracks.<ref>Talbot, Michael. ''The Musical Work: Reality or Invention?''. Liverpool University Press, 2000. 79f.</ref> Hip-hop and [[electronic dance music]] were fused in songs like [[Soulsonic Force|Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force]]'s "[[Planet Rock (song)|Planet Rock]]" (1982). Bambaataa was inspired by [[Ryuichi Sakamoto]]'s "Riot in Lagos".<ref>Brewster, Bill and Frank Broughton. ''The Record Players: DJ Revolutionaries''. Grove Atlantic, 2011.</ref> He incorporated elements from [[Kraftwerk]]'s "[[Trans-Europe Express (album)|Trans-Europe Express]]" and "Numbers". "Planet Rock" helped spawn [[electro music]], which included songs like [[Planet Patrol]]'s "Play at Your Own Risk" (1982), and C Bank's "One More Shot" (1982).<ref>''Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 11: Genres: Europe''. Edited by Paolo Prato and David Horn. [[Bloomsbury Academic]], 2017. 220.</ref> This fusion would often overlap with [[Afrofuturism]] in songs like "[[Nunk (song)|Nunk]]" and "[[Light Years Away (Warp 9 song)|Light Years Away]]" by [[Warp 9]].<ref name=Toop3>Toop, David. ''Rap Attack 3: African Rap to Global Hip Hop''. Serpent's Tail, 2000. 146ff.</ref><ref>Fitzpatrick, Rob. "[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/may/14/the-101-strangest-records-on-spotify-warp-9-its-a-beat-wave The 101 strangest records on Spotify: Warp 9 - It's A Beat Wave]", ''[[The Guardian]]''. May 14, 2014.</ref> Electro helped spread hip-hop beyond America, when UK DJs like Greg Wilson started spinning records like "Planet Rock", Extra T's "ET Boogie", and [[Man Parrish]]'s "Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop)".<ref>Wilson, Greg. "[https://electrofunkroots.co.uk/articles/what.html Electro-Funk – What Did It All Mean?]", ''Electrofunkroots.co.uk.'' November 2003. Accessed May 25, 2025.</ref>

As rap matured, metaphorical lyrics about a wider range of subjects moved the style beyond the boasts and chants of old school. The influential single "[[The Message (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five song)|The Message]]" (1982) by [[Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five]], with its focus on the misery in housing projects, was a pioneering force for [[Political hip hop#Conscious hip hop|politically conscious rap]].<ref>[[Jon Pareles|Pareles, Jon]]. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/arts/music/13hall.html The Message From Last Night: Hip-Hop is Rock 'n' Roll, and the Hall of Fame Likes It]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. March 13, 2007. 3.</ref> Hip-hop continued in the tradition of rock and roll by outraging conservatives who feared romanticizing violence and law-breaking.<ref>Diawara, Manthia. ''In Search of Africa''. [[Harvard University Press]], 2000. 237.</ref>

[[Independent record label]]s like [[Tommy Boy Entertainment|Tommy Boy]], [[Prism Records]] and [[Profile Records]] became successful in the early 1980s, releasing records at a furious pace in response to the demand generated by local radio stations and club DJs. Producers like [[Arthur Baker (musician)|Arthur Baker]], [[John Robie]], [[Lotti Golden]] and Richard Scher pushed the genre in new directions.<ref>Toop, David. "[https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/essays/a-z-of-electro A-Z of Electro]", ''Wire'' no. 145. March 1996.</ref> Some rappers eventually became mainstream pop performers. The 1981 songs "[[Rapture (Blondie song)|Rapture]]" by [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]] and "[[Christmas Wrapping]]" by the [[New wave music|new wave]] band [[the Waitresses]] were among the first pop songs to use rap.<ref>Edgers, Geoff. ''Walk This Way: Run-DMC, Aerosmith, and the Song that Changed American Music Forever''. Penguin Publishing Group, 2019. 58.</ref><ref>Gimarc, George. ''Post punk diary, 1980-1982''. St. Martin's Press, 1997. 214.</ref>

[[Breakdancing]] remained the vanguard of hip-hop worldwide. Breakdance crews like [[Black Noise (group)|Black Noise]] and Prophets of Da City in South Africa helped spread the genre.<ref name=HHAfrica>''Hip Hop Africa: New African Music in a Globalizing World''. Edited by Eric Charry. [[Indiana University Press]], 2012.</ref>{{rp|58ff}} They recognized the connections in the [[African diaspora]] between practices like breakdancing and [[capoeira]].<ref>Neate, Patrick. ''[https://archive.org/details/whereyoureatnote00neat/page/171/mode/1up Where You're At: Notes from the Frontline of a Hip Hop Planet]''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014. 186.</ref> Musician and presenter [[Sidney Duteil|Sidney]] became France's first black TV presenter with his 1984 show ''[[H.I.P. H.O.P.]]'' on [[TF1]]. [[Radio Nova (France)|Radio Nova]] helped launch other French hip-hop stars including [[Dee Nasty]]. Along with his radio show, his ''Rapattitude'' compilations and 1984 album ''Paname City Rappin''' popularized hip-hop in the country.<ref name=HHAfrica/>{{rp|5–8}}

Hip-hop reached Japan by 1982 when DJs Hiroshi Fujiwara started playing it in dance clubs.<ref>Godoy, Tiffany. ''Style Deficit Disorder: Harajuku Street Fashion - Tokyo''. Chronicle Books, 2007. 51.</ref>

===New school===
{{main|New-school hip-hop}}
[[File:Run DMC (cropped).png|thumb|left|upright=0.8|[[Run-DMC]]: [[Joseph Simmons|Joseph "Run" Simmons]], [[Jam Master Jay|Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell]], and [[Darryl McDaniels|Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels]] (''from left'')]]The second wave of hip-hop began around 1983–4 and became known as [[new-school hip-hop|new school]]. The taunting and boasting of old-school hip-hop got more aggressive in the 1980s. New York artists like [[Run-DMC]] and [[LL Cool J]] typified new school.

[[Drum machine]] minimalism was typical for the new school, a stark opposition to old school's funk and disco breaks.<ref name=Toop/>{{rp|151}} New-school artists also made shorter, radio-friendly songs and more cohesive LP albums that became fixtures of mainstream music. Run-DMC's third album ''[[Raising Hell (album)|Raising Hell]]'' was the first in the genre to be certified platinum on July 15, 1986.<ref>Jenkins, Sacha, et al. ''Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists''. St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2014. 280.</ref> It also featured the massive hit collaboration with [[Aerosmith]] on "[[Walk This Way#Run-DMC/Aerosmith version|Walk This Way]]". The same year, rap notched its first No. 1 album with [[Beastie Boys]]' ''[[Licensed to Ill]]''.<ref>Zwickel, Jonathan A. ''Beastie Boys: A Musical Biography''. ABC-CLIO, 2011. xiii.</ref>

Rap was getting so marketable that it was being used in national advertising. [[Sprite (soda)|Sprite]] hired [[Kurtis Blow]] to appear in one of their commercials in 1986. Other soft drink companies would soon follow.<ref>Klein, Bethany. ''Selling Out: Culture, Commerce and Popular Music''.  Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020. 98.</ref>
[[File:Marlon Williams aka Dj Marley Marl.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.6|[[Marley Marl]]]]
New school rappers often established themselves by simultaneously honoring and battling their old school forbearers. LL Cool J relished sparring with [[Kool Moe Dee]]. The feud boosted sales for both artists. The cover of Kool Moe Dee's 1987 album, ''[[How Ya Like Me Now]]'', featured LL Cool J's [[Kangol]] hat under the wheel of Moe Dee's [[Jeep Wrangler]].<ref>Forman, Murray. ''The 'Hood Comes First: Race, Space, and Place in Rap and Hip-Hop''. [[Wesleyan University Press]], 2024. 165ff.</ref> LL's response was the vicious B-side "[[Going Back to Cali (LL Cool J song)|Jack the Ripper]]".<ref>Nelson, George. "Black: The Rhythm and the Blues - Kool Moe Dee, L.L. Cool J Get Busy." ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', vol. 100, no. 11. March 12, 1988. 25.</ref>

[[sampler (musical instrument)|Samplers]] like the AKAI S900 and [[E-mu SP-1200]] empowered creativity through greater processing power.<ref>Edwards, Paul. ''The Concise Guide to Hip-Hop Music: A Fresh Look at the Art of Hip-Hop, from Old-School Beats to Freestyle Rap''. St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2015. 123.</ref> Breakbeats were no longer reliant on a DJ and two turntables. They could be made in seconds with a sampler.<ref name="Toop3"/>{{rp|192}} [[Marley Marl]] used [[Sampling (music)|samples]] in combination with drum machines to create more variegated grooves.<ref>Kajikawa, Loren. ''Sounding Race in Rap Songs''. [[University of California Press]], 2015. 74.</ref><ref name=Toop3/>{{rp|151}}

[[File:DJ Jazzy Jeff.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|[[DJ Jazzy Jeff]]]][[Cypress Hill]] was formed in 1988 in the suburb of South Gate outside Los Angeles. Brothers [[Sen Dog|Senen Reyes]] and Ulpiano Sergio ([[Mellow Man Ace]]) moved from Havana, Cuba to South Gate with their family in 1971.<ref>''Droppin' Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture''. Edited by William Eric Perkins. [[Temple University Press]], 1996. 79.</ref> They teamed up with Lawrence Muggerud ([[DJ Muggs]]) and Louis Freese ([[B-Real]]), a Mexican/Cuban-American native of Los Angeles. After the departure of "Ace" to begin his solo career, the group adopted the name of [[Cypress Hill]] named after a street running through a neighborhood nearby in South Los Angeles.<ref>''Latin Music: Musicians, Genres, and Themes''. Edited by Ilan Stavans. ABC-CLIO, 2014. 201f.</ref> In 1989, 19-year-old [[Queen Latifah]] released her debut album ''[[All Hail the Queen]]''.<ref>[[Jon Pareles|Pareles, Jon]]. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/05/arts/recordings-female-rappers-strut-their-stuff-in-a-male-domain.html Female Rappers Strut Their Stuff in a Male Domain]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. Nov 5, 1989. A29.</ref>

That same year, the [[The Recording Academy|National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences]] decided to create a [[Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance]]. The inaugural statue was given in [[31st Annual Grammy Awards|1989]] to [[DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince]] for "[[Parents Just Don't Understand]]".<ref>Reeves, Marcus. ''Somebody Scream! Rap Music's Rise to Prominence in the Aftershock of Black Power''. [[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]], 2009. 80.</ref>

==Golden age==
{{Main|Golden age hip-hop}}
[[File:KRS-One crop.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.7|[[KRS-One]]]]
The period after hip-hop became mainstream in 1986 until the middle of the 1990s is considered its "golden age".<ref>[[Carl Stoffers|Stoffers, Carl]]. "[https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/hip-hop-golden-age-article-1.2448429 Hip hop's golden age: Where are they now?]", ''[[New York Daily News]]''. November 27, 2015.</ref><ref name=Emusicology>Duinker, Ben, and Denis Martin. "[https://emusicology.org/index.php/EMR/article/view/5410 In Search of the Golden Age Hip-Hop Sound (1986–1996)]". ''Empirical Musicology Review'', vol. 12, no. 1-2, September 2017. 80-100.</ref> The era is marked by increased diversity and innovation and the vast expansion of hip-hop's influence.<ref>Cobb, William Jelani. ''To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic''. NYU Press, 2007. 47.</ref><ref>Caramanica, Jon. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/26/arts/music/26jon.html Hip-Hop's Raiders of the Lost Archives]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. June 26, 2005.</ref> ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' described the fecund era as one where "it seemed that every new single reinvented the genre".<ref>Coker, Cheo H. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20100202153447/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/slickrick/albums/album/103326/review/5945316/behind_bars Slick Rick: Behind Bars]", ''Rolling Stone''. March 9, 1995.</ref>

There were strong themes of [[Afrocentrism]] and political militancy in golden age hip-hop lyrics.<ref name=Joint/>{{rp|162f}} The music was experimental and the [[sampling (music)|sampling]] drew on eclectic sources. There was often a strong [[jazz rap|jazz influence]] in the music. Notable golden age artists include [[Public Enemy]], [[KRS-One]], [[Boogie Down Productions]], [[Eric B. & Rakim]], [[Brand Nubian]], [[De La Soul]], [[A Tribe Called Quest]], [[Gang Starr]], [[Big Daddy Kane]], [[Digable Planets]], and the [[Jungle Brothers]].<ref>Mervis, Scott. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20120114063823/https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/20040215rap0215aep1.asp From Kool Herc to 50 Cent, the story of rap – so far]", ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. February 15, 2004.</ref><ref>Walker, Klive. ''Dubwise: Reasoning from the Reggae Underground''. Insomniac Press, 2005. 249.</ref>

Albums became an important artistic marker during this period. 1987 alone produced landmark albums like Boogie Down Productions' ''[[Criminal Minded]]'', Public Enemy's ''[[Yo! Bum Rush the Show]]'', and Eric B. & Rakim's ''[[Paid in Full (album)|Paid in Full]]''. The sustained artistic statement of an album became the genre's measuring stick.<ref>Williams, Todd "Stereo". "[https://theboombox.com/run-d-m-c-s-raising-hell-turns-30-how-the-kings-from-queens-launched-hip-hops-golden-age/ How Run-D.M.C.'s 'Raising Hell' Launched Hip-Hop's Golden Age]", ''[[The Boombox]]''. May 16, 2016.</ref>

===Gangsta rap===
{{Main|Gangsta rap}}
Gangsta rap is a [[subgenre]] of hip-hop that reflects the violent environment of inner-city American black youths.<ref>Adaso, Henry. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110514232338/http://rap.about.com/od/genresstyles/p/GangstaRap.htm Gangsta Rap]", ''[[About.com]]''. October 31, 2009. Archived May 14, 2011.</ref> Gangsta rap commingled stories of crime and street life with political and social commentary.<ref>''The Cultural Territories of Race: Black and White Boundaries''. Edited by Michele Lamont. [[University of Chicago Press]], 1999. 322ff.</ref> In 1985, [[Schoolly D]] released "[[P.S.K. What Does It Mean?]]", which is often regarded as the first gangsta rap song. His lyrics reflected the street vernacular, including the word "[[nigga]]". [[Ice-T]]'s "jaw dropped" when he first heard the song, and it inspired his 1986 track "[[6 in the Mornin']]".<ref>Westhoff, Ben. ''Original Gangstas: The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap''. [[Hachette Books]], 2016. 50.</ref> [[Boogie Down Productions]] ''[[Criminal Minded]]'' (1987) set a precedent by featuring guns on its cover. On their 1988 follow-up ''[[By All Means Necessary]]'', [[KRS-One]] is holding an [[uzi]], but the album also sees the emergence of his anti-violence persona "The Teacher".<ref>Bascunan, Rodrigo, and Pearce, Christian. ''Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent''. Random House of Canada, 2010. 201.</ref>
[[File:FBI letter about N.W.A..png|alt=FBI letter to Priority Records about N.W.A.|thumb|left|upright=0.8|FBI letter to Priority Records about N.W.A.]]N.W.A is the group most frequently associated with gangsta rap. Their lyrics were incessantly profane and more violent, sexually explicit, and openly confrontational than their peers. These lyrics were placed over rough, rock guitar-driven beats, contributing to the music's hard-edged feel. Their blockbuster 1989 album ''[[Straight Outta Compton]]'' established [[Los Angeles]] as a legitimate rival to hip-hop's capital New York City. It also sparked the first major controversy regarding hip-hop lyrics, largely due to the song "[[Fuck tha Police]]". [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] Assistant Director Milt Ahlerich wrote a letter to [[Priority Records]] lamenting the album's "discouraging and degrading" impact on law enforcement.<ref>Ahlerich, Milt. Letter to Gui Manganiello. August 1, 1989.</ref><ref>Ritchie, Ryan. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20070304170024/http://www.presstelegram.com/entertainment/ci_5315527 Eazy to be hard]". ''Press Telegram''. February 28, 2007.</ref>

Ice-T encountered censorship even during his live performances, much like [[Jim Morrison]].<ref>Ice-T, and Heidi Sigmund. ''[https://archive.org/details/iceopinionwhogiv00icet/page/163/mode/1up The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a Fuck?]''. Pan Books, 1994. 163ff.</ref> In reaction to [[Parents Music Resource Center]]'s new "[[Parental Advisory]]" stickers, he rapped, "that sticker makes 'em sell gold."<ref>Ice-T. "Freedom of Speech", ''The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say!''. [[Sire Records]], 1989.</ref> His 1992 heavy metal song "[[Cop Killer (song)|Cop Killer]]" prompted so much backlash that [[Time Warner Music]] balked at releasing his next hip-hop album ''[[Home Invasion (album)|Home Invasion]]''.<ref>Rule, Sheila. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/29/arts/ice-t-and-warner-are-parting-company.html Ice-T and Warner Are Parting Company]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. January 29, 1993. C6.</ref>

Both [[President of the United States|Presidents]] [[George H. W. Bush]] and [[Bill Clinton]] criticized gangsta rap. [[Sister Souljah]] argued, "The reason why rap is under attack is because it exposes all the contradictions of American culture ...What started out as an underground art form has become a vehicle to expose a lot of critical issues that are not usually discussed in...a political system that never intends to deal with inner city urban chaos".<ref>Philips, Chuck. "[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-19-ca-4391-story.html Cover Study: The Uncivil War: The battle between the Establishment and supporters of rap music reopens old wounds of race and class".] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. July 19, 1992.</ref>

===Mainstream breakthrough===
[[File:Flavor Flav - Public Enemy- konser-Slakthuset-Malmö-1991.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|right|[[Flavor Flav]] of [[Public Enemy]] performing in 1991]]
1990 was "the year that rap exploded". [[Public Enemy]] released ''[[Fear of a Black Planet]]'', which was a critical and commercial hit.<ref>Jones IV, James T. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20121108023051/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/56039798.html?dids=56039798:56039798&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+20%2C+1990&author=James+T.+Jones+IV&pub=USA+TODAY+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=MAINSTREAM+RAP%3BCutting-edge+sound+tops+pop+in+a+year+of+controversy%3BVideo%27s+child+take+beat+to+new+streets&pqatl=google MAINSTREAM RAP;Cutting-edge sound tops pop in a year of controversy;Video's child take beat to new streets]". ''[[USA Today]]''. December 20, 1990 1.A.</ref> The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' declared, "an explosion of energy and imagination in the late 1980s leaves rap today as arguably the most vital new street-oriented sound in pop since the birth of rock in the 1950s".<ref name=LAT>Hilburn, Robert. "[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-04-ca-470-story.html Rap—The Power and the Controversy: Success has validated pop's most volatile form, but its future impact could be shaped by the continuing Public Enemy uproar]". ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. February 4, 1990.</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' concurred, "Rap is the [[rock and roll|rock 'n' roll]] of the day. Rock 'n' roll was about attitude, rebellion, a big beat, sex and, sometimes, social comment." Rap had the best-selling single of the previous year, [[Tone Lōc]]'s "[[Wild Thing (Tone Lōc song)|Wild Thing]]". By February 1990, nearly a third of the songs on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Hot 100]] were hip-hop.<ref>Simpson, Janice C. "[https://time.com/archive/6714096/music-yo-rap-gets-on-the-map/ Yo! Rap Gets on the Map]". ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. February 5, 1990.</ref>

[[MC Hammer]]'s third album, ''[[Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em]]'', was a monster smash. It hit #1 on the [[Billboard 200|album chart]]. Its lead single, "[[U Can't Touch This]]", became a global phenomenon after it was released in May 1990. It reached the [[List of Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in 1990|Top Ten]] in the U.S. and #1 in several countries. MC Hammer was one of the first rappers to become a household name. ''Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em'' was the first hip-hop album [[RIAA certification|certified]] [[diamond album|diamond]] by the [[RIAA]] for sales of over ten million.<ref>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=XQ0EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA80&dq=please%20hammer%20diamond%20certified&pg=PA80#v=onepage&q&f=false Elton, Boyz, Joel Among Diamond Honorees]", ''Billboard''. March 27, 1999. 80.</ref> By 1996, it sold 18 million units.<ref>Farley, Christopher John. "[https://time.com/archive/6724975/music-raps-teen-idols-return/ Rap's Teen Idols Return]", ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. March 28, 1994.</ref><ref>Cassidy, John. "[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/08/26/under-the-hammer-2 The Talk of the Town: Under the Hammer]", ''[[The New Yorker]]''. August 19, 1996. 62.</ref> In November, [[Vanilla Ice]]'s "[[Ice Ice Baby]]" became the first hip-hop single to hit #1 on the [[Billboard charts|''Billboard'' charts]].<ref>"[https://www.xxlmag.com/today-hip-hop-ice-ice-baby-first-rap-single-no-1-billboard-hot-100/ First Rap Number 1 Billboard Hot 100 (Ice Ice Baby)]". ''[[XXL (magazine)|XXL]]''. November 3, 2016.</ref>

[[Dr. Dre]]'s ''[[The Chronic]]'' was released in 1992, establishing the [[G-funk]] style and going triple platinum.<ref name=Britannica/> [[Snoop Dogg]]'s 1993 album ''[[Doggystyle]]'' helped the subgenre continue to dominate the charts, but black radio stations kept hip-hop at a distance. [[Russell Simmons]] felt, "Black radio hated rap from the start and there's still a lot of resistance to it".<ref name=LAT/>

Despite the lack of support from some black radio stations, hip-hop became a best-selling music genre in the mid-1990s and the top selling music genre by 1999 with 81 million CDs sold.<ref>Batey, Angus. "[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/07/hiphop-heritage-public-enemy-krs-one The Hip-hop Heritage Society]", ''[[The Guardian]]'', October 7, 2010.</ref><ref>[[Ta-Nehisi Coates|Coates, Ta-Nehisi]]. "[https://time.com/archive/6681840/hip-hops-down-beat/ Hip-hop's Down Beat]". Time. August 17, 2007.</ref><ref>Martinez, Michael. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110811065922/http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-09/us/guitar.hero.gone_1_music-genre-air-guitar-guitar-center?_s=PM%3AUS The music dies for once popular 'Guitar Hero' video game]", [[CNN]]. February 9, 2011. Archived August 11, 2011.</ref> By the late 1990s hip-hop was artistically dominated by the [[Wu-Tang Clan]], [[Sean Combs|Diddy]] and [[Fugees|the Fugees]].<ref name=Britannica/> The Beastie Boys continued their success throughout the decade crossing color lines and gaining respect from many different artists. Record labels based out of Atlanta, [[St. Louis]], and [[New Orleans]] also gained fame for their local scenes. The midwest rap scene was known for fast vocal styles from artists such as [[Bone Thugs-n-Harmony]], [[Tech N9ne]], and [[Twista]].

[[File:Scarface (rapper).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Rapper [[Scarface (rapper)|Scarface]] from [[Geto Boys]]]][[Southern hip hop|Southern rap]] became popular in the early 1990s.<ref>Burks, Maggie. "[https://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2008/sep/03/southern-hip-hop/ Southern Hip-Hop]", ''[[Jackson Free Press]]''. September 3, 2008.</ref> The first Southern rappers to gain national attention were the [[Geto Boys]] out of Houston, Texas.<ref>Lomax, John. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20120113080240/http://www.houstonpress.com/2005-05-05/music/mouth-of-the-dirty-south/ Mouth of the South]", ''Houston Press''. May 5, 2005.</ref> Southern rap's roots can be traced to the success of Geto Boy's early albums. The group's strongest member was [[Scarface (rapper)|Scarface]] who later went solo.<ref>Westhoff, Ben. ''Dirty South: OutKast, Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, and the Southern Rappers Who Reinvented Hip-Hop''. [[Chicago Review Press]], 2011. 42ff</ref>

[[Atlanta hip-hop]] artists were key in further expanding rap music and bringing southern hip-hop into the mainstream. Releases such as [[Arrested Development (hip hop group)|Arrested Development]]'s ''[[3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of...]]'' (1992), [[Goodie Mob]]'s ''[[Soul Food (Goodie Mob album)|Soul Food]]'' (1995), and [[Outkast]]'s ''[[ATLiens]]'' (1996) were all critically acclaimed. When Outkast won the Best New Rap Group at the [[1995 Source Awards]], it signaled a power shift in Atlanta's direction.<ref>Goldsmith, Melissa Ursula Dawn and Anthony J. Fonseca. ''Hip Hop Around the World: An Encyclopedia'' [2 Volumes]. Greenwood, 2019. 180.</ref>

During the golden age, elements of hip-hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music. The first waves of [[rap rock]], [[Punk rock subgenres|rapcore]], and [[rap metal]] went mainstream. Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, and [[Rage Against the Machine]] were among the most well-known bands in these fields.<ref>Ambrose, Joe. ''The Violent World of Moshpit Culture''. Omnibus Press, 2001. 5.</ref> In Hawaii, bands like [[Sudden Rush]] created the [[na mele paleoleo]] style which fused hip-hop with [[Hawaiian language]] and [[Hawaiian sovereignty movement|sovereignty issues]].<ref>Akindes, Fay Yokomizo. "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/41389595 Sudden Rush: Na Mele Paleoleo (Hawaiian Rap) as Liberatory Discourse]", ''Discourse'', vol. 23 no. 1, 2001, p. 82-98.</ref>

===East v. west===
{{main|East Coast hip-hop|West Coast hip-hop|East Coast–West Coast hip-hop rivalry}}
[[File:Wu-Tang Clan - Virgin Festival.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|[[Wu-Tang Clan]] at the Virgin Festival in 2007]]In the early 1990s, east coast hip-hop was dominated by the [[Native Tongues]] posse, which was loosely composed of [[De La Soul]], [[Prince Paul (producer)|Prince Paul]], [[A Tribe Called Quest]], the [[Jungle Brothers]], [[3rd Bass]], [[Main Source]], and [[Black Sheep (hip hop group)|Black Sheep]] and [[KMD]]. Although originally a "daisy age" conception stressing the positive aspects of life, darker material soon crept in.<ref name=Joint/>{{rp|143}} In 1993, [[Wu-Tang Clan]]'s ''[[Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)]]'' pioneered a [[Hardcore hip-hop|hardcore rap]] response to the west coast's [[gangsta rap|gangsta]].<ref name=Anthology/>{{rp|330f}}

New York hip-hop experienced a renaissance the following year with the release of two landmark albums: [[Nas]]' ''[[Illmatic]]'' and [[The Notorious B.I.G.|Notorious B.I.G.]]'s ''[[Ready to Die]]''.<ref>Osorio, Kim and Boo Rosario. "[https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0PI5KpMxHD7WG9uQ19nem9UeE0/edit?resourcekey=0-2C25yqc207z3hLoKA75ytQ 1994: The (Second) Most Important Year In Hip Hop]". ''[[The Source (magazine)|The Source]]''. March 2002. 180–3.</ref> The 10-member Wu-Tang Clan also started creating a hip-hop universe of solo albums that served as advertisements for each other. Some of the standout titles were [[Raekwon]]'s ''[[Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...]]'', [[Ghostface Killah]]'s ''[[Ironman (Ghostface Killah album)|Ironman]]'', and [[GZA]]'s ''[[Liquid Swords]]''. [[RZA]] had a hand in producing most of their efforts, and his style became massively influential.<ref>Vernon, Jim. ''Sampling, Biting, and the Postmodern Subversion of Hip Hop''. Springer International Publishing AG, 2021. 92–7.</ref> Prominent producers during this period were [[DJ Premier]] ([[Gang Starr]], [[Jeru the Damaja]]), [[Pete Rock]] ([[CL Smooth]]), [[Buckwild (music producer)|Buckwild]], [[Large Professor]], [[Diamond D]], and [[Q-Tip (musician)|Q-Tip]]. Nas' ''Illmatic'', [[O.C. (rapper)|O.C.]]'s ''[[Word...Life]]'', and [[Jay-Z]]'s ''[[Reasonable Doubt (album)|Reasonable Doubt]]'' all relied on this talent pool.<ref>Keyes, Cheryl Lynette. ''Rap Music and Street Consciousness''. [[University of Illinois Press]], 2004. 117.</ref>

[[File:Lisboa 2011 139 (6474542577).jpg|right|thumb|upright=0.8|Tribute to [[Tupac Shakur]]]]A lazy media narrative emerged that rappers on the coasts were feuding with each other. As Kool Moe Dee and LL Cool J had previously found, playing into a rivalry was good for sales. It became fashionable to emphasize the east coast versus west Coast beef, but it did not remain a lyrical battle.<ref>Giannotta, Meghan. "[https://www.amny.com/entertainment/east-coast-vs-west-coast-rivalry-a-look-at-tupac-and-biggie-s-infamous-hip-hop-feud-1-13742586/ East Coast vs. West Coast rivalry: A look at Tupac and Biggie's infamous hip-hop feud]", amNewYork. March 8, 2019.</ref> On November 30, 1994, in New York City, [[Tupac Shakur]] was shot five times. He blamed the attack on a cohort that included [[Sean Combs]] and [[the Notorious B.I.G.]].<ref>Powell, Kevin. "[https://www.vibe.com/features/editorial/tupac-april-1995-cover-story-ready-to-live-686969/ Ready to Live]", ''Vibe''. April 1995.</ref>

Tupac left [[Interscope Records]] for [[Suge Knight]] and Dr. Dre's [[Death Row Records]] on the west coast. Tupac's February 1996 debut for the label, ''[[All Eyez on Me]]'', was promoted by relentlessly highlighting his grievances with east coast personalities. The ploy was successful and led to monster sales.<ref>Brown, Jake. ''Suge Knight: The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Death Row Records''. Colossus Books, 2002. 105ff.</ref> On September 7, 1996, [[Murder of Tupac Shakur|Tupac was killed]] in Las Vegas. On March 9, 1997, [[Murder of the Notorious B.I.G.|the Notorious B.I.G. was killed]] in Los Angeles. Though the coastal feud involved dozens of people in countless imbroglios, the twin tragedies of Tupac and Biggie are at the core of the episode. Their deaths are used as markers for the end of the golden age of hip-hop.<ref name=Emusicology/>

==2000s: bling and blog==
===Commercialization and new directions===
[[File:Birdman performing at Club Nokia.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.6|[[Birdman (rapper)|Birdman]]]]
Now a mainstream genre and dominating the charts, hip-hop became commercially oriented in the late 1990s. The musical approach was typified by [[Sean Combs]] who ruled the 1997 charts by repurposing old hits into new ones. [[Diana Ross]]' "[[I'm Coming Out]]" became "[[Mo Money Mo Problems]]". [[Herb Alpert]]'s "[[Rise (instrumental)|Rise]]" became "[[Hypnotize (The Notorious B.I.G. song)|Hypnotize]]". [[The Police]]'s #1 hit "[[Every Breath You Take]]" became "[[I'll Be Missing You]]". The shiny suits he and his protege [[Mase]] wore became a punchline for the period.<ref>Sanneh, Kelefa. ''Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres''. Penguin Publishing Group, 2022. 301ff.</ref> The same year, Will Smith's single "[[Gettin' Jiggy wit It]]" gave a catchier name for the era.<ref>Adams, Dart. "[https://festivalpeak.com/independent-as-fuck-20-essential-underground-hip-hop-releases-from-1997-db1c5206a99e Independent As Fuck: 20 Essential Underground Hip Hop Releases From 1997]", ''[[Medium (website)|Medium]]''. November 2, 2017.</ref>

In [[New Orleans]], two upstart labels came to prominence. [[Master P]] built [[No Limit Records]] into a multimillion-dollar enterprise.<ref>Chappell, Kevin. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=e9UDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA58&dq=master%20p&pg=PA57#v=onepage&q&f=false Master P Raps About His Rapper Son, His $500 Million Empire And Why He Cleaned Up His Act]", ''[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]''. June 2002. 56–60.</ref> [[Cash Money Records]] supercharged its sales by signing a distribution deal with [[Universal Records (1995−2006)|Universal]] in 1998. Their roster included [[Birdman (rapper)|Birdman]], [[Lil Wayne]], [[B.G. (rapper)|B.G.]], and [[Juvenile (rapper)|Juvenile]].<ref>Frederick, Brendan. "[https://www.xxlmag.com/the-6-biggest-moment-cash-money-signs-with-universal/ The #6 Biggest Moment: Cash Money Signs With Universal]", ''[[XXL (magazine)|XXL]]''. February 7, 2008.</ref> In 1999, the slick consumerism of the jiggy era was indelibly rechristened by [[B.G. (rapper)|B.G.]] in his song "[[Bling Bling (song)|Bling Bling]]". The slang immediately resonated, and the "bling" label stuck.<ref>"[https://www.thefader.com/2017/01/11/bling-bling-oral-history-lil-wayne-bg-turk-juvenile-birdman-mannie-fresh The Complete History Of 'Bling Bling']", ''[[The Fader]]''. January 11, 2017.</ref>

[[File:Eminem-01-mika.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|[[Eminem]]]]
Dr. Dre began 1999 by producing Eminem's debut ''[[The Slim Shady LP]]'' which went quadruple platinum.<ref>"[https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-slim-shady-lp-mw0000601851 The Slim Shady LP]", AllMusic. February 23, 1999. Accessed January 12, 2010.</ref> In November, he released his 6x platinum album ''[[2001 (Dr. Dre album)|2001]]''. Dre also produced Eminem's [[The Marshall Mathers LP|second album]] and [[50 Cent]]'s ''[[Get Rich or Die Tryin']]'', which debuted in 2003 at number one on the [[Billboard 200|U.S. Billboard 200]] charts.<ref>"[https://www.billboard.com/music/50-cent/chart-history Chart History: 50 Cent – Billboard Global 200]", ''Billboard''. Accessed September 27, 2021.</ref>

During the bling era, it became commonplace to pair an R&B singer with a rapper. Either the rapper would appear in a remix of the singer's hit, or the singer would perform the hook on a rapper's song. Pairings included [[Ashanti (singer)|Ashanti]] and [[Ja Rule]], [[Beyonce]] and [[Jay-Z]], and [[Mariah Carey]] alongside a steady stream of rappers like [[Mystikal]], [[Cam'ron]], and [[Busta Rhymes]].<ref>Princiotti, Nora. ''Hit Girls: Britney, Taylor, Beyoncé, and the Women Who Built Pop's Shiniest Decade''. Random House Publishing Group, 2025. 78ff.</ref> Jay-Z became culturally dominant with his record label, clothing line, and various business interests. His albums consistently charted #1, and with the release of ''[[The Blueprint 3]]'' in 2009, he broke [[Elvis Presley]]'s record for most number one albums by a solo artist.<ref>Caulfield, Keith. "[https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/beatles-jay-z-dominate-billboard-charts-267385/ Beatles, Jay-Z Dominate Billboard Charts]", ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''. September 16, 2009.</ref>

===Alternative===
{{Main|Alternative hip-hop|Glitch hop|Wonky (music)|Crunk|snap music}}
[[File:Kanyewestdec2008.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.6|[[Kanye West]]]][[Alternative hip-hop]] artists such as MF Doom, the Roots, Dilated Peoples, Gnarls Barkley, Mos Def, and Aesop Rock began to achieve significant recognition.<ref>LeRoy, Dan. "[https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mf-doom-mn0000220563 MF Doom]". ''[[AllMusic]]''. Accessed May 28, 2025.</ref><ref>Cohen, Jonathan. "[https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/high-school-musical-2-starts-third-week-at-no-1-1049521/ 'High School Musical 2' Starts Third Week At No. 1]", ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''. September 5, 2007.</ref> Other alternative artists like [[Outkast]], [[Kanye West]], and [[Gnarls Barkley]] also began to earn mainstream sales.<ref>Michel, Sia. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/18/arts/critics-choice-new-cds-860069.html Critics' Choice: New CD's]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. September 18, 2006. E4.</ref> Outkast's 2003 album ''[[Speakerboxxx/The Love Below]]'' won [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year]] at the [[46th Annual Grammy Awards]] and has been certified 13x platinum.<ref>Gold & Platinum: "[https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=Outkast&ti=Speakerboxxx+%2F+The+Love+Below&format=Album&type=#search_section OUTKAST SPEAKERBOXXX/THE LOVE BELOW]", Riaa.com. Accessed May 28, 2025.</ref>

When [[Kanye West]]'s ''[[Graduation (album)|Graduation]]'' and [[50 Cent]]'s ''[[Curtis (50 Cent album)|Curtis]]'' were both released on September 11, 2007, West's idiosyncratic album sold quicker.<ref>Sexton, Paul. "[https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1049223/kanye-defeats-50-cent-on-uk-album-chart Kanye Defeats 50 Cent On U.K. Album Chart]", ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' September 17, 2007</ref> West's next album, ''[[808s & Heartbreak]]'', was even quirkier and established a rush towards more creative hip-hop productions.<ref>Reid, Shaheem. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20081006232941/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1596254/20081003/common.jhtml Common Praises Kanye's Singing; Lupe Fiasco Plays CEO: Mixtape Monday]", ''[[MTV]]''. October 3, 2008.</ref> West borrowed the Auto-Tune vocal effect that rapper T-Pain had popularized.<ref>Farber, Jim. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20090208005810/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2007/12/11/2007-12-11_singers_do_better_with_tpain_relief-1.html Singers do better with T-Pain relief]", ''[[New York Daily News]]''. December 11, 2007.</ref> T-Pain cites [[new jack swing]] producer [[Teddy Riley]] and funk artist [[Roger Troutman]]'s use of the talk box as inspirations for his use of the technique.<ref>Lee, Chris. "[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-nov-15-et-tpain15-story.html The (retro) future is his]", ''Los Angeles Times''. November 15, 2008.</ref> Even Jay-Z began talking wistfully about making an alternative album.<ref>Kash, Tim and James Montgomery. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20090903024203/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1620444/20090831/jay_z.jhtml Jay-Z Hopes Bands Like Grizzly Bear Will 'Push Hip-Hop']", ''[[MTV]]''. September 3, 2009.</ref>

The alternative hip-hop movement was not limited only to the United States, as rappers such as [[Somali people|Somali]]-Canadian poet [[K'naan]], Japanese rapper [[Shing02]], and [[Sri Lankan British]] artist [[M.I.A. (rapper)|M.I.A.]] achieved considerable worldwide recognition. In 2009, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]] placed M.I.A in the [[Time 100]] list of "World's Most Influential people" for having "global influence across many genres."<ref>[[Spike Jonze|Jonze, Spike]]. "[https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1893836_1894427,00.html M.I.A. - The 2009 Time 100]", ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. April 30, 2009.</ref> Global-themed movements have also sprung out of the international hip-hop scene with microgenres like "Islamic Eco-Rap" addressing issues of worldwide importance through traditionally disenfranchised voices.<ref>Minister of Information JR. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110928131628/http://sfbayview.com/2011/class-is-in-session-an-interview-wit%E2%80%99-rapper-professor-a-l-i/ Class Is In Session An Interview With Rapper Professor A.L.I.]",  [[San Francisco Bay View]]. May 20, 2011. Archived September 28, 2011.</ref>

[[File:lil Jon.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.6|[[Lil Jon]]]][[Glitch hop]] is a fusion genre of hip-hop and glitch music that originated in the early to mid-2000s in the United States and Europe. Musically, it is based on irregular, chaotic [[breakbeat]]s, glitchy [[bassline]]s and other typical sound effects used in glitch music, like skips. Glitch hop artists include [[Prefuse 73]], [[Dabrye]] and [[Flying Lotus]].<ref>DJ Pangburn. "[https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/5-artists-who-are-masters-of-glitch-music.html 5 Artists Who Are Masters of Glitch Music]", ''Izotope''. June 20, 2018</ref> [[Wonky (music)|Wonky]] is a subgenre of hip-hop that originated around 2008. It differs from glitch hop with more melodic material and unstable synths. Scottish artists like [[Hudson Mohawke]] and [[Rustie]] are prominent in the genre.<ref>Jensen, Dylan. "[https://swarthmorephoenix.com/2012/01/19/rusties-glass-swords-is-wonkys-newest-answer-to-dubstep/ Rustie’s ‘Glass Swords’ is Wonky’s newest answer to Dubstep]", ''[[The Swarthmore Phoenix]]''. January 19, 2012.</ref>

The subgenre known as [[crunk]] exploded in the 2000s when songs by [[Lil Jon]] and [[Ying Yang Twins]] became huge hits.<ref>Sarig, Roni. ''Third Coast: OutKast, Timbaland, and How Hip-Hop Became a Southern Thing''. Hachette Books, 2007. 305.</ref> It originated in [[Tennessee]] in the southern United States in the 1990s, influenced by [[Miami bass]].<ref>Adasco, Henry. "[https://www.liveabout.com/definition-of-crunk-music-2857305 Crunk Music]", ''LiveAbout''. March 8, 2019.</ref> Crunk is almost exclusively "party music", favoring call and response hip-hop slogans in lieu of more substantive approaches.<ref>Miller, Matt. "[https://southernspaces.org/2008/dirty-decade-rap-music-and-us-south-1997-2007/ Dirty Decade: Rap Music from the South: 1997–2007]", ''Southern Spaces''. June 10, 2008.</ref>

A variant of crunk known as [[snap music]] emerged in Atlanta in the 1990s.<ref>Conway, Rondell. "[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6CYEAAAAMBAJ/page/n133/mode/1up Oh Snap!", ''Vibe'', June 2006. 132–7.</ref> The dawn of [[social media]] in 2003 spread the genre as artists like [[Soulja Boy]] started uploading their music directly to sites like [[YouTube]] and [[MySpace]].<ref>Yoh. "[https://djbooth.net/features/2016-03-24-soulja-boy-myspace-internet/ How Soulja Boy & Myspace Brought Hip-Hop into the Internet Era]", ''Djbooth''. January 16, 2019.</ref>

===The internet sales decline===
[[File:Flo Rida (6924266548).jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.6|[[Flo Rida]]]]Social media led to the decline of fans purchasing physical media like CDs and vinyl. Starting in 2005, hip-hop sales plummeted, prompting concerns that the genre might be dying.<ref>Coates, Ta-Nehisi. "[https://time.com/archive/6681840/hip-hops-down-beat/ Hip-Hop's Down Beat]", ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. August 17, 2007.</ref> While all music sales declined, hip-hop's losses were greater, totaling a 21% decrease from 2005 to 2006.<ref>Sanneh, Kelefa. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/arts/music/30sann.html The Shrinking Market Is Changing the Face of Hip-Hop]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. December 30, 2007.</ref> 2006 was the first time in five years that the top ten albums did not include hip-hop.<ref>Milloy, Courtland. "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/18/AR2007091801807_2.html Gangsta Rap, Dying in the Street]". ''[[The Washington Post]]''. September 19, 2007</ref>

[[Peer-to-peer file sharing]] also wreaked havoc with record sales.<ref>Blair, Elizabeth. "[https://www.npr.org/2007/03/11/7834732/is-hip-hop-dying-or-has-it-moved-underground Is Hip-Hop Dying Or Has It Moved Underground?]". ''[[All Things Considered]]''. March 11, 2007</ref> Digital downloads returned singles to the forefront of music sales.<ref>Noam, Eli M. ''The Content, Impact, and Regulation of Streaming Video: The Next Generation of Media Emerges''. [[Edward Elgar Publishing]], 2021. 26.</ref> Downloads of individual tracks from Flo Rida's 2009 album ''[[R.O.O.T.S.]]'' totaled in the millions, while the album itself did not even go gold.<ref>Martens, Todd. "[https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-song-ringtone-pg-photogallery.html Better as a song or a ring tone]", ''Los Angeles Times''. April 30, 2009.</ref>

Despite the fall in record sales throughout the music industry, hip-hop artists still regularly topped the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] charts.<ref>Sabbagh, Dan. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110825025812/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article4160553.ece Music sales fall to their lowest level in over twenty years]", ''[[The Times]]''. June 18, 2008. Archived August 25, 2011.</ref> In 2009, [[Rick Ross]], [[Black Eyed Peas]], and [[Fabolous]] all had No. 1 albums.<ref>Caulfield, Keith. "[https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/268775/rick-ross-debuts-at-no-1-on-billboard-200-for-third-tim Rick Ross Debuts At No. 1 On Billboard 200 For Third Time]", ''Billboard''. September 14, 2009.</ref><ref>Caulfield, Keith. "[https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/268353/black-eyed-peas-end-up-at-no-1-on-billboard-200 Black Eyed Peas 'E.N.D.' Up At No. 1 On Billboard 200]", ''Billboard''. June 17, 2009.</ref><ref>Herrera, Monica and Keith Caulfield. "[https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/267834/fabolous-tops-billboard-200-jacksons-ones-now-2009s-second-best-seller Fabolous Tops Billboard 200; Jackson's 'Ones' Now 2009's Second-Best Seller]", ''Billboard''. August 5, 2009.</ref> Eminem's album ''[[Relapse (Eminem album)|Relapse]]'' was one of the fastest selling albums of 2009.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20100314042643/http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/dizzee-and-eminem-land-fastest-selling-no-1s-of-2009_1104371 Dizzee Rascal – Dizzee And Eminem Land Fastest-Selling No 1S Of 2009]", ''Contactmusic.com''. May 24, 2009. Archived March 14, 2010.</ref>

The internet corroded music sales but democratized distribution. Audiences started to find artists directly through music blogs and social media.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20200429034125/https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/where-are-they-now-20-icons-of-the-hip-hop-blog-era-news.82448.html Where Are They Now? 20 Icons Of The 'Hip Hop Blog' Era]", HNHH. April 29, 2020. Archived April 29, 2020.</ref> Emerging artists like [[Wale (rapper)|Wale]], [[Kendrick Lamar]], [[J. Cole]], [[Lupe Fiasco]], [[The Cool Kids (duo)|the Cool Kids]], [[Jay Electronica]], and [[B.o.B]] also possessed a sensitivity and vulnerability that was taboo in the bling era.<ref>Morpurgo, Joseph. "[https://www.factmag.com/2012/10/23/kendrick-lamar-good-kid-m-a-a-d-city/ Good Kid, m.A.A.d City]", ''[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]''. October 23, 2012.</ref><ref>Hoard, Christian. "Kid Cudi: Hip-Hop's Sensitive Soul". ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', No. 1087. September 17, 2009. 40.</ref><ref>Caramanica, Jon. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/arts/music/14cara.html The Mining of Hip-Hop's Golden Age]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. September 12, 2008.</ref> 

==2010s–2020s: The streaming era==
{{Main|Trap music|Mumble rap|Emo rap}}
[[File:Lil Nas X back stage at the MTV Video Music Awards 2019.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|left|[[Lil Nas X]]]][[Trap music]] became a mainstream sensation in the 2000s, and started topping the charts in the 2010s.<ref>Patterson, Joseph. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130225214033/http://magazine.topman.com/category/ctrl-music/trap-music-the-definitive-guide/ Trap Music: The Definitive Guide]", ''Topman''. January 19, 2013.</ref><ref>"[https://djmag.com/content/trap-music-under-lock-key TRAP MUSIC: UNDER LOCK & KEY], ''[[DJ Magazine|DJ Mag]]''. February 28, 2013.</ref><ref>Lee, Christina. "[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/aug/13/trap-kings-how-hip-hop-sub-genre-dominated-decade Trap kings: how the hip-hop sub-genre dominated the decade]". ''[[The Guardian]]''. August 13, 2015.</ref><ref>Setaro, Shawn. "[https://www.complex.com/music/a/shawn-setaro/how-trap-music-came-to-rule-the-world How Trap Music Came to Rule the World]". Complex. February 14, 2018.</ref> It is typified by [[double-time|double]] or triple-time sub-divided [[hi-hat]]s, heavy [[kick drum]]s from the [[Roland TR-808]] drum machine, layered synthesizers and an overall dark, ominous or bleak atmosphere.<ref>Raymer, Miles. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130527094836/http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/trap-rap-edm-flosstradamus-uz-jeffrees-lex-luger/Content?oid=7975249 Who owns trap?]", [[Chicago Reader]]. November 20, 2012.</ref>

Major trap artists include [[Lil Nas X]], [[Waka Flocka Flame]], [[Future (rapper)|Future]], [[Chief Keef]], [[Migos]], [[Young Thug]], [[Travis Scott]], and [[Fetty Wap]].<ref>Unterberger, Andrew. "[https://www.billboard.com/pro/2019-lil-nas-x-old-town-road/ 2019 Was the Year That... Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road' Put a Bow on the Decade]", ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''. December 13, 2019.</ref> Major trap producers included [[Metro Boomin]], [[Pi'erre Bourne]], [[London on da Track]], and [[Mike Will Made It|Mike Will Made-It]].<ref>Gee, Andre. "[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/metro-boomin-trap-symphony-1234643162/ How Metro Boomin Made Trap Music Sound Like a Symphony]", ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. December 7, 2022.</ref><ref>Pierre, Alphonse. "[https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/pierre-bournes-10-best-beats/ Pi'erre Bourne's 10 Best Beats]", ''Pitchfork''. April 27, 2020.</ref><ref>Germain, Tabie. "[https://www.bet.com/article/kvz980/hip-hop-awards-2023-london-on-the-track-chart-topping-singles Hip Hop Awards 2023: London on da Track's Memorable Chart-Topping Hits]", ''BET''. September 12, 2024.</ref><ref>Carmichael, Rodney. "[https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/04/25/525450544/how-mike-will-made-it-and-kendrick-lamar-created-the-years-most-urgent-music-yet How Mike WiLL Made-It And Kendrick Lamar Created The Year's Most Urgent Music]", ''NPR''. April 25, 2017.</ref>

Trap has been dismissed as "[[mumble rap]]" because of its often garbled diction.<ref>Paor-Evans, Adam de. "[http://theconversation.com/mumble-rap-cultural-laziness-or-a-true-reflection-of-contemporary-times-85550 Mumble Rap: cultural laziness or a true reflection of contemporary times?]", ''The Conversation''. October 18, 2017.</ref> Snoop Dogg noted that he could not tell artists apart, and [[Black Thought]] lamented trap's lack of lyricism.<ref>Earls, John. "[https://www.nme.com/news/music/snoop-dogg-31-1218611 Snoop Dogg says new generation of rappers sound identical]", ''[[NME]]''. May 15, 2015.</ref><ref>Lewis, Philip. "[https://www.complex.com/music/2017/12/black-thought-on-mubmle-rap-i-essentially-invented-it Black Thought On Mumble Rap: 'I Essentially Invented It']", ''Complex Networks''. December 26, 2017.</ref>

Atlanta hip-hop dominated the charts during the 2010s.<ref>Wicker, Jewel. "[https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/47166/1/atlanta-changed-the-sound-of-the-world-migos-zaytoven-gucci-mane Atlanta: the city that defined the 2010s and altered the sound of the world]", ''Dazeddigital''. December 17, 2019.</ref> On July 17, 2017, ''[[Forbes]]'' reported that hip-hop/[[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] had usurped rock as the most consumed [[musical genre]], becoming the most popular genre in music for the first time in U.S. history.<ref>McIntyre, Hugh. "Report: Hip-Hop/R&B is the Dominant Genre in the U.S. For the First Time", ''Forbes''. July 17, 2017.</ref>

[[File:Doja Cat Planet Her Day Party 2 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|[[Doja Cat]]]]In 2021, [[Pop Smoke]]'s posthumous album popularized [[Brooklyn drill]].<ref>Shah, Neil. "[https://www.wsj.com/articles/pop-smoke-has-the-no-1-hip-hop-album-of-2021-heres-why-11626365585 Pop Smoke Has the Top Hip-Hop Album of 2021 More Than a Year After His Death]", ''[[Wall Street Journal]]''. July 15, 2021.</ref> The 2020s decade began with [[Roddy Ricch]] as the first rapper to have a [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] number-one entry.<ref>Mckinney, Jessica and Kemet High. "[https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-mckinney/what-to-expect-in-rap-2020 What Will 2020 Sound Like? Experts Predict the Future of Rap]", ''Complex''. January 21, 2020.</ref>

Streaming platforms like [[Spotify]] and [[Apple Music]] became the dominant music distributors in the 2010s.<ref>Thompson, Bonsu. "[https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/09/28/554220367/how-streaming-revolutionized-raps-album-rollouts-on-the-road-to-no-1 How Streaming Revolutionized Rap's Album Rollouts On The Road To No. 1]", ''NPR''. September 28, 2017.</ref> The 2017 Grammy Award for [[Best Rap Album]] went to a streaming album for the first time, [[Chance the Rapper]]'s ''[[Coloring Book (mixtape)|Coloring Book]]''.<ref>Havens, Lyndsey. "[https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/grammys/7686341/chance-the-rapper-coloring-book-first-streaming-only-album-grammy Chance The Rapper's 'Coloring Book' Is First Streaming-Only Album To Win a Grammy]". ''Billboard''. February 13, 2017.</ref> Artists like [[Kanye West]] and Drake started to eschew physical releases as well.<ref>Lockett, Dee. "[https://www.vulture.com/2016/03/kanye-announces-the-death-of-cds.html Kanye Announces the Death of CDs (His Own, Anyway)]". ''Vulture''. March 7, 2016.</ref><ref>Kornhaber, Spencer. "[https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/03/drake-more-life-playlist-versus-album/520158/ More Life Is Another Smart Career Swerve for Drake]", ''[[The Atlantic]]''. March 20, 2017.</ref>

Many hip-hop artists relied on [[SoundCloud]] to freely distribute their music without a record label. [[Post Malone]], [[Lil Uzi Vert]], [[XXXTentacion]] and many others started their careers on SoundCloud.<ref>Caramanica, Jon. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/22/arts/music/soundcloud-rap-lil-pump-smokepurrp-xxxtentacion.html The Rowdy World of Rap's New Underground]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. June 22, 2017.</ref> In 2021, the most streamed rappers were [[Doja Cat]] and [[Lil Nas X]].<ref>Devin. "[https://www.rap-up.com/2021/10/14/doja-cat-surpasses-drake-monthly-streams-spotify/ Doja Cat Surpasses Drake as Most Monthly Streamed Rapper on Spotify]", ''Rap-up''. October 14, 2021.</ref> The most streamed rap album of all time on [[Spotify]] is XXXTentacion's second album, [[? (XXXTentacion album)|''?'']] (2018).<ref>Lavarre, Carl. "[https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/xxxtentacion-most-streamed-hip-hop-album-spotify-1235366967/ Rap Caviar Names XXXTentacion’s ‘?’ the Most Streamed Hip-Hop Album on Spotify]", ''Billboard''. July 5, 2023.</ref>

==World hip-hop music==
[[File:Black_Thema_2011.jpg|alt=Black Thema 2011|thumb|[[Black Theama]]]]Hip-hop spread from the Bronx to the world. It is constantly being reinvented in nearly every country on the planet.<ref>Nawotka, Edward. "[https://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2004-12-09-where-youre-at_x.htm The globalization of hip-hop starts and ends with 'Where You're At']", ''[[USA Today]]''. December 10, 2004.</ref> The one thing virtually all hip-hop artists worldwide have in common is that they acknowledge their debt to the Black and Latino people in New York who launched the global movement.<ref>''The Vinyl Ain't Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture''. Edited by Dipannita Basu, and Sidney Lemelle, Pluto Press, 2006. xiii.</ref>

In many Latin American countries, as in the U.S., hip-hop has been a tool with which marginalized people can articulate their struggle. [[Cuban hip-hop]] grew steadily during the [[Special Period]] that came with the fall of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>Perry, Marc D. ''Negro soy yo: hip hop and raced citizenship in neoliberal Cuba''. [[Duke University Press]], 2015. 71ff.</ref>

[[Brazilian hip-hop]] is heavily associated with racial and economic issues in the country, where a lot of [[Afro-Brazilians]] live in economically disadvantaged [[favela]]s.<ref>Gates, Henry Louis. ''Black in Latin America''. ''New York University Press'', 2011. 219.</ref>

Puerto Rican [[reggaeton]] evolved from several genres, particularly Jamaican [[Dancehall]] and hip-hop.<ref name=Verdad>Castillo-Garsow, Melissa et al. ''La verdad: an international dialogue on hip hop Latinidades''. Columbus, 2016.</ref>{{rp|94f}}

Venezuelan rappers generally modeled their music after gangsta rap, embracing and attempting to redefine negative stereotypes about poor and black youth as dangerous and materialistic and incorporating socially conscious critique of [[Venezuela]]'s criminalization of young, poor, Afro-descended people into their music.<ref>Fernandes, Sujatha. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20171203013804/https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/595928 Comparative Perspectives on Afro-Latin America]''. University Press of Florida, 2012. 89.</ref>

[[File:Blockfest 2017.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.6|[[Blockfest]]]][[Haitian hip-hop]] developed in the early 1980s. Master Dji and his songs "Vakans" and "Politik Pa m" popularized the style. What later became known as "Rap Kreyòl" grew in popularity in the late 1990s with King Posse and Original Rap Stuff. Due to cheaper recording technology and flows of equipment to Haiti, more Rap Kreyòl is growing.<ref name=Verdad/>{{rp|253}}

[[French hip-hop]] also developed in the 1980s.<ref>Hammou, Karim. "[https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02897051 Quarante ans de rap français]". CRESPPA - Centre de Recherches Sociologiques et Politiques de Paris, 2020.</ref> The annual [[Blockfest]] in [[Tampere]], [[Finnish hip-hop|Finland]] is the largest hip-hop music event in the [[Nordic countries]].<ref>Siltanen, Mari. "[https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10858876 Hiphop-festivaali Blockfest myytiin loppuun ennätysajassa]", [[Yle]]. July 2, 2019.</ref>

[[File:YoungstaCPT BlackNation 01.png|alt=South African rapper, YoungstaCPT|right|thumb|upright=0.6| [[YoungstaCPT]]]][[African hip-hop#Nigeria|Nigerian hip-hop]] gained popularity in the 80s, 90s and 2000s through artists like [[The Remedies]], [[JJC Skillz]], [[M.I Abaga]] and [[Sound Sultan]], encompassing the incorporation of local languages and traditional hip-hop beats.<ref>Liadi, Olusegun. ''Popularity of Hip Hop Among Nigeria Youth: The Role of Multilingualism''. Lap Lambert Academic Publishing GmbH KG, 2015.</ref><ref>Adebiyi, Adeayo. "[https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/music/mi-abaga-describes-hip-hop-as-the-truest-art-form/95mxlk9 Hip hop is the genre that has fed most other genres - MI Abaga]", ''Pulse Nigeria''. March 25, 2024.</ref><ref>"[https://www.bbc.com/news/av/entertainment+arts-10634496 Nigerian hip hop grows in popularity]", ''[[BBC News]]''. July 14, 2010.</ref> In the 2010s and 2020s it developed further with rappers like [[Naeto C]], [[Reminisce (rapper)|Reminisce]], [[Olamide]], [[Phyno]], [[Blaqbonez]] and [[Odumodublvck]].<ref>Tayo, Ayomide. "[https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2023/9/2/the-nigerian-rapper-with-a-coat-of-many-colours The Nigerian rapper with a coat of many colours]", ''[[Al Jazeera]]''. September 2, 2023.</ref><ref>Okwuego, Oluchi. "[https://von.gov.ng/spotify-hails-olamide-as-top-street-pop-influencer/ Spotify hails Olamide as top street pop influencer]", Voice of Nigeria. December 21, 2023.</ref><ref>"[https://notjustok.com/article/cover/blaqbonez-is-africas-hottest-rapper/ Blaqbonez is Africa's hottest rapper, whether or not he is releasing music]", ''NotjustOk''. April 10, 2024.</ref><ref>Idawo, Anu-Oluwapo. "[https://radrafrica.com/nigerian-drill-odumodublvck-is-the-heartbeat-of-afro-drill-rap/ Nigerian Drill; Odumodublvck is the Heartbeat of Afro Drill Rap]", ''Radar Africa''. November 17, 2022.</ref>

[[African hip-hop#South Africa|South African hip-hop]] overlaps with [[kwaito]], a music genre that emphasizes African culture and social issues. Rappers such as Pope Troy have harnessed the use of socio-economic issues plaguing the political spheres of South Africa and hip-hop as a whole whilst balancing his lingual approach in order to communicate with the masses about the technical aspects that are creating the issues,<ref>"[https://www.timeslive.co.za/tshisa-live/tshisa-live/2017-09-09-while-zuma-is-not-the-best-president-he-deserves-respect-says-rapper-pope-troy/ While Zuma is not the best president' he deserves respect' says rapper Pope Troy]", ''Times Live''. September 9, 2017.</ref> South African hip-hop has evolved into a prominent presence in mainstream [[Music of South Africa|South African music]]. Between the 1990s and 2010s, it had transcended its origins as a form of political expression in [[Cape Town]] to produce artists like [[Hip Hop Pantsula|HHP]], [[Riky Rick]] and [[AKA (rapper)|AKA]]. Prominent South African rappers include [[Stogie T]], [[Reason (South African rapper)|Reason]], [[Da L.E.S]], [[Cassper Nyovest]], [[Emtee]], [[Fifi Cooper]], [[A-Reece]], [[Shane Eagle]], [[Nasty C]], [[K.O (rapper)|K.O]], [[YoungstaCPT]] and [[Big Zulu]].<ref>Kriger, Themba. "[https://www.redbull.com/za-en/brief-history-of-sa-hip-hop A Brief History of: SA Hip Hop]", ''[[Red Bull]]''. June 28, 2017.</ref><ref>Hansen, Gabriel Myers. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20231016105340/https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/bet-hip-hop-awards-2023-all-winners BET Hip Hop Awards 2023: All the winners]", ''Music In Africa''. October 11, 2023. Archived October 16, 2023.</ref>

In the 2010s, hip-hop became popular in [[Canada]] particularly in [[Toronto]], which has a large Afro-Caribbean and African population. The city expressed a new sub-genre called [[Toronto sound (hip hop)|Toronto sound]]. After [[Drake (musician)|Drake]] achieved mainstream success, the Toronto sound began with works by producers [[T-Minus (producer)|T-Minus]] and [[Boi-1da]].<ref>Cowie, Del. "[https://www.socanmagazine.ca/features/the-decade-in-canadian-hip-hop-2010-2020/ The Decade in Canadian Hip-hop, 2010–2020]", ''[[Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada|Socan Magazine]]''. February 1, 2021.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Music|United States|Hip hop}}
* [[Hip-hop and social injustice]]
* [[LGBTQ representation in hip-hop]]
* [[The Holy Book of Hip Hop]]
* [[List of hip-hop festivals]]
* [[List of hip-hop genres]]
* [[List of hip-hop musicians]]
* [[List of murdered hip-hop musicians]]
* [[Misogyny in rap music]]
* [[Music of the United States]]
* [[Video vixen]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*"[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_dywEAAAAMBAJ/page/n68/mode/1up 15 Years of Hip Hop: The Ultimate History]", ''[[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]]''. December/January 1994/5. 66–81.
*Polfuß, Jonas "[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10253866.2021.1990050 Hip-hop: a Marketplace Icon]", ''Consumption Markets & Culture'', volume 3, no. 25. 25. June 2022. 272–286. 
*[[Michael Eric Dyson|Dyson, Michael Eric]]. ''Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip-Hop''. Basic Books, 2007.
*George, Nelson. Hip Hop America. Penguin, 2005.
*[[Robert Hilburn|Hilburn, Robert]]. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-04-02-ca-1582-story.html "Rap: Striking Tales of Black Frustration and Pride Shake the Pop Mainstream"], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. April 2, 1989.
*Kitwana, Bakari. "[https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A117922513/AONE The State of the Hip-hop Generation: How hip-hop's cultural movement is evolving into political power]." ''[[Diogenes (journal)|Diogenes]]'', vol. 51, no. 3, Aug. 2004.
*McLeod, Kembrew. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20140903005012/http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/20/public_enemy.html How Copyright Law Changed Hip-Hop: An interview with Public Enemy's Chuck D and Hank Shocklee]", ''[[Stay Free!]]'', #20. 2002.
*Olivo, Warren. "[https://doi.org/10.1075/wll.4.1.05oli Phat Lines: Spelling Conventions in Rap Music]". ''[[Written Language and Literacy|Written Language & Literacy]]'', Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2001. 67–85.
*Potter, Russell. ''Spectacular Vernaculars: Hip-Hop and the Politics of Postmodernism''. [[SUNY Press]], 1995.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGsfXdMRS4c&ab_channel=TheCornellDailySun Afrika Bambaataa talks about the roots of Hip Hop]", ''[[The Cornell Daily Sun]]''. November 27, 2012.
*Daniels, Matt. "[https://pudding.cool/projects/vocabulary/index.html The Largest Vocabulary in Hip-Hop]", ''[[The Pudding]]''. 
*Deflem, Mathieu. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20120907213505/http://deflem.blogspot.com/1993/08/rap-rock-and-censorship-1993.html Rap, Rock, and Censorship: Popular Culture and the Technologies of Justice]." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Law and Society Association, Chicago, May 27–30, 1993
*George, Delano. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150320034026/http://www.jamaicans.com/music/articles_reggae/when-did-reggae-become-ra.shtml When did Reggae become Rap?]", ''Jamaicans.com''.
*[https://www.daveyd.com/raptitle.html The History Of Hip Hop] by Davey D.
*[https://www.daveyd.com/interviewkoolherc89.html Kool Herc Interview: 1989 New Music Seminar] by Davey D.
*[https://archive.org/details/Radio1RapShow-19961228 Kool Herc Interview by Frank Broughton]; Kool Herc, interview by [[Tim Westwood]], ''Radio 1 Rap Show'', ''[[BBC Radio 1]]''. December 28, 1996.
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tUaGFI2m5Y&ab_channel=CliffBlaze KRS gives 9 elements of Hip Hop at Harvard], video of 1999 Harvard lecture at [[YouTube]].
*"[https://teachrock.org/lesson/the-historical-roots-of-hip-hop/ The Roots of Hip Hop]" [[lesson plan]], [[TeachRock]].
*[http://www.whosampled.com WhoSampled]: User-generated database of commercial music samples, covers, and remixes.

{{Hiphop|state=expanded}}
{{BlackMusicHistory}}
{{Regional hiphop in the United States}}
{{Electronica}}
{{Authority control}}

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