Hip hop as both a musical genre and a culture was formed during the 1970s when
block parties became increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among
African American youth residing in the Bronx.[27] At block parties, DJs played
percussive breaks of popular songs using two turntables and a DJ mixer to be able
to play breaks from two copies of the same record, alternating from one to the
other and extending the "break".[28] Hip hop's early evolution occurred as sampling
technology and drum machines became widely available and affordable. Turntablist
techniques such as scratching and beatmatching developed along with the breaks.
Rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or chants along
rhythmically with an instrumental or synthesized beat.
Hip hop music was not officially recorded to play on radio or television until
1979, largely due to poverty during the genre's birth and lack of acceptance
outside ghetto neighborhoods.[29] Old-school hip hop was the first mainstream wave
of the genre, marked by its disco influence and party-oriented lyrics. The 1980s
marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles
and spread around the world. New-school hip hop was the genre's second wave, marked
by its electro sound, and led into golden age hip hop, an innovative period between
the mid-1980s and mid-1990s that also developed hip hop's own album era. The
gangsta rap subgenre, focused on the violent lifestyles and impoverished conditions
of inner-city African American youth, gained popularity at this time. West Coast
hip hop was dominated by G-funk in the early-mid 1990s, while East Coast hip hop
was dominated by jazz rap, alternative hip hop, and hardcore hip hop. Hip hop
continued to diversify at this time with other regional styles emerging, such as
Southern rap and Atlanta hip hop. Hip hop became a best-selling genre in the mid-
1990s and the top-selling music genre by 1999.
The popularity of hip hop music continued through the late 1990s to early-2000s
"bling era" with hip hop influences increasingly finding their way into other
genres of popular music, such as neo soul, nu metal, and R&B. The United States
also saw the success of regional styles such as crunk, a Southern genre that
emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics, and alternative hip hop began
to secure a place in the mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of its
artists. During the late 2000s and early 2010s "blog era", rappers were able to
build up a following through online methods of music distribution, such as social
media and blogs, and mainstream hip hop took on a more melodic, sensitive direction
following the commercial decline of gangsta rap. The trap and mumble rap subgenres
have become the most popular form of hip hop during the mid-late 2010s and early
2020s. In 2017, rock music was usurped by hip hop as the most popular genre in the
United States. In recent years, hip hop's influence has transcended musical
boundaries, impacting fashion, language, and cultural trends worldwide.[30][31][32]
