Hip house
Hip house, also known as rap house or house rap, is a musical genre that mixes elements of house music and hip hop, that originated in both Chicago, United States and London, United Kingdom in the mid to late 1980s.
| Hip house | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Mid–late 1980s, Chicago, United States and London, United Kingdom |
| Typical instruments | |
| Derivative forms | |
| Other topics | |
History
Minor controversy ensued in 1988 when a U.S. record called "Turn Up the Bass" by Tyree featuring Kool Rock Steady claimed it was the "first hip house record on vinyl". The Beatmasters disputed this, pointing out that "Rok da House" had originally been written and pressed to vinyl in 1986.[1] The outfit then released "Who’s in the House?" featuring British emcee Merlin, containing the lines "Beatmasters stand to attention, hip house is your invention" and "Watch out Tyree, we come faster". More claims to the hip-house crown were subsequently laid down by Fast Eddie "Yo Yo Get Funky!", Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock "It Takes Two", and Tony Scott "That's How I'm Living".
After successful releases by the Beatmasters, Deskee, Tyree, KC Flightt, Doug Lazy and Mr. Lee, hip-house became popular in the acid house warehouse scene and nightclubs. Hip house also garnered substantial chart success.[2] The style complemented sample-based records of the period, produced by artists such as S-Express, Bomb the Bass and M/A/R/R/S.
Hip house's further crossover success would come in the form of two ground breaking records: "I'll House You" by the Jungle Brothers and "It Takes Two" by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock. "I'll House You" is generally seen as a collaboration between New York City house-music producer Todd Terry and the Jungle Brothers (an Afrocentric hip-hop group from New York). "It Takes Two" was described by Hip Hop Connection magazine as "...the first palatable form of hip-house for hardcore hip hop fans."
Hip hop rappers that would receive the hip house remix treatment included Vitamin C, Sweet Tee, Raze, and the D.O.C.
Hip house tracks featured on popular dance compilations including Telstar's Deep Heat compilation series and was championed by DJs such as To Kool Chris and Chad Jackson.
As house music emerged as a worldwide industry by the late 1980s, US acts such as C+C Music Factory would use the hip house formula in hits such as "Gonna Make You Sweat", as well as the Eurodance genre - particularly with hits by the Belgian Technotronic, German Snap!, and Italian Lee Marrow.
Influence on UK rave scene
Hip house releases by UK artists such as Double Trouble and Rebel MC, Blapps Posse and the Adventures of Stevie V were an early influence towards the 1990s UK rave scene and the breakbeat hardcore genre (and genres that developed from it such as jungle).
Hip house in the present day
A modern form of hip house became popular in the mid to late 2000s with many artists enjoying mainstream success worldwide. A fusion of electro and hip hop (also known as electro hop) proved very popular and dominated the charts in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Such artists include LMFAO,[3] the Black Eyed Peas,[4] Pitbull, Flo Rida, Far East Movement, Hyper Crush,[5] the Streets,[4] Example and Azealia Banks.[6] Dance music DJs/producers also had hits in the hip house genre, which featured vocals from rappers. These include "C'mon (Catch 'em by Surprise)" by Tiësto and Diplo with Busta Rhymes, and "Forever" by Wolfgang Gartner and will.i.am. French artist David Guetta had several hip house hits such as "Memories" with Kid Cudi, "Where Them Girls At" with Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj, "Gettin' Over You" with LMFAO and "Little Bad Girl" with Taio Cruz and Ludacris.
References
- Duthel, C. "Pitbull - Mr. Worldwide" – via Google Books.
- Henderson, Alex. "Hip House". AllMusic. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
- "Together Festival Featuring LMFAO, Lil Jon and DJ Afrojack". bk.asia-city.com.
- "The Best Hip House DJs".
- "Azealia Banks 1991". exclaim.ca.
