The Evolution of Rap and Dubstep

A look at how rap and dubstep have evolved over the years and how they continue to influence the music industry today.

Rap

Rap music has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the Bronx. From being primarily influenced by disco and funk, rap has now evolved to incorporate a variety of genres, including dubstep. In this article, we’ll take a look at the evolution of rap and how dubstep has played a role in its development.

Defining Rap

Rap is a musical genre that emerged in the United States in the 1970s. It consists of spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics over a rhythmically steady beat. The lyrics are often about topics such as poverty, violence, and drugs. Rap is typically performed by one or more rappers who recite their lyrics over a pre-recorded musical track.

The term “rap” originally referred to the quick, rhymical speech typified by early rappers such as Sugarhill Gang’s Big Bank Hank and Afrikaa Bambaataa’s MC Shan. However, it has since come to mean much more than just the words spoken by MCs. In the 1980s, rap became a staple of popular music with hits like Run-DMC’s “Walk This Way” andPublic Enemy’s “Fight the Power.” Since then, rap has continued to evolve, incorporating elements of other genres such as rock (e.g., Linkin Park), jazz (e.g., A Tribe Called Quest), and even classical music (e.g., Mozart).

The Origins of Rap

The origins of rap are usually traced back to the African-American communities in New York City in the 1970s. Rap music was initially developed as a form of expression for young, black and Latino people who were feeling disempowered by the social and economic conditions around them. As the popularity of rap music grew, it began to attract attention from mainstream America, and it soon became a staple of popular culture.

Today, rap music is one of the most popular genres in the world, and it has spawned a number of subgenres, including hip hop, trap, and dubstep. The popularity of rap music shows no signs of slowing down, and it continues to evolve and change with each new generation of artists.

The Development of Rap

The development of rap is often traced back to the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, when African American poets and musicians began experimenting with new ways of expression. By the 1970s, hip hop culture had emerged in the Bronx, and rap music was beginning to gain popularity. In the 1980s and 1990s, rappers like Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. brought gangsta rap to the mainstream, and artists like Outkast and Missy Elliott pushed the boundaries of the genre with their experimental sounds. In the 2000s, rappers like Jay-Z and Kanye West helped to make hip hop more commercialized and mainstream than ever before. In the 2010s, dubstep began to influence rap music, resulting in a new subgenre known as trap.

Dubstep

Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the late 1990s. It is generally characterized by sparse, syncopated rhythmic patterns with emphasis on sub-bass frequencies. Dubstep music is often created using a drum machine, synthesizers, and a digital audio workstation.

Defining Dubstep

Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the late 1990s. It is generally characterized by sparse, syncopated rhythmic patterns with prominent sub-bass frequencies. The style emerged as an offshoot of the UK garage scene, drawing on a lineage of related styles such as 2-step and dub reggae.

In the early 2000s, dubstep began to emerge as a distinct genre, although it was often not recognized as such by the mainstream music industry. This lack of recognition meant that for many years dubstep existed on the fringes of the music world, primarily being championed by a small group of passionate DJs and producers. However, this all changed in 2010 when the genre finally broke through into the mainstream with hits such as Benny Benassi’s “Cinema” and Skrillex’s “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.”

Since then, dubstep has gone on to become one of the most popular genres in the world, with its signature sound appearing in everything from pop songs to movie trailers. Thanks to its popularity, dubstep has also spawned a number of sub-genres and offshoots, such as wonky, brostep, and future garage.

The Origins of Dubstep

While the history of dubstep is often traced back to the early 2000s, the genre actually has its roots in the late 1990s, when a group of UK producers began experimenting with adding dub-inspired basslines to 2-step garage tracks. This new style – which came to be known as dubstep – quickly caught on with clubbers and soon began making its way into the country’s mainstream dance music scene.

By the mid-2000s, dubstep had begun to gain international attention, thanks in part to pioneering producers such as Benga and Skream, who were helping to shape the sound of the genre. In 2007, Dubstep finally broke into the mainstream with the release of Busta Rhymes’ “Don’t Touch Me (Throw Da Water On ‘Em)”, which featured a prominent sample of a Benga track.

Since then, dubstep has continued to evolve, incorporating elements from other genres such as trap and grime. Today, it remains one of the most popular electronic music genres in the world – loved by clubbers and bedroom producers alike.

The Development of Dubstep

The development of dubstep is often seen as a reaction to the emotional and sexualized aspect of contemporary R&B and hip hop. These new producers were looking to strip down the music to its most basic elements and create something that was resistant to easy interpretation. In contrast to the music that came before it, which was all about making people move, dubstep was designed to make people think. Producers like Burial and Mount Kimbie built upon the work of early pioneers like Equinox and Benga to create a sound that was simultaneously minimal and complex, immediate and layered. The result was a style of music that rewards close listening and encourages introspection.