Trip-Hop Music: The History and Artists of Trip-Hop

Trip-hop is an experimental musical genre that blends elements of hip-hop, Jamaican reggae, acid jazz, and electronic music to create a unique sound. It features psychedelic, downtempo elements and emphasizes bass-heavy drumbeats. A majority of trip-hop artists draw inspiration from 1970s post-punk, jazz, and funk. These music styles combined with more current elements of hip-hop allow trip-hop to transcend traditional genre classification.

Emerging in Bristol, a city in the southwest of England, early artists like Massive Attack, Tricky (a former member of Massive Attack), and Portishead helped shape the genre. Despite their contributions to “trip-hop,” many artists do not like the term.

Trip-hop’s gloomy vocals, downbeat elements, and wistful jazzy sounds set it apart from the genres that inspire it. Here’s a brief history of how trip-hop entered the music scene:

• Trip-hop’s origins: In the early 90s, the term “trip-hop” first appeared in MixMag, a British dance and club music magazine. Music journalist Andy Pemberton originally used the term to describe the musical journey, or “trip,” of DJ Shadow’s song “In/Flux.” Trip-hop band The Wild Bunch, which evolved into Massive Attack, was the first group to put a spin on the original sounds of trip-hop, creating a signature “Bristol Sound.”
• Trip-hop makes it to the mainstream: In 1994, Bjork’s Debut album dropped. It featured Nellee Hooper, an original member of The Wild Bunch. Influenced by the sounds of trip-hop, Debut is notably one of the first albums to fuse electronic dance music with the pop genre. Other popular artists during this time include DJ Krush, Howie B, Earthling, DJ Food, Ninja Tune, Coldcut, 9 Lazy 9, Unkle, Portishead, and Tricky.
• Trip-hop influences in the 2000s: After trip-hop’s success in the 1990s, many artists still felt inspired by the genre in the 2000s but no longer considered trip-hop their main musical style. This included artists like Gorillaz, Rob Dougan, Gotye, Fatboy Slim, RJD2, Zion I, Kate Havnevik, and Zero 7. Trip hop helped spawn several subgenres, including intelligent dance music (IDM), dubstep, acid jazz, illbient music, and ambient music.

While a difficult genre to categorize, there are four main characteristics that define the trip-hop sound.

1. 1. Spoken word samples: Trip-hop features hypnotic, synthesized, and pre-recorded sounds. Artists use spoken word samples, raps, or other various vocal stylings dubbed over the music.
   
2. 2. Electronic instruments: Instruments often used in electronic, dub and breakbeat music, such as Rhodes pianos, trumpets, flutes, theremin, Mellotrons, and synth contributed to the synthesized and hypnotic sounds that define trip-hop.
   
3. 3. Prominent bass: A prominent bass is often employed in this genre to create slower BPMs and add a jazzy, funky, new age flare.
4. 4. Melancholic sound: Inspired by post-punk bands, trip-hop often features the angsty soul of rock with the flagrant undertones of hip-hop, resulting in its signature melancholic sound.

There are many artists and bands who have popularized the trip-hop genre through the years, including:

1. 1. The Wild Bunch: A DJ collective that came out of Bristol, The Wild Bunch is a pioneer of the English sound system culture.
2. 2. Massive Attack: Born out of The Wild Bunch, this group included 3D, Tricky, Mushroom, and Daddy G. Featuring various guest vocalists, this group’s 1991 album, Blue Lines, and its single, “Unfinished Sympathy,” received critical acclaim.
3. 3. Tricky: Adrian Nicholas Matthews Thaws, or “Tricky,” began his career as a member of The Wild Bunch and Massive Attack. His release of his acclaimed solo trip-hop album, Maxinquaye, in 1995 marked the beginning of a long professional partnership with singer-songwriter Martina Topley-Bird.
4. 4. Portishead: Named after the English port town, this band’s debut album, Dummy, is one of trip-hop’s landmark albums. This band consists of Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley, and Dave McDonald.
5. 5. DJ Shadow: A US DJ, record producer, and songwriter, DJ Shadow of Mo’Wax Records was instrumental in developing experimental hip-hop styles. His debut studio album, Endtroducing..... brought him into the spotlight.

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