Hip-Hop Soul
tagStarted 1991Peak 1992-1998Last big hit 2001
Located in 4 routes
R&B sung over hard hip-hop beats: soulful, gospel-rooted vocals riding sampled boom-bap drums and looped funk/soul breaks, often with a guest rap verse. Streetwise but tender, it married the grit of early-'90s New York rap to the emotional range of classic soul. Lush, swung, and heartfelt - R&B that breathes the same air as the rap of its era.
History
Coined for Mary J. Blige, whose Sean 'Puffy' Combs-produced What's the 411? (1992) crowned her the 'Queen of Hip-Hop Soul,' the style defined Uptown and Bad Boy's mid-'90s output. Producers like Combs and DeVante Swing built a sound where R&B and hip-hop were inseparable, dominating Black radio before neo-soul and crossover pop reshaped it.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_soul
- https://www.allmusic.com/style/hip-hop-soul-ma0000012101
- https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/mary-j-blige-hip-hop-soul/