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Pop rap
Pop rap (also known as pop hip-hop, pop hop, hip pop, melodic hip-hop, or melodic rap) is a genre of music fusing the rhythm-based lyricism of hip-hop with pop's preference for melodic vocals, catchy
Characteristics#
AllMusic describes pop rap as “a marriage of hip-hop beats and raps with strong melodic hooks, which are usually featured as part of the chorus section in a standard pop-song structure.” Pop rap also tends to have less aggressive lyrics than street-level rap music. However, some 1990s artists fused pop rap with a more aggressive attitude to defuse backlash on their own accessibility.
History#
In the 1980s, rap artists including Run-DMC and LL Cool J set up the blueprints and origins of pop rap as they suddenly broke into the mainstream. Later, rap artists such as Tone Loc, Young MC, and Fresh Prince then made party tunes and used their storytelling abilities as they became popular. During the 1990s, pop rap began to expand even more as hip-hop music also began to connect strongly with dance music and R&B. They caused pop rap to be “derided (and, occasionally, taken to court) for its willingness to borrow” from best-known hit singles. By the end of the 1990s and early 2000s, rappers such as Ja Rule fused gangsta rap themes with 1980s pop and soul elements; pop rap was dominated by many artists. During the late 2000s and early 2010s, many rap artists who used pop rap in their music had emerged such as Nicki Minaj, Drake, will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas, LMFAO, Illslick, Flo Rida, Pitbull and Wiz Khalifa.
Social acceptance#
Most people who listen to pop rap do not call it pop rap, and simply consider it rap. When Spotify introduced the pop rap category in 2019, Twitter users were confused as to what this “new” genre suggested. Some users were even bewildered when Spotify classified the genre for its users and suggested that they listen to pop rap. Popular hip-hop rapper LL Cool J did not embrace the idea of labeling him as the “forefather of pop rap” and tweeted about it in April 2021.
Street pop#
Street pop, also known as street hop is an experimental rap-vocal musical style which emerged in Lagos, evolving from a blend of Nigerian hip-hop, popular music, afrobeats, and Nigerian street music. Influenced by artists such as Danfo Drivers, Baba Fryo and Daddy Showkey well as the shaku shaku dance style, originally inspired by gqom and later evolving into its own music genre. Street pop is characterized by its lively tempos and incorporates elements from gqom, highlife, pop, hip-hop, and EDM. While typically fast-paced, slower variations of street pop are also prevalent. It features a fusion of melodious arrangements, urban colloquial language, Pidgin, singing, indigenous and Western rap. Variants of street pop include neo-fuji, shaku shaku and zanku. Key figures in the street pop genre include Olamide, Slimcase, Mr Real, Idowest, Naira Marley, Zinoleesky, Mohbad, Balloranking, Reminisce, Rexxie, Zlatan Ibile, Sarz, 9ice, Lil Kesh, T.I Blaze, Asake, Portable, Bella Shmurda, Seyi Vibez and DJ Kaywise.
- Genre family
- 1980s in music, 1990s in music, 2000s in music, 2010s in music, 2020s in music, 20th-century music genres, Fusion music genres, Hip-hop genres, Pop music genres