Hip house fused four-on-the-floor house beats with hip-hop flows in the late 1980s

Hip house emerged simultaneously in Chicago, New York, and London in the late 1980s by placing hip-hop’s energetic rap vocals over house music’s four-on-the-floor rhythm, with scratching and sampling as additional features. In Chicago, Fast Eddie released ‘Yo Yo Get Funky’ (1988); in New York, Todd Terry collaborated with the Jungle Brothers on ‘I’ll House You’ (1988); in London, the Beatmasters produced ‘Rok da House’ featuring The Cookie Crew (1987). Fast Eddie was motivated by a desire to break out of duplicated-sounding house: ‘I was looking for something different to energise the house music sound.’ The subgenre influenced later artists like Missy Elliott, Kaytranada, and Channel Tres who continue fusing house and rap.

Examples

‘I’ll House You’ by the Jungle Brothers (1988): a hip-hop group rapping over a four-on-the-floor house beat. ‘Yo Yo Get Funky’ by Fast Eddie (1988): Chicago originator combining rap energy with house rhythm.

Assessment

Name three cities where hip house emerged and one pioneer from each. What made the combination of house and hip-hop culturally natural in the late 1980s? Name a contemporary artist who continues the hip house tradition.