| Hip pop | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Pop, old school hip hop, reggae, rock, electronica |
| Cultural origins | Late 1980s in the United States and Japan |
| Typical instruments | Rapping – Other vocals – Keyboards – Guitar – Drum – Piano – Turntables – Synthesiser (when incorporating electropop) |
| Mainstream popularity | High in the United States since late 1980s; high in Japan since the late 2000s |
| Other topics | |
| Japanese hip hop – Japanese idol | |
Hip pop is a fusion music genre combining the vocal style of pop with hip hop, which became popular in Japan in the late 2000s. Because there were rap artists to mix rap with pop music in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s such as LL Cool J, also, recently rapper turned hip pop star, these rap artists' music is commonly called pop rap in the US.
In Japan, however, the term "hip pop" became used as a fusion genre of J-pop and hip hop.[1] The "hip pop" music was sometimes confused with pop songs with rapping, but Japanese music duo Mihimaru GT described the true "hip pop" music for them as the music by the intermediate vocal style between rapping and singing.[2] They also pointed out that the "hip pop" music could cover various music genres such as reggae and rock.[3] The term itself can be found in the Japanese group Hip Pop Girls, which released an album in 1991.[4] Later, Japanese female pop singer Namie Amuro released the album Queen of Hip-Pop in 2005[5] and Japane singer Sho Sakurai also recorded his solo song "Hip Pop Boogie" on the limited edition of his band Arashi's 2008 album Dream "A" Live.[6]
Nonetheless, the term also went on to be used in the US such as Keith Caulfield of Billboard, who referred to The Black Eyed Peas as a "hip-pop" group when their album The E.N.D. topped the Billboard 200 in June 2009.[7]