Hip house, also known as rap house or house rap, is a musical genre that mixes elements of

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

and

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

, which originated in both

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in the mid-to-late 1980s. A British collaboration between the electronic group

Beatmasters The Beatmasters are an English electronic music group who gained success in the UK in the late 1980s with four top 20 hit singles. They then went on to produce and remix records for other artists, including Pet Shop Boys, Erasure and Marc A ...

and the rap duo Cookie Crew created " Rok da House"; possibly the first hip house single.

History

Minor controversy ensued in 1988 when a U.S. record called "Turn Up the Bass" by Tyree Cooper featuring Kool Rock Steady claimed it was the "first hip house record on vinyl". The

disputed this, pointing out that " Rok da House" had originally been written and pressed to vinyl in 1986. 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 in "Yo Yo Get Funky!", Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock with " It Takes Two", and

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was a British film director and producer. He made his theatrical film debut with ''The Hunger (1983 film), The Hunger'' (1983) and went on to direct highly successful action and t ...

's "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 Acid house (also simply known as just " acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synt ...

warehouse scene and

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s. Hip house also garnered substantial chart success. The style complemented sample-based records of the period, produced by British artists such as S-Express,

Bomb the Bass Bomb the Bass is an electronic music alias of English musician and producer Timothy Simenon (born June 1967). As a name, Bomb the Bass came from Simenon's approach to collaging and mixing sounds whilst DJing in the mid- to late 1980s; he says ...

and

MARRS MARRS (stylised M, A, R, R, S) were a 1987 recording collective formed by the groups A.R. Kane and Colourbox, which only released one commercial disc. It became "a one-hit wonder of rare influence" because of their international hit "Pump Up th ...

. Hip house tracks featured on popular dance compilations including

Telstar Telstar refers to a series of communications satellites. The first two, Telstar 1 and Telstar 2, were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched atop of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962, successfully relayed the first televisi ...

's ''Deep Heat'' compilation series and was championed by DJs such as Chad Jackson. As house music emerged as a worldwide industry by the late 1980s, U.S. 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 particularly with hits by the Belgian group Technotronic and the German groups Snap! and Real McCoy.

Influence on UK rave scene

Late 1980s hip house releases by UK artists such as Double Trouble and Rebel MC, Blapps Posse and Shut Up and Dance were an early influence towards the early 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-2000s, known as electro hop, with artists enjoying mainstream success towards the end of the decade and into the 2010s. These artists included

LMFAO LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off) was an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu (rapper), Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Leiviska. Sky Blu ...

, Pitbull (most notably with his albums '' Rebelution'' (2009) and '' Planet Pit'' (2011)), Flo Rida, Far East Movement, Hyper Crush,

Example Example may refer to: * ''exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example" * .example, reserved as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain of the Internet ** example.com, example.net, example.org, an ...

(described as "rave-rap" or "rave-hop") and Azealia Banks. Electronic dance music DJs/producers also had hits in the genre, which featured vocals from rappers. These include " C'mon (Catch 'em by Surprise)" by Tiësto and Diplo with

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

, and " Forever" by Wolfgang Gartner and will.i.am. French DJ

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

had several hip house hits such as "

Memories Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is Encoding (memory), encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future Action (philosophy), action. I ...

" with Kid Cudi, " Where Them Girls At" with Flo Rida and

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

, " Gettin' Over You" with

and " Little Bad Girl" with Taio Cruz and Ludacris. Hip house in the 2020s includes " Boss Bitch" by Doja Cat, " Ego Death" by Ty Dolla Sign, " My High" by Disclosure, Aminé and Slowthai, " Believe What I Say" by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

, " Her" by Megan Thee Stallion and " Thique" by

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

References

{{House music-footer 20th-century music genres Hip-hop genres Music in London Music of Chicago House music genres Fusion music genres American styles of music British styles of music