Re: the trip-hop/hip-hop thing

Elson Trinidad (elson@westworld.com)
Wed, 19 Jun 1996 13:34:50 -0700 (PDT)

Also, Hip-Hop originated as a product of urban America; while it's wrong
to generalize, at least most aspects of hip-hop carry a streetwise
attitude coming from the minds and ideals of urban American youth; and no
doubt is it a child/grandchild of other urban American musical genres:
jazz and funk. Hip-hop is mostly rapped, spoken or sung, and while we can
get into an argument about what hip-hop "really" is (i.e. commercial vs
underground), the words, be it about racial oppression or "mackin on some
hoochies at a party" echo the joy, anger, sadness, humor, confusion, malaise
and experiences of urban America.

Trip-Hop originated as a product of Bristol (I don't know how defined it is
in other UK cities), and is mostly instrumental. Also wrong to
generalize, but it a lot of it contains the gloominess of the
port/industrial city of Bristol (pardon me if I offend any Bristolians
with that comment; the closest I've been to Bristol was flying over it
in an airplane; I saw a large V-shaped river cutting a swath through a
large dark brown urbanized patch). It is the product of the international
reach of American hip-hop, which has now made its presence in just about
every country in the world, as well as the typically European/British
genres of techno, trance, ambient and punk.

I have a feeling I'm wrong, so I'll shut up now.

Elson

-30-
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Elson Trinidad, Los Angeles, CA * elson@westworld.com
http://www.westworld.com/~elson
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