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Music vocabulary · Genres and Styles

Hip-hop

Meaning in music, with examples

/ˈhɪp hɑːp/nounCommon term

In music, hip-hop means: A culture and music genre that began in the Bronx, New York, in the 1970s, built on rapping over beats made from drum patterns and samples.

In Turkish: hip-hop, rap

How it is used

Musicians talk about hip-hop beats, hip-hop producers and the four classic elements: DJing, MCing (rapping), breaking and graffiti. 'Rap' usually means the vocal style; 'hip-hop' is the wider culture and genre.

Example sentences

  1. Turkish hip-hop grew in the 1990s, partly through Turkish-German artists in Germany.

  2. He produces hip-hop beats in his bedroom and sells them online.

Common collocations

  • hip-hop beat
  • hip-hop artist
  • hip-hop producer
  • hip-hop culture
  • old-school hip-hop
  • beatThe steady pulse that you tap your foot to in a piece of music. Beats are grouped into bars, and their speed is the tempo.
  • sampleA short piece of recorded sound, such as a drum hit, a vocal phrase or a part of an existing record, that is reused in a new piece of music.
  • producerThe person who guides a recording project creatively and practically, shaping the sound, the arrangement and the performances, and often programming or engineering too.
  • genreA category of music with shared features such as rhythm, instruments, harmony or history, for example jazz, rock, hip-hop or classical music.
  • pop musicPopular, commercially oriented music made for a wide audience, usually with short songs, catchy choruses and a strong focus on melody and production.

More terms: Genres and Styles

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