Hip Hop

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop or rap music, is a genre of popular music developed in the United States by inner-city African Americans and Latino Americans in the Bronx borough of New York City in the 1970s. It consists of stylized rhythmic music (commonly created with sampling, scratching, and beatboxing) that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted.

Hip hop originated in the early 1970s at block parties in New York City, particularly among African American youth. DJs began isolating and looping the percussion breaks of funk, soul, and disco records, creating a rhythmic base for MCs (masters of ceremonies) to rap over. Key figures like DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaataa pioneered techniques such as scratching, mixing, and beatmatching, which became foundational elements of hip hop. As the genre evolved, it incorporated elements from other musical styles and developed distinct subgenres, including gangsta rap, conscious hip hop, and trap.