The hip-hop subculture that spawned hip-hop music was born in New York City in the early 1970s.  Young African Americans living in the city would attend block parties where DJs gained popularity by isolating the percussion elements of popular songs.  This technique was already popular in Jamaica, and was largely credited to Clive Campbell, aka DJ Kool Herc, who is universally regarded as the father of hip-hop music.

Introduction of Rapping

Quickly, this isolation of percussion would lead to DJs starting to rap or MC over the most popular tracks.  Although this initially began as improvisation, it wasn’t long before rappers would write and memorise their lyrics prior to attending a party or a show.

Naturally, there is much controversy over which track was the first hip-hop song to be recorded, although The Sugarhill Gang’s aptly titled ‘Rapper’s Delight’ is widely credited as being so, in 1979.  By the end of the end of the year, there were individual rappers and groups of both sexes recording and releasing music.

Into the 1980’s, hip-hop music wasn’t yet mainstream, but had become popular in the tough inner cities of many North American cities, although Philadelphia was the only one where credible artists were emerging to rival those from New York.

Hip-Hop in the 1980s

Hip-hop music would quickly start to diversify as artists would use a range of production equipment and take inspiration from other genres in order to produce a unique, fresh sound.

New school hip-hop is the term given to the period in the early 80s when artists moved away from the disco elements that were prominent early on and started to incorporate edgier, rockier sounds to accompany the often aggressive lyrics.  The Run DMC/Aerosmith collaboration on Walk This Way later in the decade would cement this, and be widely credited as the track that made hip-hop mainstream.

Golden Age

The mid-1980s to the early 1990s is known as the golden age of hip-hop, owing to the massive range of diversity throughout the genre.  While disco influenced hip-hop and rockier styles continued to thrive, west coast and east coast styles would emerge in the United States, while Gangsta Rap would also make a breakthrough to the mainstream, with artists such as Public Enemy, N.W.A, and the Wu-Tang Clan being particularly important artists.  After the break-up of N.W.A, Dr. Dre would go on to become one of the leading figures in hip-hop, and is still one of the most sought after people in the industry today for collaborations.

2000s and Beyond

Although hip-hop music remained popular within the hip-hop subculture throughout the 90s, the huge commercial and critical success of Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP in 2000 brought the genre back into focus, predominantly, and controversially, due to the fact he was a white rapper.  The quality of the music, lyrics, and Dre-led production was not in question, however, and the re-emergence of hip-hop into the mainstream would help the likes of Jay-Z, who had been performing since the late 80s, finally be noticed and enjoy global success within the genre.

Today, although traditional hip-hop doesn’t feature much in the mainstream charts, artists like those above and popular musicians like Flo-Rida and Kanye West enjoy great success and exposure by combining several elements of R&B into their music, including hip-hop and rap.

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Reggae music was founded in the 1960s, developing from ‘rocksteady’ styles and the already popular mento, ska, and R&B genres of the time.  The 1968 track, Long Shot (Bus’ Me Bet), by The Pioneers is credited as the first recording of a reggae track.  The sound proved so popular that it was influencing the biggest genres and groups of the time, The Beatles’ Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da is one such example.

Jamaican Influence and Pioneers

All of the early reggae pioneers were from Jamaica.  Bob Marley and the Wailers are probably recognized as the most influential reggae band, and already enjoyed widespread popularity as they’d been successful through the other movements and styles that were moving through the country at the time.

Chris Blackwell, a Briton, founded Island Records in 1959 while in Jamaica, which would become the label for all of the emerging stars at the time, and remains a stronghold of reggae and R&B musicians to this day.

The Harder They Come

In the early 1970s, reggae would become more exposed to a global audience.  In 1973, The Harder They Come, a Jamaican crime film, would heavily feature reggae music, as well as having Jimmy Cliff, a famous reggae artist, as the lead.

While the film helped reggae become popular around the world, the tipping point for many was the 1974 Eric Clapton cover of the classic Marley track “I Shot the Sheriff,” which retained all of the reggae elements of the original combined with Clapton’s genius on the guitar, and would become played in homes and by radio stations around the world.  Suddenly, reggae music, and in particular Marley, was in front of a global audience and in a position to become a huge influence.

Reggae in the UK

Punk rock would become popular in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s, and would be a huge influence on artists like The Clash, while popular London DJ’s of the time would play reggae tracks and even hold dedicated genre-specific events at clubs like The Roxy, which once stood in Covent Garden.  In addition to these bands, others from the UK, UB40 being the most famous, would start to develop their own distinct reggae sound and inspirations.

Reggae’s Legacy

Reggae is everywhere you look in R&B and associated music genres today.  Many of the biggest acts of today and the last 20 years in this genre credit reggae, and Bob Marley in particular, as being a huge influence and inspiration to their work.

In addition, reggae has spawned sub-genres of music around the world, with various cultures creating their own distinct take on reggae and making it a part of their culture.

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Speak to some people about ‘electro’ music and they’ll tell you it’s a recent phenomenon that should be consigned to history quicker than it emerged.  However, the real history of electronic music begins in the early 20^th century.

Early Days Electro

While various examples of recording equipment were produced in the late 1800s, the Theremin is widely considered the first electronic instrument, unique for the time in that it didn’t actually require anyone to physically play it to create a sound.

Other instruments would be created throughout the 1920s, as well as early production equipment, including amplifiers.  Electronic recording equipment was also starting to become more sophisticated into the 1930s, prior to the Second World War.

Development through the 40s and 50s

Tape recorders would start to become popular in the 40s, and would lead to the rise of electroacoustic tape music.

The major piece of work conducted during this time came from Paris, the now famous Musique Concrète movement.  This involved composers bringing together a variety of different sounds and recording them onto the same tape, essentially the birth of mixing.

By now, electronic music was becoming popular around the world, with movements across Europe and North Africa, as well as in Japan and the United States, ensuring that early sub-genres of electro were established, particularly as different instruments and techniques were at different stages of knowledge and development in these locations.

60s and Synthesizers

Electronic music would struggle for exposure in the 1960s, owing to the continuing surge in popularity of traditional rock and roll and the emergence of musical giants like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

During this decade, however, the first synthesizers would be invented (although they wouldn’t become popular or widely used until the 1970s), and computer music and live use of electronics in performance would start to become established.

Coming to the Fore

While popular composers throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s would use electronics to create their sound, it was the rise of progressive rock, and the popularity of bands like Pink Floyd, Yes, and Rush that would start to herald the true electronic music era.

Such equipment would eventually start to see instruments phased out of some bands altogether and a greater reliance on electronics to create ‘synth pop’ and ‘pop rock,’ to name but two genres.  Again, some of the most legendary names in music, including Culture Club and Duran Duran, would become famous, and still are, because of these styles.

The Rise of Dance

The late 1980s and the 1990s is the time when dance music was born.  The volume was turned up, and in some cases, tracks had vocals completely removed to literally just feature an electronic beat and sequences.  Continuing advancements of music technology and accessibility meant that dance would continue to grow, and has done so into the 21^st century, too.

In addition, modern electronic production technology has also aided the development of genres such as dubstep, but has had a huge influence on the music industry in general and continues to be heard across various genres from a number of artists.

Image Source: Peter Kirn