From: superfly@etek.chalmers.se (Palle Zetterstrand)
Newsgroups: rec.music.funky
Subject: Re: Definitions of house and hip-hop
Keywords: house hip-hop
Date: 10 Sep 92 14:57:24 GMT
Reply-To: superfly@etek.chalmers.se (Palle Zetterstrand)
Organization: Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, SWEDEN

In article <1992Sep9.164826.18297@cci632.cci.com>, alj@sunsrvr1.cci.com (AnnMichele Lobello) writes:
|> The answer to this question is probably highly debated...and sorry if
|> it's been rehashed many times...
|> 
|> Can anyone give a description/definition of house music and hip-hop music?
|> Lately, when I try to describe a piece of music played at dance bars, I
|> end up saying rap/house/hip-hop, and don't really know how to distinguish.
|> Rap includes talking, but do the other kinds?  I'm a music lover, and I'd
|> like to get a better feel for the distinctness....
|> 
|> Thanks...e-mail or post is fine...
|> 
|> -AL
|> alj@sunsrvr1.cci.com

There are no absolute definitions. It differs very much from country to country
 and sometimes inside a country. Some months ago there was a discussion on
 Alt.rap on the difference between Rap and Hip-hop where one could see a
 difference between the West & the Eastcoast. Here are the definitions I use when
 I categorise records. They are very fleeting but I give some examples of groups:

 Rap: Rap is spoken words over music. Anyone can do rap music. Nowadays it is
 very popular to add a segment of rap to a Soul or swingbeat song, this I don't
 call rap cuz the main elements are Soul or swingbeat.
 Examples of rappers: Vanilla Ice, Hammer

 Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop is also spoken words over music. However, in order to be a
 Hip-Hop rapper you have to have the right background,live in the right place
 and sample from the right sources. What's right or wrong here is hard to say.
 Often what is right in LA is wrong in NY etc. Some real Hip-Hop acts are:
 Public Enemy, Ice Cube, ATCQ

 House. House is a family of music styles. Legend has that the term came from
 Chicago where DJ's played soulful music at the WareHOUSE. Then it spread over
 the world and changed.

 Chicago House: This is the original house music. Born in the Warehouse when
 DJ's like Frankie Knuckles and Marshall Jefferson mixed Phillysoul and Disco
 with beats from the Roland 808 drum machine. Knuckles and Jefferson then went
 on to produce and make records. The music often uses real instruments and   sometimes even orchestras but also uses synthesizers. Examples: The  aforementioned, Richard Rogers, Robert Owens & Ten City

 Acid House: One day when M. Jefferson sat in the studio some guy came in with
 a Roland TR 303(a bass synthesizer with a very special sound) and they made a
 track that created the term Acid House. The TR303 + a TR808 + some samples from   TV, radio or other sources+a beat around 120 BPM = Acid House. Especially in    England it was popular with groups like S-express and Bomb the Bass, but it is
 now nearly extinct in its pure form. Some of the techno today is very influenced
 by Acid house.

 Deep House: Like Chicago house but with less instruments and more machines. More
 stripped-down with deep bass and a good singer on top. Ten City's first partly
 falls into this category. Li'l Louis, Kelvin Pizarro and some songs by Inner
 City are other examples.

 Garage: Sound that originated in the club Paradise Garage in New York, where
 Larry Levan spinned records. A cross between Deep House and Chicago House that
 uses synthesizers(maybe because this music started as bedroom productions).
 Blaze & Smack productions are the two most wellknown producer teams. Examples:
 Adeva & Blaze'

 Hip-House: Rap over a house track. Invented by  a British group called the   Beatmasters. 

 Italo House: This genre is best decribed by the track Riden on time by Blackbox.  By sampling Loleatta Holloways singing and putting it together with a hammering   piano over a house beat they created this very popular music form. 

 

 Techno: With the rise and rise of techno the last years many different styles
 have been created. For example raggatechno in which a Jamaican Toaster goes
 wild over a very fast breakbeat. But the real techno is not getting played.
 Techno was the brainchild of three young men from Detroit: Juan Atkins, Kevin
 Saunderson and Derrick May. Their inspiration came from European synth groups
 like Kraftwerk and from P-funk. Around 85 the first records were released.
 During the years they have used many different guises e.g. Model 500, Reese,
 Rhythim is Rhythim and Inner City. Detroit Techno is slower and don't use so
 much sampling as the techno now popular. Examples of commercial techno: 2   		unlimited and Prodigy.

 New Jack Swing: Also called swingbeat. Teddy Riley was the person who made
 swingbeat popular. By putting together elements from rap and soul he created
 a music style with a large beat that is good to dance to. Examples: Bobby Brown  and Janet Jackson.

 These are some of the music styles that are popular today. The problem is that
 the music evolves all the time and the artist inspire each other.
 Compare Adeva's first album that is pure Garage with her second. The Album 
 25 years later by Blaze is more retro-soul than Garage at times. 
 Techno is a jungle of different styles. Most of it is BS though. Fads that fade
 fast after the companies got their money. Record Companies also tries to 
 refreshen older artists by hiring popular producers increasing the confusion.
 
 The only styles that are easy to discern(Right word?) are House and Hip-Hop.
 Real Hip-hop uses samples from old music, mostly 70s funk and there is very
 little singing. I suggest you buy the compilation "Rebirth of cool too" and
 compare Brand Nubian's One for all with the track by Mica Paris. 

 					-Palle Zetterstrand