| UK hip hop | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Hip hop, Urban, Garage house |
| Cultural origins | Early to mid-1980s, United Kingdom |
| Typical instruments | Turntable, synthesizer, rapping, drum machine, sampler, guitar |
| Mainstream popularity | Mid-1980s until today. |
| Subgenres | |
| Oldschool jungle, Trip hop | |
British hip hop (or UK hip hop,[1]) is a genre of music, and a culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom.[2] It is generally classified as one of a number of styles of urban music.[3] British hip hop was originally influenced by the Dub/Toasting introduced by Jamaican immigrants in the UK (60s/70s), who eventually developed uniquely-influenced rapping (or speed-toasting) in order to match the rhythm of the ever-increasing pace and aggression of Jamaican-influenced Dub in the UK and to describe street/gang-violence, similar to that in the US. UK rap, or speed-toasting, has also been heavily influenced by US Hip-Hop, although not to the extent many assume. UK hip hop has been widely replaced with grime, however, many British hip hop artists remain producing tracks of this genre.
In 2003, The Times described British hip hop's broad ranging approach:
"...'UK rap' is a broad sonic church, encompassing anything made in Britain by musicians informed or inspired by hip-hop's possibilities, whose music is a response to the same stimuli that gave birth to rap in New York in the mid-Seventies.[2]
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Following an initial flurry of interest from major record labels in the 1980s, by the early 1990s the scene had moved underground after record companies pulled back. In the mid-1990s hip hop in the UK started to experiment and diversify - often mutating into different genres entirely, such as trip hop and began making inroads into the US market. The artist known as Knowledge, was England's first documented rapper (Black Echoes Magazine January 1980). While many rappers such as Derek B could not help but begin by imitating the styles and accents of their U.S. heroes, there were many who realised that to merely transpose U.S. forms would rob U.K. hip-hop of the ability to speak for a disenfranchised British constituency in the way that U.S. hip-hop so successfully spoke to, and for, its audience. Attempts were made by U.K. rappers to develop styles more obviously rooted in British linguistic practices - Rodney P of the London Posse deliberately chose a London accent - although many succeeded only in adopting a slurred hybrid that located the rap somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.[4]
As in the US, British hip hop emerged as a scene from graffiti and breakdancing, and then through to DJing and rapping live at parties and club nights, with its supporters predominantly listening to and influenced by American hip hop. Unlike in the US, it should be noted that the British hip hop scene was cross-racial from the beginning. This is due to the fact that various ethnic groups in Britain tend to not live in segregated areas, even in areas with a high percentage of non-white individuals. These places allow youth to share a cultural interchange with one another including musical genres such as hip hop.[5]
Cross pollination through migrating West Indians helped develop a community interested in the music. There were, however, British tunes starting to appear - the first ever British hip hop tune released on record was actually "Christmas Rapping" by Dizzy Heights and released on Polydor in 1982, and not (contrary to popular belief) "London Bridge" by Newtrament released on Jive records in 1983,[6] though prior to this British artists were rapping live or recording amateur tapes.
There were earlier pop records which dabbled with rap - such as Adam and the Ants' "Ant Rap" from the 1981 album Prince Charming and Wham's "Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do)" (Inner Vision, 1982) - but these are often considered pop appropriations of US rap.
Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Gals" (Charisma, 1982), featuring the New York hip hop group World's Famous Supreme Team, was the breakthrough hit that introduced the genre to Britain, as well as several other tracks from McLaren's Duck Rock album. The album used techniques that have been established in hip hop in the United States, such as sampling and scratching. Over the next few years, more UK hip hop and electro music was released: Street Sounds Electro UK (Street Sounds, 1984), which was produced by Greg Wilson and featured an early appearance from MC Kermit, who later went on to form the Wilson produced Ruthless Rap Assassins; The Rapologists' "Kids Rap/Party Rap" (Billy Boy, 1984); DJ Richie Rich's "Don't Be Flash" (Spin Offs, 1985). Releases were still few and far between, and the scene remained predominantly underground.
Although record labels began to take note of the underground scene throughout the 1980s and 1990s, radio play and publicity were still a difficulty in helping the fledgling scene to grow, and the scene only managed to survive through word of mouth and the patronage of pirate radio stations around the country. Mainstream radio did play British hip hop on occasion, and instrumental in giving the scene wider recognition were DJs such as Dave Pearce, Tim Westwood, and John Peel.
Kinetic Effect hit the scene in the early 1980s and was part of the rap outfit 2 the Top as D-Koy. In 1981, he teamed with Insane Macbeth to record "Borderin' Insanity," which was released in 1993, and had a limit 500 green vinyl availability. In 1995, Kinetic Effect recorded 'Man Bites Dog'/'The Effect of Fear' [7] Their song "The Rhythm I Give ‘Em," made the UK Top 10 Hip Hop chart. Other notable rappers of this era include Cash Crew, Shogun MC, Hijack, MC Untouchable and Dee Lawal [8]
The first UK record label devoted to releasing UK hip hop acts was founded in 1986. Simon Harris' Music of Life label was home to rapper Derek B - the first UK rapper to achieve chart success.
Building on Derek B's success, Music of Life went on to sign groups such as Hijack, the Demon Boyz, Hardnoise (later Son of Noise) and MC Duke. Their Hard as Hell series mixed homegrown talent like Thrashpack and the She Rockers with US artists such as Professor Griff. Music of Life was swiftly followed by other labels such as Mango Records and Kold Sweat. Another successful British hip-hop artist that emerged from Music of life, was Usher D Asher D (Jamaican-British rapper), due to being originally from Jamaica, he would often mix hip-hop with reggae music.
Moving away from its US roots, British hip hop started to develop its own sounds: acts like Hijack, II Tone Committee, Hardnoise, and Silver Bullet developed a fast and hardcore style, while many other acts took influences from elsewhere.
Caveman and Outlaw Posse developed a jazz influenced style, whilst MC Mell'O' mixed jazz and hardcore. London Posse and Black Radical Mk II were more influenced by reggae, whilst the Wee Papa Girl Rappers, Cookie Crew and Monie Love achieved chart success with more radio friendly hip hop.
Other acts and styles developed from the hip hop scene, resulting in new genres to describe them - for example Massive Attack[9] with trip hop, or Galliano US3 and Urban Species with acid jazz.
Despite the chart success of some British born hip hop artists - for example Slick Rick and Young MC, who all moved to the US at an early age - the majority of the scene was still underground and small scale.
In 1987 Positive Beat Records [1] came out of the hotbed of early UK Hip Hop, Ladbroke Grove, London with two releases. The label followed up the single 'Its Getting Rough' by 'Rocky X and D-D Dance' [2] with the bold and seminal 'Known 2 be Down'[3] album. This featured Sir Drew (of KREW and Newtrament), MC Flex, She Rockers, Rapski and more of West London's finest rap talents.
In 1988 Rapski released 'The Connection' [4] on 12" [5]. The track was taken from 'Known 2 Be Down' and was an early example of mixing Hip Hop and Reggae in a (London) Style. More was to come in the early 1990s in the form of MC Reason aka Voice of Reason with 'Symbolise / HouseQuake' and Jonie D with 'Which Base / Ride On' which was performed live on ITV in 1991.
A mindset began to develop - typified by the Gunshot tune "No Sell Out",1991 or Son of Noise's tune "Poor But Hardcore", 1992 - that distrusted successful artists who did not utilise the hardcore style most associated with the scene. Silver Bullet's chart success was applauded due to an uncompromisingly rapid delivery, whereas Derek B and Rebel MC were scorned when their more pop influenced styles earned them success. Such artists were often branded "sell outs".
Hip Hop Connection - the first major British hip hop magazine - was founded in 1989 and by the early 1990s the British hip hop scene seemed to be thriving. Not only was there a firm base of rappers in London - such as Blade, Black Radical Mk II and Overlord X - but many distinct scenes developed nationally.
Bristol's scene (specifically, the St. Pauls area) produced The Wild Bunch (later better known as Massive Attack), and major crews like the Scratch Perverts and Smith & Mighty, and later became the home of trip hop.
Nottingham was the birthplace of the Stereo MCs, whilst Leeds spawned Braintax and Breaking the Illusion (who together founded Low Life Records) as well as Nightmares on Wax.
Greater Manchester gave birth to the Ruthless Rap Assassins, Krispy 3 (later Krispy), the Kaliphz, Jeep Beat Collective and MC Tunes.
As the scene grew, it became less common for British rappers to imitate American accents (those that did were often ridiculed) and British rap became more assured of its identity.
Caveman signed to a major label - Profile Records, the label home of Run DMC - and Kold Sweat came into their own, discovering groups like The SL Troopers, Dynametrix, Unanimous Decision and Katch 22, whose "Diary of a Blackman" was banned by Radio 1 for using a sound clip from the British National Front.
In 1991, Hijack released The Horns of Jericho (Rhyme Syndicate Records, 1991) on Ice-T's recently formed Rhyme Syndicate label. The first single, "The Badman is Robbin'", was a top 40 hit and they went on sell more than 30,000 albums.
British hip hop was affected by the record industry clamping down on sampling, beginning to charge for the use of samples and prosecuting those who used them without permission. Larger US acts could afford to licence samples and still turn a profit for their labels, a luxury not available to many smaller UK artists.
One such victim of this was the Milton Keynes formed The Criminal Minds. Their first two releases in 1990 and 1991 were bogged down by potential sample clearance problems and thus were only ever made available in small numbers, yet rate amongst some of the finest pieces of UK hip hop recorded. As breakbeat hardcore music started to become very popular in the UK in the early to mid 1990s, The Criminal Minds turned their attention to making this type of music instead.
The predicted UK hip hop boom never achieved its predicted success. The Horns of Jericho (Rhyme Syndicate Records, 1991) was never released in the US, while record companies dropped artists, citing poor sales and lack of interest. Mango Records closed down, and the British public began to turn their affections to jungle, a fusion of breakbeat hardcore, hip hop and reggae.
In the period between 1992 and 1995 the only group to make much impact was The Brotherhood. They released their first record, simply called 'Brotherhood EP', as a low level white label in 1991 on Trevor Jackson's Bite It! label. They went on to release 'Wayz of the Wize' in 1992, then 'Untitled 93' and 'XXIII' in 1993, and 'Hip Hop N' Rap' in 1994, all on the Bite It! label. None of the records sold huge numbers but they managed to gain good air play on the Tim Westwood show and DJ 279's show on Choice FM, gaining them a solid following across the UK. Bite It! also released quality tracks from artists like Pauly Ryan and the Scientists of Sound.
As the old rappers left the scene, a new generation, raised on hip hop and electronica, was coming of age: The Herbaliser released Remedies (Ninja Tune, 1995), Mr Scruff released the "Frolic EP Pt 1" (Pleasure Music, 1995), Mark B released "Any More Questions?" (Jazz Fudge, 1995) and DJ Skitz released "Where My Mind Is At/Blessed Be The Manor" (Ronin Records, 1996) featuring a young rapper called Roots Manuva on guest vocals who had previously released the single "Next Type of Motion" (Sound of Money, 1995).
Record labels that attempted to merge British hip hop style and sensibilities with modern dance music began to emerge, like Mark Rae's Grand Central (home to Aim, Rae & Christian, and Fingathing, among others) or DJ Vadim's Jazz Fudge. Increasingly, these artists managed to avoid the issues surrounding sampling by making music themselves (bands such as the Stereo MCs began playing instruments and sampling their own tunes) or searching out more obscure records where a most cost effective licensing deal could be arranged.
British hip hop began to go through a renaissance,[10] its style shifting from the hardcore template of its youth and moving into more melodic territory.
The Brotherhood managed to break a major deal with Virgin Records in 1995. Continuing their relationship with Trevor Jackson as their producer, they released 3 singles ‘Alphabetical Response’, ‘One Shot’, ‘Punk Funk’ and their album Elementalz, all in 1996. Their work was met with critical acclaim and they toured solidly with American artists including Cyprus Hill, The Roots and WuTang, but big record sales seemed to be very elusive and they parted ways with Virgin in 1998.
In late 1996 Will Ashon starts up his new Ninja Tune backed label Big Dada and plans a roster of performers. Bandit of Birmingham's MSI/Asylum crew informs Will of Juice Aleem as he is contemplating who can truly represent the ethos of the new label. Ashon is impressed with the demo and agrees to have Aleem on board. The results of this is the first release of the now iconic record label: in 1997 Juice features on Big Dada record label's first ever release[2], "Misanthropic", under the pseudonym "Alpha Prhyme", a collaboration between himself and Luke Vibert.
In 1998 Mark B and Blade released "Hitmen for Hire EP", which featured guest appearances from Lewis Parker and Mr Thing (of the Scratch Perverts). The EP was a success, and led to the successful 2001 album The Unknown, which despite never charting in the UK top 75, was still a top 100 success and an even more bigger success within its genre. Also, the album spawned the 2001 top 40 single "Ya Don't See the Signs", which was a remix by Feeder frontman Grant Nicholas, after the title track was a top 75 hit and Blade with Mark B supported Feeder. The same year, Bristol's Hombré label released the "2012 EP" from Aspects, a benchmark release within the movement. Roots Manuva, Blak Twang, Mud Family, Task Force, Phi Life Cypher, MSI & Asylum, Jeep Beat Collective and Ty all came to the public's attention, while veteran acts Rodney P, Mike J, and MC Mell'O' returned to the scene.
A new generation of artists emerged following the turn of the century, including Jehst, Idyllic, Nicky Spesh, Bion, Whitecoat, Ricta, Foreign Beggars and Usmaan. At the same time a new style of electronic music emerging in the early 2000s, influenced heavily by hip hop and UK garage. The new genre was dubbed grime (sometimes called eskibeat or sublow). Notable grime acts include Dizzee Rascal, Bashy, Wiley, Skepta, Sway DaSafo, Ghetto, M.A., Kano and Giggs. Other commercial hip hop influenced artists who have recently emerged include N-Dubz, Tinchy Stryder and Chipmunk who each are notably established in England as pop artists.
Arguably the most successful of the grime acts, Dizzee Rascal, has also crossed the Atlantic to release music in the US on indie label Definitive Jux, and has recently been at the centre of some controversy regarding British hip-hop. His embrace of the "gangster style of hip-hop" has brought about criticism from political figures like David Blunkett, who worries that British hip-hop may perpetuate violence.[11] Records such as Pow (Forward Riddim) (2005) by Lethal Bizzle have made numerous references to guns and subsequently been banned from receiving air play. According to leadership, hip-hop may often glorify gun culture and violence.[12] Dizzee Rascal has spoken back, claming that his existence and the music he made was “a problem for Anthony Blair.” [13] However, there are British artists who argue that British hip-hop should not be lumped together with American hip-hop and the various stigmata attached to it. British hip-hop, claims Roots Manuva, "is more healthy" than American hip-hop, and is about making the music, not exploiting wealth or hitting it rich.[14]
Success followed The Streets' 2002 album Original Pirate Material, and he became one of the first of the new breed of British hip hop artists to gain respectable sales, though his verbal style resulted in him being shunned by many artists in the scene. Such success has caused a surge in media exposure of other British hip hop acts. Welsh rap group Goldie Lookin' Chain also achieved chart success with their tongue-in-cheek take on hip-hop.
A new generation of young socially conscious hip-hop musicians has emerged as a counter to the grime scene that many in the UK Hip Hop Scene perceive as commercial. These rappers strive to bring attention to both positivity and lyricism as well as the injustices of war, gentrification and racism, following in the tradition of conscious rappers such as Nas, Mos Def and Talib Kweli. Amongst these artists who proudly define themselves as "Hip Hop" rather than "Grime" are the likes of Klashnekoff, Akala, Wackman, Swag Blanket and the Poisonous Poets. Perhaps the rapper with the biggest underground support not getting coverage by the mainstream media is rapper, political activist and poet Lowkey who has toured America and worked with such esteemed acts as Immortal Technique and Chuck D of Public Enemy.
At the turn of the decade, UK hip hop started to dominate the UK single and album charts. Acts such as N Dubz, Tinchy Stryder and Chipmunk emerged in 2009 to wide commercial success. Tinchy Stryder scored two number ones with songs Number 1 and Never Leave You and became the best-selling British solo artist of 2009.[15] The following year continued the success of the previous, with acts like Professor Green and Tinie Tempah breaking through to even bigger commercial success and also critical appreciation. The debut album from Tinie Tempah called Disc-Overy went to number one in the UK album chart and was certified platinum on 1 March 2011.[16] He also won a Brit Award for his number one single "Pass Out". And soon to be and up coming hip hop artist 'MARC C' was signed out of albuquerque New Mexico in early June 2011.[17]
British hip hop was greatly influenced by United States’ hip hop. Hip hop music throughout the world is influenced by the United States hip hop but none are as similar as are the British and the US forms.[18] The cultural diversity that exists in both these countries seems to be the relationship that makes them so comparable. The different cultures within these two countries are each creating their own form of hip hop individually.[19] The effect of multi-cultural countries on music seems to be cross collaboration with the end result being a blending of all the different cultures. This merging of music puts the resultant hip hop from both the US and the UK on the top of the charts.
The growth of British hip hop was given a boost when in 2002, the BBC launched a digital radio station 1Xtra devoted to "new black music" including hip hop, R&B, UK garage, dancehall, and drum and bass,[20] however 1Xtra does not play exclusively British hip hop.
The cable and satellite, Channel AKA also has the profile of British hip hop and grime.
Women have contributed to hip hop’s evolution in Britain from the beginning.[21] The current British hip hop scene features strong women like Estelle, Baby Blue, Shystie, and Mercury prize winner Ms. Dynamite.[22]
Women in hip hop often confront a large amount of sexist stereotyping. Recently, many female British hip hop artists who confront this stereotyping have become popular. Grime artist Lady Sovereign has achieved huge success both in the UK and the US. Ms Dynamite (also known as Lady Dynamite), who released her first album in 2002, has become known for the political and social commentary in her music. Singer, songwriter, and rapper Estelle said of the difficult position of female rappers “I think they get a tough ride because some of them don’t see themselves above and beyond the bullshit and no one’s really given them that break.”
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