Hip-Hop

Hip-hop music, also referred to as rap music, is a music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap which is accompanied with backing beats. Hip-hop music is part of the hip-hop culture, which began in the Bronx, New York City in the 1970s, predominantly among African Americans and Latinos. The term rap is often used synonymously with hip-hop music.

Hip-hop arose when DJs began isolating the percussion break from funk or rock songs for audiences to dance to. The role of the MC was originally to introduce the DJ and the music, as well as to keep the audience excited. The MC would speak between songs, giving exhortations to dance, greetings to audience members, jokes and anecdotes. Eventually, this practice became more stylized and came to be known as rapping. Though rap is usually integral components of hip-hop music, DJs sometimes perform and record alone, and many instrumental acts are also defined as hip-hop.

By 1979, hip-hop had become a commercially recorded music genre, and began to enter the American mainstream. It also began its spread across the world. By the beginning of the 2000s, hip-hop became a staple of popular music charts and is now performed in widely varying styles around the world.

This description is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses materials from the Wikipedia article "Hip hop music".