| Trip-hop | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Hip hop, British hip hop, alternative rock, downtempo, acid jazz, psychedelic rock, post-punk, club music, lounge |
| Cultural origins | Early 1990s Bristol, United Kingdom |
| Typical instruments | Keyboards (especially Rhodes), turntables, samplers, brass, strings |
| Mainstream popularity | 1994 to present in UK and later in US |
| Subgenres | |
| Illbient - Post-trip-hop | |
| Fusion genres | |
| Trip rock | |
| Regional scenes | |
| Bristol | |
| Other topics | |
| Bristol underground scene - Industrial hip-hop - Breakbeat - Nu jazz | |
Trip hop is a music genre that refers to a musical trend that began in the mid-1990s of downtempo electronic music and grew out of England's hip hop and house scenes, including the Bristol underground scene. It has been described as "Europe's alternative choice in the second half of the '90s", and a fusion "of Hip-Hop and Electronica until neither genre is recognizable."[1]
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Trip hop originated in the mid-1990s in Bristol, England,[2] during a time when American hip hop started to gain increasing popularity in Europe along with the then well established House music and dance scene. British DJs decided to put a local spin on the international phenomenon and developed hip hop into a different style, marking the birth of trip hop. Originators in Bristol modified hip hop by adding a laid-back beat ("down tempo") – Bristol's signature sound in hip hop (trip hop's predecessor) was characterized by its emphasis on slow and heavy drum beats and a sound drawing heavily on acid jazz, Jamaican and dub music. Under the influence of American hip hop from the 1980s both black and white British youth became consumers of hip hop. Hip hop in the UK was immediately fused with black soul and elements of dancehall.
The term trip hop was coined by music journalist Andy Pemberton in the June 1994 issue of UK magazine Mixmag to describe the hip hop instrumental "In/Flux", a 1993 single by DJ Shadow, and other similar tracks released on the Mo' Wax label and being played in London clubs at the time. "In/Flux", with its mixed up bpms, spoken word samples, strings, melodies, bizarre noises, prominent bass, and slow beats, gave the listener the impression they were on a musical trip, according to Pemberton.[3] James Brendall termed the experience of trip-hop with the combination of "computers and dope".
Massive Attack's first album Blue Lines in 1991, is often seen as the first manifestation of the "Bristol hip hop movement" (known as the "First Coming of Bristol Sound"). 1994 and '95 saw trip hop near the peak of its popularity. Massive Attack released their second album entitled Protection. Those years also marked the rise of Portishead, Tricky and Red Snapper (from London). Portishead's female lead singer Beth Gibbons' sullen voice was mixed with samples of music from the '60s and '70s, as well as sound effects from LPs, giving the group a distinctive style. Tricky's style was characterized by murmuring and low-pitched singing.
The London based band Archive developed trip hop into progressive rock with elements of both hip-hop and orchestral music recently with the Album Controlling Crowds (Part I-III and Part IV).
After the success of Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky albums in '94 and '95, a new generation of trip hop artists emerged with a more standardized sound. Notable "post-trip-hop" artists include Morcheeba, Sneaker Pimps, Alpha, Mudville and Cibo Matto. These artists integrated trip hop with other genres - including, but not limited to, ambient, R&B, breakbeat, drum 'n' bass, acid jazz, and new age. The first printed record for the use of the term "post-trip-hop" was as late as October 2002 when British newspaper The Independent used it to describe Second Person and their hybrid sound. Trip hop has now developed into a diversified genre that is no longer limited to the "deep, dark style" of the early years, eliminating the original impression of trip hop as "dark and gloomy".
Trip hop has influenced artists outside the genre, including Nine Inch Nails, Björk, Radiohead, Travis, Beth Orton, Bitter:Sweet and Deftones.
James Lavelle, founding member of UNKLE and owner of the famous trip hop label Mo'Wax stated, in 1994, "British hip hop lacks the lyrical skills of US counterparts, but British kids have got the musical side, " and "They know about records. That's the step forward. Now they can do their own style, they don't have to copy anything."[3] An absence of vocals in trip hop (in its earliest days) led it to find its own voice by replacing vocals with more abstract sounds and having less of a focus on imitating American hip hop.[3]
In some instances, the Trip Hop sound relies on jazz samples, usually taken from old vinyl jazz records. This reliance on sampling has changed the way record labels deal with clearing samples for use in other people's tracks. Trip hop tracks often sample Rhodes pianos, saxophones, trumpets, and flutes, and developed in parallel to hip hop, each inspiring the other. However, categorically, Trip hop differs from hip hop in theme and overall tone. Instead of gangsta rap (e.g., NWA) or conscious rap (e.g., KRS-One) with its hard-hitting lyrics, trip hop offers a more aural atmospherics with instrumental hip-hop, turntable scratching, and breakbeat rhythms. Regarded in some ways as a nineties update of fusion, trip hop may be said to 'transcend' the hardcore rap styles and lyrics with atmospheric overtones to create a more mellow tempo that has less to do with black American urbanite attitude and more to do with a middle-class British impression of hip-hop. As Simon Reynolds put it, "trip hop is merely a form of gentrification."[4]
Trip hop production is historically lo-fi, relying on analogue recording equipment and instrumentation for an ambience. Portishead, for example, record their material to old tape from real instruments, and then sample their recordings, rather than recording their instruments directly to a track. They also tend to put their drums through considerable compression.
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