Industrial hip-hop

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Industrial hip-hop
Stylistic origins	East Coast hip-hop - Industrial music - Dub
Cultural origins	late 1980s New York City and London
Typical instruments	Vocals - Guitar - Bass - Drums - Sampler - Turntables - Electronics
Mainstream popularity	Low

Industrial hip-hop is a fusion of the dissonance and dystopian subject matter of industrial music with the rhythms of hip-hop.

[edit] Overview

The origins of industrial hip-hop are in the work of Bill Laswell and Adrian Sherwood. In the late 1980s, Laswell's Material project began to take increasing influence from hip-hop. Adrian Sherwood was a major figure in British dub, as well as working with industrial groups such as Cabaret Voltaire, Einstürzende Neubauten, Ministry, KMFDM, and Nine Inch Nails. The first industrial hip-hop group was Tackhead, a collaboration between Sherwood and the house band for Sugar Hill Records. Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, from San Francisco, and Meat Beat Manifesto, from the UK, are also early representatives of the style. Industrial hip-hop groups tend to take a great deal of influence from Public Enemy's intensity, volume, and emphasis on noise. The industrial group 23 Skidoo and Miles Davis's album On the Corner are also important precedents for the style.

Industrial hip-hop was carried forward by figures from a diverse number of scenes. Perhaps the most unlikely adopters were Justin Broadrick and Mick Harris, previously known for their invention of the grindcore style of extreme metal, while in Napalm Death. After participating in the jazzcore group Pain Killer with Bill Laswell, Harris's Scorn project delved into dark ambient and industrial hip-hop. Subsequently, Broadrick began to work with Kevin Martin, previously of God (also a jazzcore group). The later work of Broadrick's Godflesh, as well as his collaborations with Martin, Ice, Techno Animal, and Curse of the Golden Vampire, are prime examples of industrial hip-hop. The last of these was also a collaboration with Alec Empire, from Berlin, who also participated in the style in a number of his albums. The German label Mille Plateaux developed the sound throughout their series of Electric Ladyland compilations. Ice and Techno Animal also collaborated at times with El-P and other representatives of the Def Jux label. DJ Spooky's illbient style is closely related to these developments in industrial hip-hop; Mutamassik takes influence from both, as well as from breakcore. The Coldwave/Industrial Rock band Acumen Nation also adopts a number of Hip-hop influences, as does, to a larger degree, the band's side project DJ? Acucrack. Other recent additions to the genre include Rabbit Junk and Dr. Steel, whose work has often been described as "Hip-Hop Industrial Opera."

While Broadrick chose to devote his attentions primarily to post-metal, Martin continued to apply industrial hip-hop to dancehall and grime with the Bug. Jace Clayton, a Brooklyn native who expatriated to Barcelona and records under the names DJ /rupture and Nettle, is also devoted to the style, as well as to breakcore. Filastine, a former member of ¡Tchkung! who records for Clayton's Soot label, also practices a politicized variety of industrial hip-hop. The French label Cavage eventually devoted itself to the style, along with the Toulouse-based group les Trolls. Dälek, from New Jersey, is also a successful example of contemporary industrial hip-hop.

[edit] Related genres

Industrial hip-hop is connected to (and sometimes confused with) the more experimental variants of trip-hop. It also anticipates many of the developments of dubstep. Illbient is also adjacent to, and possibly a subgenre of, industrial hip-hop. Contemporary industrial hip-hop is also closely connected to breakcore.

[edit] Bibliography

Mudrian, Albert (2000). Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore. Feral House. ISBN-10: 193259504X
Reynolds, Simon (1999). Generation Ecstasy : Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture. Routledge. ISBN-10: 0415923735