You wouldn’t believe all the interesting music out there that no one has heard of. The major record labels only market a small amount of the actual genres available. Most people have heard of rap and hip hop or rock and jazz, but how about trip hop?
Trip Hop, a.k.a. Bristol acid rock, is a combination of hiphop, downtempo, house, breakbeat, acid jazz, rock, and psychedelic. It has a moody and dark sound, yet is lyrical. Trip Hop started in the UK with the first single being DJ Shadow’s 1993 “Influx.” Trip Hop gets its name because the music makes the listener feel like he or she in “on a trip.” The melodies, bizarre noises, phat bass, and slow beats creat a high. Not many Trip Hop artists are famous today. The most well-known would probably be Gorillaz. The Gorillaz hit the main stream with “Feel Good Inc.” 2006. The animated band had been around since 1998, but unheard of because of the different genre.
Other groups include Lamb, Ruby, Zero 7, Bonobo, Howie B, and Sneaker Pimps. I’m sure that you have not heard of any of them.
It’s a shame that these groups have not and will probably never reach the status of most musicians in more common genres. Trip Hop has yet to hit a big wave due to lack of promotion and signing by major companies. Gorillaz entering the mainstream in the United States and winning albumn of the year in Germany has been a big step for Trip Hop however. Who knows what the future holds? Trip Hop could easily become the new Hip Hop.
