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Hip house, also known as rap house or house rap, is a musical genre that mixes elements of house music and hip hop music, that originated in both London, United Kingdom and Chicago, United States in the mid-to-late 1980s.

British group the Beatmasters' "Rok da House" is known to be the first hip house record, having been written and pressed to vinyl in August 1986. Other early hip house records by British artists include "Pump Up the Volume" by MARRS and "Beat Dis" by Bomb the Bass, both from 1987.

History

Minor controversy ensued in 1988 when a U.S. record called "Turn Up the Bass" by Tyree Cooper featuring Kool Rock Steady claimed it was the "first hip house record on vinyl". The Beatmasters disputed this, pointing out that "Rok da House" had originally been written and pressed to vinyl in 1986. The outfit then released "Who's in the House?" featuring British emcee Merlin, containing the lines "Beatmasters stand to attention, hip house is your invention" and "Watch out Tyree, we come faster". More claims to the hip-house crown were subsequently laid down by Fast Eddie in "Yo Yo Get Funky!", Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock with "It Takes Two", and Tony Scott's "That's How I'm Living".

After successful releases by the Beatmasters, Deskee, Tyree, KC Flightt, Doug Lazy and Mr. Lee, hip-house became popular in the acid house warehouse scene and nightclubs. Hip house also garnered substantial chart success. The style complemented sample-based records of the period, produced by British artists such as S-Express, Bomb the Bass and M|A|R|R|S.

Hip house's further crossover success would come in the form of two ground breaking records: "I'll House You" by the Jungle Brothers and "It Takes Two" by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock. "I'll House You" is generally seen as a collaboration between New York City house-music producer Todd Terry and the Jungle Brothers (an Afrocentric hip-hop group from New York). "It Takes Two" was described by Hip Hop Connection magazine as "...the first palatable form of hip-house for hardcore hip hop fans."

Hip hop rappers that would receive the hip house remix treatment included Vitamin C, Sweet Tee, Raze, and the D.O.C.

Hip house tracks featured on popular dance compilations including Telstar's Deep Heat compilation series and was championed by DJs such as To Kool Chris and Chad Jackson.

As house music emerged as a worldwide industry by the late 1980s, U.S. acts such as C+C Music Factory would use the hip house formula in hits such as "Gonna Make You Sweat", as well as the Eurodance genre — particularly with hits by the Belgian group Technotronic, German groups Snap! and Real McCoy, and Italian Lee Marrow.

Influence on UK rave scene

Late 1980s hip house releases by UK artists such as Double Trouble and Rebel MC, Blapps Posse and Shut Up and Dance were an early influence towards the early 1990s UK rave scene and the breakbeat hardcore genre (and genres that developed from it such as jungle).

Hip house in the present day

A modern form of hip house became popular in the mid-2000s, known as electro hop, with artists enjoying mainstream success towards the end of the decade and into the 2010s. These artists included LMFAO, Pitbull (most notably with his albums Rebelution (2009) and Planet Pit (2011)), Flo Rida, Far East Movement, Hyper Crush, Example (described as "rave-rap" or "rave-hop") and Azealia Banks. Electronic dance music DJs/producers also had hits in the genre, which featured vocals from rappers. These include "C'mon (Catch 'em by Surprise)" by Tiësto and Diplo with Busta Rhymes, and "Forever" by Wolfgang Gartner and will.i.am. French DJ David Guetta had several hip house hits such as "Memories" with Kid Cudi, "Where Them Girls At" with Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj, "Gettin' Over You" with LMFAO and "Little Bad Girl" with Taio Cruz and Ludacris.

Hip house in the 2020s include "Boss Bitch" by Doja Cat, "Ego Death" by Ty Dolla Sign, "My High" by Disclosure, Aminé and Slowthai, "Believe What I Say" by Kanye West, "Her" by Megan Thee Stallion and "Thique" by Beyoncé.

References

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6. ^ "Evolution of Electro Hop". Recording Arts Canada. February 20, 2020.
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8. Hobart, Erika (November 13, 2009). "LMFAO and Shwayze played at Showbox SoDo on Thursday, November 12, 2009". Seattle Weekly.
9. Ntshanga, Masande. "Pitbull - Rebelution". Channel.
10. Caramanica, Jon (June 22, 2011). "Rootless Rapper Finds His Rhythm". The New York Times.
11. Caramanica, Jon (March 15, 2017). "Pitbull Moves Beyond Hip-Hop and Into the Unknown on 'Climate Change'". The New York Times.
12. "Top 10 Highest-Selling Hip-Hop Artists Of All Time". TheThings. February 12, 2021.
13. "Flo Rida talks charity, Frank Ocean and haters". 13 July 2012.
14. Outlets, Tanger. "Far East Movement Takes The Stage At Tanger Outlets". www.prnewswire.com (Press release).
15. "StackPath". www.frontiertouring.com.
16. "Far*East Movement reveals MV for "Rocketeer" ft. Ryan Tedder".
17. "Far East Movement Is What'cha Want". E! Online. September 29, 2011.
18. "Hyper Crush". San Antonio Current.
19. "Azealia Banks 1991". Exclaim.ca.
20. "The Nicki Minaj Singles Tournament: Round Two". Pitchfork. December 23, 2014.

• Hip house
• 20th-century music genres
• Hip-hop genres
• Music in London
• Music of Chicago
• House music genres
• Fusion music genres
• American styles of music
• British styles of music