Read Harpsichord’s Comprehensive Guide on all genres relevant to the state of current pop, R&B, hip hop, and dance music.
Trip Hop
Umbrella Genre: Hip Hop
Stylistic Origins: Electronica, Dub, Breakbeat, Sophisti-Pop, Psychedelia
Date and Location of Development: Late 1980s into Early 1990s in the Bristol underground sound scene of the UK
As hip hop started to gain commercial dominance in the United States during the late ‘80s, its culture carried over across the pond. The city of Bristol, United Kingdom became known for its underground parties that included raves and graffiti. It became a scene where DJs who immigrated to the UK from the Caribbean created local “sound system” culture. This mirrored how hip hop developed in the Bronx in 1973. Also at the time, the punk scene became prominent leading to the rise of graffiti artists such as Banksy.
Prominent members of Bristol’s underground arts scene were Robert Del Naja– also known as 3D– and Adrian Nicholas Matthews Thaws– also known as “Tricky.” They existed in the music collective, The Wild Bunch– performing in warehouses and nightclubs with Tricky in 1982, and then adding 3D in 1984. By 1988, Tricky and 3D formed the quartet, Massive Attack, with the addition of Grant Marshal–l aka “Daddy G”– and Andrew Vowles– aka “Mushroom.” That year they released “Any Love,” which modeled after the samples Big Daddy Kane used on “Ain’t No Half Steppin’,” and featured the vocals of Carlton McCarthy.
In 1991, Massive Attack came out with their first studio album, Blue Lines, which featured downtempo, loungey, and cloudy instrumental. The music on that album such as stuttering vocals and riffs– almost as if the track was skipping over itself. The album featured guest vocalists who sang in soft falsettos, prominently evoking feminine qualities.That same year, the English band, Siouxsie and the Banshees, released “Kiss Them For Me,” which sampled the instrumental of Schoolly D’s 1985 gangsta rap classic, “P.S.K. What Does It Mean?”.
The Wild Bunch performing in the undergdound scene of Bristol in the 80’s.
In 1994, music journalist Andy Pemberton coined the term “trip hop” to describe the earlier work of DJ Shadow and bands like The Chemical Brothers in an edition of Mixmag . Electronic in style, the subgenre had an ambient stuttering that used hip hop breakbeats with the cadences of R&B. Coming from Bristol, the British trio fronted by lead vocalist, Beth Gibbons, released Dummy that same year. They were commended for offering music that modeled after cinematic spy flicks– “Sour Time” becoming a global success, breaking at No. 53 on the Billboard Hot 100. ‘Dummy’ won the Mercury Prize in 1995. That same year, The Chemical Brothers released their debut studio album, Exit Planet Dust .
The late 90’s saw an American pop music explosion with trip hop. Notably, Janet Jackson would incorporate the genre on her artistic opus, The Velvet Rope in 1997– particularly on the deep cut “You.” Madonna– who originally was sought after to appear on Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” (instead the group opted for Elizabeth Fraser, of the Cocteau Twins)– brought the sound to her 1998 album, Ray of Light . As for Massive Attack– on the UK side– the group continued as a trio (without Tricky) to deliver their most essential LP, Mezzanine in 1998. The mood of the album still relied on the dreamy, hallucinating aspects of trip hop, the album is much more darker and introspective.
As trip hop started to break into other genres– such as illbient (which can be heard on Brandy’s 2004 ‘Afrodisiac’ album)– in the 2000’s and beyond, there still remained sprinkles. Imogen Heap and Guy Sigsworth delivered 2002’s Details as the duo, Frou Frou. That led to an influential solo career for Imogen Heap– who has inspired the likes of Ariana Grande to cover “goodnight n go” on 2018’s Sweetener . The 2020’s may have a resurgence of trip hop, as Tirzah has given trip9love…???, a title that serves as a slight commentary on trip hop.
Portishead celebrating their Mercury Prize win for their album Dummy in 1995.
Key Music Videos
“Kiss Them For Me” - Siouxsie and the Banshees (1991)
Director: Peter Scammell
“Must Be Dreaming” - Frou Frou (2002)
Director: Muto Masashi
Six Key Tracks
“Safe From Harm” - Massive Attack (1991)
“Sour Times” - Portishead (1994)
“You” - Janet Jackson (1997)
“Teardrop” - Massive Attack (1998)
“Let Go” - Frou Frou (2002)
“F22” - Tirzah (2023)
essential Pioneers and influenced artists
Massive Attack
Portishead
Frou Frou
three Key albums
Dummy
Portishead
1994
Mezzanine
Massive Attack
1998
Details
Frou Frou
2002
Articles about this genre
Imogen Heap has gone on to be an instrumental and revolutionary vocalist in the electronic pop scene, but it’s her effort with Guy Sigsworth– a duo called Frou Frou– that gained a cult following unlike any other.
Continuity takes center stage on a record that finds an avant pop experimenter from London repeating love's lessons, with the help of one drum and piano loop.