Hip hop has never been just one thing. It started with block parties and breakbeats, but over time, it grew into a mix of styles that each reflect different places, stories, and sounds. From the early days of old school rap to the rise of trap, drill, and grime, every subgenre has added something to the culture. This guide breaks it all down so you know what’s what and where it came from.
1. Old Skool Rap
A style of early hip hop music that originated in the late 1970s. Old school rap is very easy to distinguish from other genres by its simple performance technique and relatively easy rhymes.
2. Hardcore Rap
Hardcore rap is a genre that originated on the East Coast hip hop scene in the 1980s. The pioneers of the genre were artists such as Run-D.M.C., Schoolly D, Boogie Down Productions, and Public Enemy. It is usually characterized by anger, aggression, and confrontation.
3. Gangsta Rap
Gangsta rap is a type of hip hop that emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The lyrics are about the criminal world of African American ghettos. Initially, it was considered hardcore rap, but it soon gained popularity and became a separate genre. Ice-T and the group N.W.A. are considered its founders.
4. Jazz Rap
Jazz rap is a genre of hip-hop music that originated in the late 1980s. The beats in jazz rap are jazz samples, and the lyrics are exclusively positive. In the 90s and 2000s, the popularity of jazz rap declined (primarily due to the rapid development of gangsta rap and hardcore rap).
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5. Bounce
Bounce is a New Orleans hip-hop style that emerged in the late 1980s. In simple terms, it is a club-style, danceable rap, often referred to as Dirty South rap. Popular artists of the genre included DJ Jubilee, Partners-N-Crime, Magnolia Shorty, and Big Freedia.
6. G-Funk
G-Funk (short for gangsta-funk) is a subgenre of hip-hop music that emerged from West Coast gangsta rap in the early 1990s, heavily influenced by the funk sound of the 1970s. To better understand what this genre is, we recommend listening to any track by Parliament-Funkadelic.
7. Drill
Drill is a subgenre of gangsta rap that originated in Chicago (and means “to kill” in local slang). It began to actively develop in London in the mid-2010s. Drill is characterized by dark lyrics about violence and the life of street gangs. Pop Smoke and Chief Keef are considered prominent representatives of the genre.
8. Trap
Trap is the main musical genre of the 2010s (although it originated in Atlanta in the late 1990s). The distinctive features of the genre are its harsh sound, bass-heavy beats, and rhythm. You are surely familiar with the representatives of this genre, which include Future, 21 Savage, Playboi Carti, 2 Chainz, Cardi B, and Young Thug.
9. Grime
Grime is a music genre that originated in London in the early 2000s (and was a kind of “response” to American hip-hop artists). Translated from English, grime means “dirt,” and the term was initially used to describe low-quality music. Grime is characterized by harsh profanity and aggressive beats. Skepta is considered one of the most prominent representatives of the genre.