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Trip hop

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Trip hop is a music genre also known as the Bristol sound or Bristol acid rap. The trip hop description was applied to the musical trend in the mid-1990s of downtempo electronic music that grew out of England's hip hop and house scenes. Many of the artists labeled in the genre express distaste in the label, saying they would much rather be labeled as Hip Hop or not have a genre at all. Sometimes characterized by a reliance on breakbeats and a sample-heavy, often moody sound pioneered by Coldcut's remix of Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full", trip hop gained notice via popular artists such as Massive Attack, Moloko, Portishead, Tricky, Björk, Thievery Corporation, Amon Tobin, and rock-influenced sound groups such as Ruby, California's DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Gorillaz, Unkle, and the UK's Howie B. Morcheeba, originating from Hythe in Kent, Londoners Glideascope and New York's Bowery Electric are also often associated with this sound. The latest additions to this line of performers are Jem and Australia's Spook.

History

Trip hop originated in the '90s in Bristol, England, during a time when American hip hop was taking over Europe's music industry. 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. The name is meant to suggest the spacey, down-tempo feeling of trip hop music. 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 dub music and electronica.

The term "Trip hop" was coined by music journalist Andy Pemberton in the 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. 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 and Tricky. 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. Artists and groups like Portishead and Tricky led the second wave of the Bristol Movement. This second wave produced music that was dreamy and atmospheric, and sometimes deep and gloomy. The British press termed this style of music "trip hop," referring to this evolved style of hip hop; this term should not, however, be confused with the American usage which is closer to rap music.

The Bristol sound

The Bristol sound was the name given to a number of bands from Bristol, England, in the 1990s. These bands spawned the musical genre trip-hop, though many of the bands shunned this name when other British and international bands imitated the style and preferred not to distinguish it from hip hop.

It is characterised by a slow, spaced-out sound that a number of artists in the early and mid 1990s made synonymous with the city. These artists can include the aforementioned original Bristolians Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky and others such as Earthling, Way Out West, Smith and Mighty, Up, Bustle & Out, and The Wild Bunch.

The Bristol Sound was part of the wider Bristol Urban Culture scene.

Post trip hop

In 1994 Trip-Hop was applied to a wide variety of electronic music that was later divided into sub categories such as Big Beat, and Electro. 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. "Post trip hop" artists included Morcheeba, Chloe Day, Alpha, Mono, Mudville, The Aloof, Glideascope, Cibo Matto, etc. These artists integrated trip hop with Ambience, R&B, Brit-Hop, Breakbeat, Drum 'n' Bass, Acid Jazz, New Age, etc. Furthermore, vocals expanded beyond melancholy female voices. 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 was no longer limited to the "deep, dark style" of the early years, eliminating the original impression of trip hop as "dark and gloomy."

Abstract hip hop

James Lavelle, founding member of UNKLE and owner of the famous trip hop label Mo'Wax stated, "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." An absence of vocals in trip hop (in its earliest days) lead it to find its own voice by replacing vocals with more abstract sounds and having less of a focus on imitating American hip hop. Though this style of music was described by the British press as "trip hop," many artists (including DJ Shadow) frown upon this term. They are proud that their music is part of Hip Hop culture and feel no need to break off into a separate genre. DJ Cam calls this style of music "abstract hip hop."

Musical aesthetics

Trip hop is known for its moody, dark, yet lyrical sound.

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 develops 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 transcends 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"

Trip hop production is historically lo-fi, relying on analog recording equipment and instrumentation for an ambience. Portishead, for example, records 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.

Later artists have taken inspiration from many other sources including world and orchestral influences, as well as, film scores. In fact, artists such as DJ Shadow or Portishead extensively used film soundtracks as an influence with its acoustic instruments and orchestral sounds designed to create a mental imagery of a cinematic experience and immerse the listener to a mood of aural reverie rather than a focused attention to social commentaries or lyrics of gangsta rap. Musician - travellers are considered to be Thievery Corporation and Toires, especially Toires.

Major groups and artists

Note: To find more trip hop groups and artists, see Trip hop groups and Trip hop musicians.

See also

References

External links



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