Trip Hop

Primary Stylistic Influences:

Hip-Hop (mostly Alternative Hip Hop), Dub Reggae, Post-Punk, Alternative Rock, Jazz and Fusion

Secondary Stylistic Influences:

Alternative Dance, Psychedelic Rock, Dream Pop, Ambient, House Music, Soul, sometimes Country and Blues

Trip-hop is a genre of Electronic Music that is also very heavily influenced by Hip-Hop (particularly the Alternative variety) and Alternative Rock. Other influences are quite common as well, though- Psychedelic Rock, Folk Music, Reggae (especially Dub- almost all Trip-Hop is Dub-influenced), Blues, Jazz, Funk, Soul, Industrial, Dream Pop, Goth Rock, Post-Punk, World Music and sometimes even Country influences have all popped up in the genre from time to time.

The genre is generally characterized by slow, drugged-out sounding, often processed breakbeats (a breakbeat, for those not in the know, is basically the standard Hip-Hop beat- 4 / 4, but not straight 4 / 4, with the about half of the drum hits usually falling off-beat to varying extents; the name comes from the fact that the earliest examples were often sampled from drum/percussion breakdowns or "breaks" in old Funk, Soul and Disco records) and copious amounts of Sampling, though live instruments are fairly common as well, as are programmed synths and drum machines. Deep, Dub-influenced basslines are another common element, as are spooky atmospherics, often obtained by heavily processing samples (usually from old, crackly vinyl records, but not always) or doing the same to live instrumentation (guitars and keyboards being the most common). It often has a much "warmer" or "murkier" feel than other subgenres of Electronic Music, due to all the live instruments and samples taken from old records.

Vocally, the genre can feature rapping, but doesn't have to- Perishing Alt-Rock Voice is common, as is high-pitched, melodic female singing, but almost any kind of vocal style can appear. Or none at all- Instrumentals are not unheard of, either. It's also not unheard of for multiple vocalists and vocal styles to appear on a single track, due to collaborations and guest vocalists being common within the genre (many artists better thought of as production groups than as actual bands in the Rock sense- Massive Attack are an excellent example of this).

The genre's origins are in the late 80s / early 90s in England, with predecessors including Dub-influenced Industrial group Renegade Soundwave, various Adrian Sherwood-produced artists like Gary Clail and Tackhead and the British Hip-Hop group The Wild Bunch. However, the most important early Trip Hop group was Massive Attack, who had evolved out of The Wild Bunch. Massive Attack became popular in England and Europe within a short time of their debut album Blue Lines (1991), and by the time its follow-up, Protection, arrived in 1994, many other artists were following in their footsteps to varying extents, or had come to a vaguely comparable sound on their own. Björk (who was never a perfect fit for the genre, but who was vaguely affiliated with it) and Portishead broke through to mainstream audiences in '93 / '94, and other artists followed suit.

By the late 90s, however, the genre had come to be seen as essentially "easy-listening" or "elevator music", and had faded from view due to overexposure (TV commercials and movies used it quite extensively during this period) and competition from the related (but much harder-edged) Big Beat sound of groups like The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy and Fatboy Slim. However, Massive Attack and Björk retained popularity by continuing to evolve (Bjork arguably left it after her first few albums), and the genre never really died, it just went back underground. Numerous older groups are still around, and the occasional newer artist has emerged.

See also Alternative Dance (Trip-Hop is arguably a subgenre of it), Alternative Hip Hop (a big influence), Instrumental Hip Hop (which it often overlaps with) and the Industrial Hip-Hop subgenre of Industrial, as well as Acid Jazz (similar feel and influences, but mostly live-based and Funk / Jazz influenced) and Big Beat (a reltaed, but much much faster and more aggressive subgenre of Electronic Music that was popular in the late 90s) for related genres.

Artists who play Trip-Hop include:

9 Lazy 9
Adrian Sherwood (Ur-Example)
Allflaws
Alpha
Anomie Belle (also Dream Pop and Soul Music)
Archive (combines this with Progressive Rock)
Beth Orton
Bitter:Sweet
Björk (not a perfect example- she's also Alternative Dance and Avant Garde Music)
Bowery Electric (also Space Rock and Dream Pop)
The Chemical Brothers (also Big Bieat and Alternative Dance)
Cibo Matto
DJ Food
DJ Shadow (also Instrumental Hip Hop, and noted for his music being almost completely based on creative Sampling)
Dub Pistols (also Big Beat)
Dutch
Earthling
Emancipator
Esthero (though she's very much Neo Classical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly)
Fila Brazillia
FKA twigs
Funki Porcini
Gary Clail (Ur-Example)
The Gathering (later albums; they started as Goth Metal)
Gorillaz (also Alternative Hip Hop)
Groove Armada (mostly on their early albums- later work is closer to straightforward EDM)
The Herbaliser (also Alternative Hip Hop)
Howie B
Jaianto
King Krule
Lamb
Lana Del Rey (some of the time; she's normally more of a Softcore / Indie Pop artist)
Li Li Roquelin (also Adult Alternative and Soft Rock)
London Grammar
Lovage (a Dan The Automator project)
Madonna (arguably, on albums like Ray Of Light and Music)
Massive Attack (often considered the Trope Maker)
Mr Scruff
Moloko (also Alternative Dance and Acid Jazz)
Morcheeba
Mudville
Naked Funk
Phantogram
Poe
Portishead (the most commercially successful example, and a Trope Codifier to most people's eyes)
Renegade Soundwave (Ur-Example)
Second Person
The Smokering (also Chillwave)
Sneaker Pimps
Space (combined with Indie Rock, Alternative Dance, and just about everything else inbetween)
Switchblade Sympony (combines this with Dark Wave)
Tackhead
Thievery Coporation
Tricky (who got his start with Massive Attack}
UNKLE {combines this with a hefty dose of Alternative Rock)
Up
Wagon Christ
Zero 7

Trip-Hop as a genre provides examples of:

Alternative Dance: Arguably a subgenre of it, and certainly an influence.
Alternative Hip Hop: Many artists are also this.
Amen Break: Used sometimes, though when it is, it's often thoroughly messed-with.
Common Time: Usually, though it doesn't always sound it. However, sometimes it's...
- Uncommon Time: On occasion.
Creator Backlash: Most of the artists in this genre have spoken openly about their dislike of the phrase 'trip hop', claiming it underestimates the sounds they set out to achieve. They have also been critical about their reputation for being used as "dinner party" music, which has led to artists like Portishead and Massive Attack shifting into darker and more abrasive territory on subsequent albums.
Echoing Acoustics: Especially on Dub-influenced tracks.
Electronic Music: Though it's not what most people think of when they think of Electronic Music...
Film Noir: Sometimes seems like the appropriate soundtrack to this.
Gratuitous Panning: Occasionally. It makes it "trippy".
Instrumentals: Fairly common- DJ Shadow has some great ones, for example.
Mind Screw: The lyrics can invoke this from time to time. Again, "trippy" is appropriate.
Neo Classical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly: Very common, and arguably a defining part of it.
Retraux: Often Invoked by the use of old records as sampling material.
Sampling: An essential part of the genre's aesthetic- examples are too numerous to list. Old, scratchy vinyl is favored.
Soprano and Gravel: Sometimes, though not in the same way as Metal bands- it's not uncommon for a male rapper to duet or trade parts with a tuneful soprano.
Theremin: Used (or sampled) from time to time.
Trope Codifier: Portishead for most, Massive Attack for people who don't consider them the Trope Maker.
Trope Maker: Usually considered to be Massive Attack.
Ur-Example: Renegade Soundwave, Gary Clail and Tackhead. The latter two were both affiliated with Adrian Sherwood, another example.