The Music Sub-Genre Chill-Hop
Start writing a post
Entertainment

The Music Sub-Genre Chill-Hop

The genre brings a comforting dynamic that gives listeners a compelling sound to feel jovial.

9094
The Music Sub-Genre Chill-Hop
Chill Hop Music // Youtube

Transitioning into the new year while embracing 2017, a music genre has followed me. As a music enthusiast, we dwell in multiple genres, encountering all types of music. This genre specifically is “chill-hop.”

Chill-hop is a sub-genre of a sub-genre (trip-hop) that fits into two main genres: jazz and hip-hop. It references the combinations of jazz elements and samples with hip-hop beats and electronic music.

The term was coined in the early 2000s for utilizing ambient, trip-hop, neo-soul, down-tempo, and jazz; synchronizing the listener to be in a “vibe,” or “chill,” for slang.

Since chill-hop is a subordinate and the sound format is compounded, it has a following from music lovers that enjoy this preference for calm, head-bop ambiance.

The cultural origins and influences were mainly towards North America, United Kingdom, and Japan. For instance, trip-hop is from U.K. and the U.S. started jazz rap in the 1980s. Japan gained high influence from those genres by inheriting the two countries sounds and obtained a high influencer in chill-hop.

Notable Artists

The artist “Nujabes” is considered the father of chill-hop music. Jun Seba (Nujabes) is from Tokyo, Japan. He is a DJ, producer, composer, and once owner of the Shibuya record stores. One of his notable works was from producing the background music for anime hit series Samurai Champloo in 2004. During that time period, USA’s television network Adult Swim began using his music for their commercial, “bumps”. These were the black backgrounds from the network and would have white-font sentences or messages to the viewers.

On February 26, 2010, Seba died in a traffic accident late at night on the Shuto Expressway. He died in the hospital after efforts of reviving him failed. Nujabes' death gathered other artists to tribute him. His own label Hydeout Productions released Modal Soul Classics II as a commemoration of him and to carry on his legacy.

Besides Nujabes, there were are other pioneers under the chill-hop direction like J-DIlla, Gramatik and Flying Lotus, whom obtain a large fan-base, gaining some mainstream popularity.

J-Dilla was a Detroit native, he was one-third of the music group Slum Village and has worked with major artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Erykah Badu, Common, The Pharcyde and many others. He provided quality mixes and samples from incorporating jazz and soul, molding it to a hip-hop foundation for several tracks for his own and other artists. He has been known as one of the most influential hip-hop artists in the mid-1990s and early 2000s.

Just like Seba, Dilla also died in 2006, from a rare blood disease called Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura or “Moschcowitz syndrome”.

Flying Lotus is another notable artist for being under the chill-hop genre. From Los Angeles, he experiments in multi-genres and is considered an astonishing producer, electronic musician and rapper. He has released five studio albums, and 2014’s album You’re Deadreceived critical acclaim.

Just like Nujabes, his music has been on the Adult Swim’s bumper block and in fact, he actually was a producer for the network’s programming around 2006-2007. His style has been influenced by notorious underground hip-hop artists/producers like MF DOOM and Madlib, including the legend J-Dilla. He currently runs an independent label, Brain feeder.

Gramatik is a major forerunner of electronic music, coming from Slovenia. His childhood was impacted by American funk, jazz, soul and blues. Later on, he learned about the hip-hop culture, leading him at the age of thirteen to learn to produce hip-hop tracks from an early PC.The beats and tracks he recorded would be uploaded to an online music store Beatport.

At 22 years-old, Gramatik gained popularity through Beatport from his first hip-hop album Street Bangerz Vol. 1. His sound conducts instrumental hip-hop, chill-hop and downtempo styles, that led to a label signing. Gramatik is one of the most prominent chill-hop artists for the past nine years and, since 2013, is running his own label Lowtemp.

Chill-hop is this genre that music fanatics or hip-hop listeners and producers find something to compose oneself and to embark a direction of complex-soften, low-fi sounds while honoring jazz and hip-hop. Its music became a sub culture for music junkies that follow the path of more settling tunes.

If you want to listen and get an idea of chill-hop, you can listen to it on Chillhopmusic.com and Youtube channel Chillhop music.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
the beatles
Wikipedia Commons

For as long as I can remember, I have been listening to The Beatles. Every year, my mom would appropriately blast “Birthday” on anyone’s birthday. I knew all of the words to “Back In The U.S.S.R” by the time I was 5 (Even though I had no idea what or where the U.S.S.R was). I grew up with John, Paul, George, and Ringo instead Justin, JC, Joey, Chris and Lance (I had to google N*SYNC to remember their names). The highlight of my short life was Paul McCartney in concert twice. I’m not someone to “fangirl” but those days I fangirled hard. The music of The Beatles has gotten me through everything. Their songs have brought me more joy, peace, and comfort. I can listen to them in any situation and find what I need. Here are the best lyrics from The Beatles for every and any occasion.

Keep Reading...Show less
Being Invisible The Best Super Power

The best superpower ever? Being invisible of course. Imagine just being able to go from seen to unseen on a dime. Who wouldn't want to have the opportunity to be invisible? Superman and Batman have nothing on being invisible with their superhero abilities. Here are some things that you could do while being invisible, because being invisible can benefit your social life too.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

19 Lessons I'll Never Forget from Growing Up In a Small Town

There have been many lessons learned.

70917
houses under green sky
Photo by Alev Takil on Unsplash

Small towns certainly have their pros and cons. Many people who grow up in small towns find themselves counting the days until they get to escape their roots and plant new ones in bigger, "better" places. And that's fine. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought those same thoughts before too. We all have, but they say it's important to remember where you came from. When I think about where I come from, I can't help having an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for my roots. Being from a small town has taught me so many important lessons that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Keep Reading...Show less
​a woman sitting at a table having a coffee
nappy.co

I can't say "thank you" enough to express how grateful I am for you coming into my life. You have made such a huge impact on my life. I would not be the person I am today without you and I know that you will keep inspiring me to become an even better version of myself.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

132494
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments