Electro (or electro-
funk)
[Rap meets Techno, with a short history of Electro](_blank)
Globaldarkness.com. Retrieved on July 18, 2011. is a
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
of
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...
and early
hip hop directly influenced by the use of the
Roland TR-808 drum machines,
and
funk. Records in the genre typically feature
drum machines and heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals, although if vocals are present they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as
vocoding
A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation.
The vocoder was i ...
and
talkboxing. This is the main distinction between electro and previously prominent genres such as
disco, in which the electronic sound was only part of the instrumentation. It also palpably deviates from its predecessor
boogie
Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mus ...
for being less vocal-oriented and more focused on electronic beats produced by drum machines.
Following the decline of
disco music in the United States, electro emerged as a fusion of
funk and early hip-hop with principal influences from New York
boogie
Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mus ...
, German and Japanese electronic pop music. The genre emerged with musicians
Arthur Baker,
Afrika Bambaataa,
Warp 9
Warp 9, an American sci-fi themed electro-funk, hip hop group is best known for its ground breaking, influential singles including " Nunk," "Light Years Away," and " Beat Wave," which ranked among the most iconic groups of the electro hip hop ...
, and
Hashim
Hashim ( ar, هاشم) is a common male Arabic given name.
Hashim may also refer to:
*Hashim Amir Ali
* Hashim (poet)
*Hashim Amla
*Hashim Thaçi
* Hashim Khan
*Hashim Qureshi
* Mir Hashim Ali Khan
* Hashim al-Atassi
*Hashim ibn Abd Manaf
* Hashim ...
. Seminal electro tracks included "
Planet Rock" (1982) and "
Nunk" (1982), both featuring its characteristic TR-808 drum beats.
The early 1980s were electro's mainstream peak. By the mid 1980s, the genre moved away from its electronic and funk influences, using harder edged beats and rock samples, exemplified by
Run DMC
Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history ...
. Electro became popular again in the late 1990s with artists such as
Anthony Rother and DJs such as
Dave Clarke.
A third wave of popularity occurred in 2007. Electro has branched out into subgenres, including
and
skweee
Skweee is a musical style, with origin in Sweden and Finland. Skweee combines simple synthpop, synth/chiptune leads and basslines with funk, Contemporary R&B, R&B or Soul music, soul-like rhythms, overall rendering a stripped-down funky sound. T ...
.
Definition and characteristics
From its inception, one of the defining characteristics of the electro sound was the use of
drum machines, particularly the
Roland TR-808, as the rhythmic basis of the track. As the genre evolved, computers and sampling replaced drum machines in electronic music, and are now used by the majority of electro producers. It is important to note, that although the electro of the 1980s and contemporary electro (
electronic dance music) both grew out of the dissolution of disco, they are now different genres.
Classic (1980s) electro drum patterns tend to be electronic emulations of
breakbeats with a syncopated kick drum, and usually a snare or clap accenting the backbeat. The difference between electro drumbeats and breakbeats (or breaks) is that electro tends to be more mechanical, while breakbeats tend to have more of a human-like feel, like that of a live drummer. The definition however is somewhat ambiguous in nature due to the various uses of the term.
The
Roland TR-808 drum machine was released in 1980, defining early electro with its immediately recognizable sound. Staccato, percussive drumbeats tended to dominate electro, almost exclusively provided by the TR-808. As an inexpensive way of producing a drum sound, the TR-808 caught on quickly with the producers of early electro because of the ability of its
bass drum to generate extreme low-frequencies.
[; as cited in ] This aspect of the Roland TR-808 was especially appealing to producers who would test drive their tracks in nightclubs (like NYC's Funhouse), where the bass drum sound was essential for a record's success. Its unique percussion sounds like handclaps, open and closed high-hat, clave and cowbell became integral to the electro sound. A number of popular songs in the early 1980s employed the TR-808, including Marvin Gaye's “Sexual Healing,” Cybotron's “Clear,” and Afrika Bambaataa's “Planet Rock.” The Roland TR-808 has attained iconic status, eventually being used on more hits than any other drum machine. Through the use of samples, the Roland TR-808 remains popular in electro and other genres to the present day.
Other electro instrumentation was generally electronic, favoring
analog synthesis, programmed bass lines, sequenced or arpeggiated synthetic riffs, and atonal sound effects all created with
synthesizers. Heavy use of effects such as
reverb
Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abs ...
s,
delays
Delays are an English indie band formed in Southampton, which consisted of brothers Greg and Aaron Gilbert, Colin Fox and Rowly until Greg Gilbert's death in 2021. The band's sound combines guitar and synths and featured Greg Gilbert's distinc ...
,
chorus or
phasers along with eerie synthetic ensemble strings or pad sounds emphasized the
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
or
futuristic
The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...
themes of classic (1980s) electro, represented in the lyrics and/or music. Electro hip hop group
Warp 9
Warp 9, an American sci-fi themed electro-funk, hip hop group is best known for its ground breaking, influential singles including " Nunk," "Light Years Away," and " Beat Wave," which ranked among the most iconic groups of the electro hip hop ...
's 1983 single,
Light Years Away
''Light Years Away'' (french: Les Années lumière) is a 1981 film directed by Alain Tanner. It tells the story of a young man who meets an old man who says he was taught by birds how to fly and is building a flying machine. It is based on a nov ...
, produced and written by
Lotti Golden
Lotti Golden (born November 27, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, poet and artist. Golden is best known for her 1969 debut album '' Motor-Cycle'', on Atlantic Records.
Winner of the ASCAP Pop Award for songwriting and RI ...
and Richard Scher, exemplifies the
Sci-Fi
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...
,
afrofuturist
Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, and philosophy of science and history that explores the intersection of the African diaspora culture with science and technology. It addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through technocultur ...
aspect of electro,
reflected in both the lyrics and instrumentation. The imagery of its lyrical refrain ''space is the place for the human race'' pays homage to
Sun Ra
Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...
's 1974 film, while its synth lines and sound effects are informed by sci-fi, computer games, and cartoons,"born of a science-fiction revival.".
Most electro is instrumental, but a common element is vocals processed through a
vocoder
A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation.
The vocoder was ...
. Additionally,
speech synthesis may be used to create robotic or mechanical lyrical content, as in the iconic
Planet Rock and the automatous chant in the chorus of
Nunk by
Warp 9
Warp 9, an American sci-fi themed electro-funk, hip hop group is best known for its ground breaking, influential singles including " Nunk," "Light Years Away," and " Beat Wave," which ranked among the most iconic groups of the electro hip hop ...
. Although primarily instrumental, early electro utilized rap. Male rap dominated the genre, however female rappers are an integral part of the electro tradition, whether featured in a group as in
Warp 9
Warp 9, an American sci-fi themed electro-funk, hip hop group is best known for its ground breaking, influential singles including " Nunk," "Light Years Away," and " Beat Wave," which ranked among the most iconic groups of the electro hip hop ...
or as solo performers like
Roxanne Shante
Lolita Shante Gooden (born March 8, 1970), better known by her stage name Roxanne Shante, is an American rapper. Born and raised in the Queensbridge Projects of Queens, New York City, Shante first gained attention through the Roxanne Wars and w ...
. The lyrical style that emerged along with electro became less popular by the 1990s, as rapping continued to evolve, becoming the domain of
hip hop music.
About electro origins:
History
![Afrika Bambaataa and DJ Yutaka (2004)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Afrika_Bambaataa_and_DJ_Yutaka_%282004%29.jpg)
Following the decline of
disco music in the late 1970s, various funk artists such as
Zapp & Roger began experimenting with
talk box
A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the sou ...
es and the use of heavier, more distinctive beats.
Boogie
Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mus ...
played a role during the formative years of electro, notably "Feels Good" by Electra (
Emergency
An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...
– EMDS-6527),
[ the post-disco production " You're the One for Me" by D. Train (Prelude – PRL D 621),] and the Eric Matthew/Darryl Payne
Darryl is an English name, a variant spelling of Darell.
Male variations of this name include: Darlin, Daryl, Darrell, Darryl, Daryll, Darryll, Darrell, Darrel.
Female and unisex variations of this name include: Daryl, Darian, Dareen, Darell ...
productions " Thanks to You" by Sinnamon
Sinnamon was an American female R&B vocal trio, consisting of Connecticut natives Barbara Fowler, Marsha Carter, and Melissa Bell from New York City. The group went through an abrupt development from a minimalist contemporary R&B sound of post- ...
(Becket – BKD 508),[ and "On A Journey (I Sing The Funk Electric)" by Electrik Funk (Prelude – PRL D 541).][ Electro eventually emerged as a fusion of different styles, including funk, ]boogie
Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mus ...
combined with German and Japanese technopop, in addition to influences from the futurism of Alvin Toffler
Alvin Eugene Toffler (October 4, 1928 – June 27, 2016) was an American writer, futurist, and businessman known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution, with emphasis on t ...
, martial arts film
Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...
s, and video game music
Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led t ...
. The genre's immediate forebearers included Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra
Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is cons ...
(YMO).
In 1980, YMO was the first band to utilize the TR-808 programmable drum machine. That same year, YMO member Ryuichi Sakamoto
is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto i ...
released "Riot in Lagos", which is regarded as an early example of electro music, and is credited for having anticipated the beats and sounds of electro. The song's influence can be seen in the work of later pioneering electro artists such as Afrika Bambaataa and Mantronix
Mantronix was an influential 1980s hip hop and electro funk music group from New York City. The band was formed by DJ Kurtis Mantronik (Kurtis el Khaleel) and rapper MC Tee (Touré Embden). The group is primarily remembered for its pioneerin ...
.
1982 was a watershed year for electro. Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
based producer Afrika Bambaataa released the seminal track " Planet Rock", which contained elements of Kraftwerk's " Trans-Europe Express" (from the album of the same name) and "Numbers" (from Kraftwerk's 1981 ''Computer World
''Computer World'' (german: link=no, Computerwelt) is the eighth studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk, released on 10 May 1981.
The album deals with the themes of the rise of computers within society. In keeping with the album's co ...
'' album) combined with the use of distinctive TR-808 beats. "Planet Rock" is widely regarded as a turning point in the electro genre, "like a light being switched on." Another groundbreaking record released that year, Nunk by Warp 9
Warp 9, an American sci-fi themed electro-funk, hip hop group is best known for its ground breaking, influential singles including " Nunk," "Light Years Away," and " Beat Wave," which ranked among the most iconic groups of the electro hip hop ...
utilized "imagery drawn from computer games and hip hop slanguage." Although remaining unreleased, a pre- Def Jam Russell Simmons produced Bruce Haack
Bruce Clinton Haack (May 4, 1931 – September 26, 1988) was a Canadian musician and composer in the field of electronic music.
Biography From Alberta to New York (1931-1963)
Demonstrating an early ability for music, Bruce Haack is said to ha ...
's proto hip-hop single "Party Machine" at a studio in Philadelphia. Electro hip hop releases in 1982 include songs by: Planet Patrol
Planet Patrol is an American electro group originating in the 1980s. The members were Arthur Baker, John Robie, and a quintet of vocalists led by Herbert J. Jackson (lead singer), Joseph Lites, Rodney Butler, Michael Anthony Jones, and Melvin ...
, Warp 9
Warp 9, an American sci-fi themed electro-funk, hip hop group is best known for its ground breaking, influential singles including " Nunk," "Light Years Away," and " Beat Wave," which ranked among the most iconic groups of the electro hip hop ...
, Man Parrish
Manuel "Man" Parrish (born May 6, 1958) is an American songwriter, vocalist and producer. He, along with artists such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Art of Noise, Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, John Robie, Jellybean Benitez, Lotti Gold ...
, George Clinton ('' Computer Games''), Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were an American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole (not to be confused with Kid Creole), Keef Cowboy, S ...
, Tyrone Brunson, The Jonzun Crew and Whodini
Whodini is an American hip hop group that was formed in 1982. The Brooklyn, New York-based trio consisted of vocalist and main lyricist Jalil Hutchins; co-vocalist John Fletcher, a.k.a. Ecstasy (who wore a Zorro-style hat as his trademark; J ...
.
In 1983, Hashim
Hashim ( ar, هاشم) is a common male Arabic given name.
Hashim may also refer to:
*Hashim Amir Ali
* Hashim (poet)
*Hashim Amla
*Hashim Thaçi
* Hashim Khan
*Hashim Qureshi
* Mir Hashim Ali Khan
* Hashim al-Atassi
*Hashim ibn Abd Manaf
* Hashim ...
created the influential electro funk tune " Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)" which became Cutting Record's first release in November 1983. At the time Hashim was influenced by Man Parrish
Manuel "Man" Parrish (born May 6, 1958) is an American songwriter, vocalist and producer. He, along with artists such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Art of Noise, Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, John Robie, Jellybean Benitez, Lotti Gold ...
's " Hip Hop, Be Bop", Thomas Dolby
Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher.
Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...
's "She Blinded Me With Science
"She Blinded Me with Science" is a song by the English musician Thomas Dolby, released in 1982. It was first released as a single in the UK in October 1982. It was subsequently included on the EP '' Blinded by Science'' and the 1983 re-release of ...
" and Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock". "Al-Nafyish" was later included in Playgroup's compilation album ''Kings of Electro'' (2007), alongside other electro classics such as Sakamoto's "Riot in Lagos". Also in 1983, Herbie Hancock, in collaboration with Grand Mixer D.ST, released the hit single " Rockit".
Bambaataa and groups like Planet Patrol
Planet Patrol is an American electro group originating in the 1980s. The members were Arthur Baker, John Robie, and a quintet of vocalists led by Herbert J. Jackson (lead singer), Joseph Lites, Rodney Butler, Michael Anthony Jones, and Melvin ...
, Jonzun Crew
Jonzun Crew was an American electro and early funk– hip hop group that was active in the 1980s. The group was led by Michael Jonzun, his brothers Maurice Starr and Soni Jonzun, and Carl (Captain Fingers).
Overview
The Jonzun Crew was forme ...
, Mantronix, Newcleus
Newcleus was an American electro and old school hip hop group that gained popularity in the early 1980s. The group is primarily known for its 12-inch single "Jam-On's Revenge" (re-released as "Jam on Revenge (The Wikki-Wikki Song)" (1983)) an ...
, Warp 9
Warp 9, an American sci-fi themed electro-funk, hip hop group is best known for its ground breaking, influential singles including " Nunk," "Light Years Away," and " Beat Wave," which ranked among the most iconic groups of the electro hip hop ...
and Juan Atkins
Juan Atkins (born September 12, 1962), also known as Model 500 and Infiniti, is an American record producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan. '' Mixmag'' has described him as "the original pioneer of Detroit techno." He has been a member of The Be ...
' Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
-based group Cybotron went on to influence the genres of Detroit techno
Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mil ...
, ghettotech
Ghettotech (also known as Detroit club) is a genre of electronic music originating from Detroit. It combines elements of Chicago's ghetto house with electro, Detroit techno, Miami bass.
Overview
Former Detroit music journalist for the ''D ...
, breakbeat, drum and bass and electroclash
Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop with 1990s techno, retro-style electropop and electronic dance music. It ...
. Early producers in the electro genre (notably Arthur Baker, John Robie and Shep Pettibone
Robert "Shep" Pettibone (born 10 July 1959) is an American record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s.
Career
Shep Pettibone surfaced after his work with Arthur Baker on Afrika Bambaataa & the Jazz ...
) later featured prominently in the Latin Freestyle
Freestyle music, also called Latin freestyle or Latin hip-hop ''( sic)'' is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the New York metropolitan area and Philadelphia, primarily among Hispanic Americans and Italian Americans in the 1980s. ...
(or simply "Freestyle") movement, along with Lotti Golden
Lotti Golden (born November 27, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, poet and artist. Golden is best known for her 1969 debut album '' Motor-Cycle'', on Atlantic Records.
Winner of the ASCAP Pop Award for songwriting and RI ...
and Richard Scher (the producer/writers of Warp 9
Warp 9, an American sci-fi themed electro-funk, hip hop group is best known for its ground breaking, influential singles including " Nunk," "Light Years Away," and " Beat Wave," which ranked among the most iconic groups of the electro hip hop ...
) fusing electro, funk, and hip hop with elements of Latin music.[Toop, David (2000). Rap Attack 3: African Rap To Global Hip Hop. (Expanded Third Edition) Serpent's Tail, London N4 2BT p.148 .]
By the late 1980s, the genre evolved into what is known today as new school hip hop
The new school of hip hop was a movement in hip hop music, beginning in 1983–84 with the early records of Run–D.M.C. and LL Cool J. Predominantly from New York City, it was characterized by drum machine-led minimalism, often tinged with eleme ...
. The release of Run DMC
Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history ...
's It's Like That (1983) marked a stylistic shift, focusing down on the beats in a stark, metal minimalism. Rock samples replaced synthesizers that had figured so prominently in electro, and rap styles and techniques evolved in tandem, anchoring rap to the changing hip hop culture.
Baker, Pettibone, Golden and Scher enjoyed robust careers well into the house era, eluding the "genre trap" to successfully produce mainstream artists.
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Detroit Techno musicians James Stinson and Gerald Donald
Gerald Donald is a Detroit techno producer and artist. With James Stinson he formed the afrofuturist techno duo Drexciya, and he is the main member of Dopplereffekt.
Biography
Donald is notoriously silent on himself and even his involvement with v ...
released numerous EPs, singles and albums of conceptual electro music under several different aliases. Their main project, Drexciya
Drexciya was an American electronic music duo from Detroit, Michigan, consisting of James Stinson (1969–2002) and Gerald Donald.
Career
The majority of Drexciya's releases were in the style of dance-floor oriented electro (music), electro, p ...
is known for exploration of science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
and aquatic themes.
Electro-soul
In the early 1980s, Detroit techno DJ Eddie Fowlkes shaped a related style called electro-soul, which was characterized by a predominant bass line and a chopped up electro breakbeat contrasted with soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...
ful male vocals. Kurtis Mantronik
Kurtis el Khaleel (born Graham Curtis el Khaleel, September 4, 1965), known by the stage name Kurtis Mantronik, is a Jamaican-born hip hop and electronic-music artist, DJ, remixer, and producer. He was the leader, DJ, and keyboardist of the in ...
's electro-soul productions for Joyce Sims
Joyce Elizabeth Sims-Sandiford (August 6, 1959 – October 13, 2022) was an American singer and songwriter, whose biggest hit single, " Come into My Life", reached the top 10 in both the US ''Billboard'' R&B Chart and the UK Singles Chart in 19 ...
presaged new jack swing's combination of hip hop and soul elements. In a 2016 profile on the genre's rise in Denver's music scene, Dylan Owens of ''The Denver Post
''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...
'' writes, "As with all fledgling genres, little about electro-soul is defined — even what to call it. (Of the eight artists interviewed for this article, none agreed on any one name.) But what does seem sure is its rise, especially locally. If Denver can be known as the musical torchbearer of any genre, it's electro-soul's half-live, half-produced swirl of hip-hop, soul, funk and jazz."
Contemporary electro
Although the early 1980s were electro's heyday in the mainstream, it enjoyed renewed popularity in the late 1990s with artists such as Anthony Rother and DJs such as Dave Clarke, and has made yet another comeback for a third wave of popularity in 2007. The continued interest in electro, though influenced to a great degree by Florida, Detroit, Miami, Los Angeles and New York styles, has primarily taken hold in Florida and Europe with electro club nights becoming commonplace again. The scene still manages to support hundreds of electro labels, from the disco electro of Clone Records, to the old school b-boy styles of Breakin’ Records and Dominance Electricity, to the electrofunk of Citinite, and to harder more modern styles of electro of labels like Bass Frequency Productions and Nu Illusion Music.
New branches of electro have risen over the last couple of years. Florida has pioneered the "Electrocore" sound, started in the late 1990s by artists like Jackal and Hyde and Dynamix II and carried on to this day. Skweee
Skweee is a musical style, with origin in Sweden and Finland. Skweee combines simple synthpop, synth/chiptune leads and basslines with funk, Contemporary R&B, R&B or Soul music, soul-like rhythms, overall rendering a stripped-down funky sound. T ...
is a genre which developed in Nordic countries such as Sweden and Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, hence its first name "Scandinavian Funk". The outlets and artists of Skweee are still mostly limited to the Nordic countries.
From the late 1990s onward, the term "electro" is also used to refer two other fusion genres of electro, either blended with techno
Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
and new wave in electroclash
Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop with 1990s techno, retro-style electropop and electronic dance music. It ...
,
The genre enjoyed a resurgence from 2016 onwards, with DJs like Helena Hauff and DJ Stingray gaining more popularity and festivals like Dekmantel featuring it prominently on their lineups. Labels like Cultivated Electronics, CPU, Mars Frequency Records, brokntoys and Mechatronica are currently pushing a new trove of artists which has introduced the genre to a new generation.
See also
* Glitch (music)
Glitch is a genre of electronic music that emerged in the 1990s. It is distinguished by the deliberate use of glitch-based audio media and other sonic artifacts.
The glitching sounds featured in glitch tracks usually come from audio recording ...
References
External links
Electro Funk: What Did It All Mean?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Electro (Music)
African-American music
Hip hop genres
Electronic dance music genres