Hip Hop History

The early origins of UK Hip Hop lie within the hip hop scene of America. Breakdancing, graffiti, and live PA’s were all common amongst the beginnings of the scene, as in the US, however the UK scene emerged as a multicultural scene in the early 1980s, as opposed to the heavily African American dominated US hip hop, however the US has become significantly more multicultural in recent years. General stylistic conventions of hip hop are things such as the heavily computer-based backing tracks, the unmelodic and rather un-conventional lyric delivery, however there most conventions can be shared with the US versions i.e. lyrical content, clothing, jewellery etc. Within the genre iconic radio DJ’s include Tim Westwood, Mista Jam, Logan Sama, and even the late Radio 1 DJ John Peel gave life to the genre on his daytime show,  seen as a breakthrough by artists and fans alike. Many of the most noticeable artists within the UK hip hop genre are those from America, people such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, Eminem etc. but artists with roots within the UK music scene as a whole are people such as Dappy, Wiley, Sway, Tinie Tempah,  Professor Green, Example etc. There are numerous Iconic songs of the hip hop genre in general including tracks such as 99 Problem by Jay-Z to name just 2 Stan by Eminem, however the list of tracks from within the UK is significantly smaller, even despite an insurgence of UK artists breaking into the scene. Artist such as Tinie Tempah, with pass out, frisky and written in the stars, and also Professor Green with Jungle, Just be good to green and Need you tonight, among numerous others, possess what I’d like to call the key songs of the genre, as they have all cemented the UK in mainstream Hip Hop history, as their chart positions show a clear progression.