Hip-Hop Soul Pop
tagStarted 1992Peak 1993-2003Last big hit still active
Soulful R&B singing laid over hard hip-hop beats and breakbeats: booming drum loops, sampled funk, rap cadences and gritty, emotive lead vocals. It married streetwise production to gospel-rooted melody, with raw, resilient writing about love and survival, bridging the rap and R&B worlds for pop crossover.
History
Defined by Mary J. Blige's 1992 debut What's the 411?, produced with Sean Combs, which earned her the title Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. The style fused new jack swing's edge with raw hip-hop loops; Faith Evans, Jodeci and SWV carried it through the 1990s into early-2000s pop crossover.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_soul
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_the_411%3F
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mary-j-blige-mn0000490289