Trip-hop originated in 1989 in Bristol, England, combining elements of hip hop, world music, and R&B. The genre was popularized by artists from Bristol like Massive Attack, Tricky, and Portishead. Trip-hop tracks typically have a bass-heavy drumbeat between 80-110 bpm, feature sampled instruments and female vocals, and focus more on atmosphere than lyrics. The style aims for a more relaxed, psychedelic vibe compared to grittier gangsta rap.

1. TRIP-HOP
BY ANTHONY RICHARDS

2. ORIGINS
• The term was first coined in 1989 to describe DJ Shadow’s
‘In/Flux’ single.
• The genre came to be associated with the city of Bristol due to
its cultural diversity - combining hip hop, world music and R&B
- and its native Wild Bunch group (comprised of Tricky, Robert
‘3D’ Del Naja, Andrew ‘Mushroom’ Vowles and Grant ‘Daddy G’
Marshall).
• Trip-hop came to mainstream attention when Massive Attack’s
debut album ‘Blue Lines’ reached #13 on the UK Album Charts.

3. MAIN ARTISTS
• Massive Attack
• Tricky
• Bjork
• Portishead
• DJ Shadow
• London Grammar
• Sneaker Pimps
Massiv
e
Attack
DJ
Shadow
Tricky

4. COMMON MUSICAL FEATURES
• Bass-heavy drumbeat – 80-110 bpm.
• Female vocals – often emulating soul, R&B and jazz vocals.
• Melancholy tone, due to the influence of post-punk bands.
• Often include piano, saxophone, trumpet and flute samples.
• Songs focus on atmospherics over lyrical content, often containing
long instrumentals.
• Similar to hip-hop in the use of sampling, breakbeat rhythms and
turntable scratching.

5. STYLE/ATTITUDE
• Trip-hop usually differs from gangsta rap in terms of attitude
by eschewing the grittier, reality-based lyrics of the former and
adopting a more relaxed, psychedelic atmosphere with lyrics
mainly concentrating on stream-of-consciousness thought
process.
• A major factor in trip-hop’s style originates from the heavy use
of marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs, resulting in a more
chilled form of music.

6. MUSIC VIDEOS
• Trip-hop music videos often feature long, tracking shots due to
the melancholic pace of the shots.
• They also normally conform to the conceptual formats because
trip-hop artists do not play instruments and the psychedelic
lyrics do not translate well to a coherent narrative.
• They are generally quite downbeat because of the laconic pace
and lyrical content of the music.