triphop

Trip hop is a musical genre that emerged in the early 1990s in the Bristol area of England. It blends hip hop with downtempo electronic music and influences from soul, funk, jazz, and ambient music. The style is characterized by slow to mid-tempo breakbeats, moody and cinematic atmospheres, extensive sampling, and often hushed, yearning vocal performances.

Origins are tied to the Bristol music scene and labels such as Warp and Talkin' Loud. It matured through groups like Massive Attack, Portishead, and Tricky, whose albums Blue Lines (1991), Dummy (1994), and Maxinquaye (1995) are frequently cited as foundational works. The sound also drew on collaborations with producers and artists from electronic and avant-garde circles.

Musically, trip hop emphasizes mood over club energy: languid basslines, field recordings, strings, piano, or guitar layers, and sparse, shuffled or broken beat patterns. Vocals range from melancholy singing to spoken-word or rapped passages.

In the late 1990s, trip hop spread beyond Bristol, influencing broader electronic music and giving rise to related scenes and artists such as Morcheeba, Sneaker Pimps, and others. Its hybridity has led to varied interpretations, with some critics broadening the term to include artists outside its original locale and era.

Legacy: Trip hop helped popularize atmospheric, sample-based music and left traces in film soundtracks and contemporary downtempo and ambient hip hop. It remains a reference point for discussions of mood-driven electronic music and the Bristol sound.