Electro-hop&B

Read Harpsichord’s Comprehensive Guide on all genres relevant to the state of current pop, R&B, hip hop, and dance music.

Umbrella Genre: R&B

Stylistic Origins: UK Garage, Trip Hop, Hip Hop Soul, Drum and Bass

Date and Location of Development: 1996 at the Pyramid Sound Studio in Ithaca, New York

When crafting the sound for Aaliyah’s sophomore album, Timbaland and Missy were infatuated with the trend of trip hop and drum and bass taking over the European music scene. Their muse, Aaliyah, gave an ethereal sense of cool but needed to redefine her sound and image as hip hop soul started fading away to the themes of futurism. That birthed the titular single of that album, “One In A Million,” which featured an orbiting drum and bass production that tripped over itself with rapid-fire staccato beats.

“One In A Million” had been unlike anything heard in R&B and hip hop before, and became an instant success within the community and for fans. From there, the Missy Elliott and Timbaland blueprint became an essential foundation for late ‘90s music– with Missy Elliott incorporating the sound on her Supa Dupa Fly in 1997– which offered more downtempo ballads and midtempos.

Missy Elliott, Aaliyah, and Timbaland.

Soon other producers started to imitate the sound but added their own spin to it. Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins found his muse in Brandy– with them both delivering 1998’s Never Say Never and 2002’s Full Moon . While Timbaland’s production opted for a more straightforward, laid back approach; Darkchild blended the upbeat instrumentation of contemporary urban gospel with the vocal excellency of Brandy. It followed the hip hop soul philosophy of how despite Mary J. Blige singing soulfully on her records, her music made people want to dance (see their effort: 1997’s “Share My World”).

The themes of electro-hop&B revolved around women who sought independence. This is not only heard in the lyrics, but also the futuristic imagery. Another theme consisted of the anticipation of Y2K, and technology– whether through computer reboots, the sounds of cyber crashes, AI generated voices, and cell phone dial tones. Examples include the Total number “Trippin” or TLC’s “FanMail.”

Darkchild.

Electro-hop&B started hitting its stride in 1999 thanks to the work of Kandi Burruss and Kevin “She'kspere” Briggs, who wrote and produced “No Scrubs” by TLC– which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as a majority of the No. 1 album The Writing’s on the Wall by Destiny’s Child. But just as the sound became popular at the turn of the millennium, it started to crash out after pop stars got a hold of it– including but not limited to P!nk (“Split Personality”) and even N*SYNC (“It Makes Me Ill”). Brandy’s Full Moon very well is one of the last embraces on wax of the sound in its entirety. The change shifted towards neo soul, a revitalization of hip hop soul, and other forms of more alternative sounding R&B.

Since, electro-hop&B has made a few appearances for the sake of nostalgia in today’s music scene. Ariana Grande sampled “It Makes Me Ill” in 2019 for her Top 3 hit, “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.” Normani sampled “One In A Million” on 2021’s “Wild Side.” Other key instances of the genre’s technique include Kehlani’s “Distraction” and Demi Lovato’s “Games’ which were both released four years prior.