[C&P] The History of Electro

[Karidoon]

Electro music

This article is about the genre known as simply electro, not to be confused with electro house, electroclash, electropop or electro-industrial, which are also often referred to as "electro" for short. See Electro for other meanings of the term "electro".

Electro, short for electro funk (also known as robot hip hop and Electro hop) is an electronic style of hip hop directly influenced by Kraftwerk and funk records (unlike earlier rap records which were closer to disco). Records in the genre typically have electronic sounds and some vocals are delivered in a deadpan, mechanical manner often through a vocoder or other electronic distortion.
Definition and characteristics

Electro is an artistic musical form in the wide world of electronic music culture. With few exceptions, the definition of the electro sound is the use of drum machines as the base of a track for broken, syncopated rhythms. Adopted by many electro enthusiasts, the Roland TR-808 is a legendary drum machine created in 1980 with a recognizable sound; it is still used and cherished today. The instrumentation is generally all-electronic highly emphasized by sound design experimentations with funk-style simulated bass lines, sequenced or arpeggiated synthetic riffs and unheard sound effects, all created with synthesizers. Heavy use of effects such as reverbs, delays, chorus or phasers together with original electronic pads create a rich and simultaneously cold sound that emphasizes the common science fiction theme of the lyrics or instrumental expressions. Not all electro features rapping; vocals processed through a vocoder is a common element and try to imitate cybernetic/robotic locutions or simple speech machine formulations. Also, instrumental tracks are more prominent than in related genres of electronic music and hip hop music.

concept albums are common in electro with Kraftwerk pioneering entire albums in technological or futuristic themes such as robots, computers or nuclear sciences. Other examples even include Star Trek tributes, references and topics about cybernetics, physics or interstellar travel inside electro projects such as I Borg, the Borganizm EP from Cybernet Systems, Il. Ek.Tro's track V-ger or Pascal F.E.O.S.'s GPL (Electro cut remix) (Gold Pressed Latinum). Many artists are entirely devoted to various sci-fi subjects of this kind.

History

Bronx, NY based electro funk artist Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" (1982) is one of the first electro records, using elements of Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express and "Numbers" (from Kraftwerk's Computer World album).

In 1983, along came upper Manhattan, NY based Cutting Records' first recording artist Hashim. Hashim, or Jerry Calliste Jr. created the influential electro funk tune "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)". "Al Naafiysh" became Cutting's first release in November of 1983, and Calliste became the label's vice president (Kellman, 2007)[1]." At the time Hashim was influenced by Man Parrish's "Hip Hop Be Bop", Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science" and Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" [2]. "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)" managed to crossover into the mainstream music markets around the world and is now one of the world's most sought after electro tunes in electro music's history.

Bambaataa and groups like Planet Patrol, Jonzun Crew, Mantronix, Newcleus and Juan Atkins' Detroit-based group Cybotron went on to influence the genres of Detroit techno, ghettotech, breakbeat, drum and bass and electroclash. Early producers in the electro genre (notably Arthur Baker, John Robie, Shep Pettibone, and the Latin Rascals) would feature prominently in the Latin Freestyle (or simply "Freestyle") movement of the early and mid-1980s. Baker and Pettibone would enjoy robust careers well into the house era, and both would elude the "genre trap" to successfully produce mainstream artists.

Subgenres

Los Angeles artists Egyptian Lover and Arabian Prince gave birth to electro-hop a less funky, more bass-heavy West Coast sound, similar to 2 Live Crew and the Miami Bass scene. Other artists in this style include Chris "The Glove" Taylor and World Class Wreckin' Cru.

Detroit also has a unique style sometimes called Techno Bass which is a fusion of Detroit Techno with Miami Bass. On the East Coast electro spawned freestyle, when syncopated rhythms were added to the basic formula. In Miami, a prominent subgenre of Freestyle (best termed "Latin Hip Hop") would emerge as HiNRG and House music elements were thrown into the soup. The most famous example of this style would be studio group Expose, who would eventually be brought to life as a live-singing girl group and would achieve platinum success in the late 1980s with such hits as "Point Of No Return" and "Seasons Change".

Contemporary Electro

Although the early 1980s were electro's heyday in the mainstream, it has enjoyed new popularity in the late 1990s with artists such as Anthony Rother, DMX Krew, Mr Velcro Fastener and Japanese Telecom (Dopplereffekt) and DJs such as Dave Clarke. Some current artists making music in this style have embraced the pseudonyms of Detroit techno pioneers. The renewed interest in electro, though influenced to a great degree by Detroit and New York music, is primarily taking hold elsewhere with electro club nights becoming commonplace again.

A new branch of electro, Skweee, has risen over the last couple of years from Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Finland, hence its first name "Scandinavian Funk". The outlets and artists of Skweee are still mostly limited to Scandinavia.

Electro Stylistic origins: Synthpop, Disco, Funk and Old school hip hop Cultural origins: early 1980s Germany, United Kingdom, United States Typical instruments: Synthesizer, Drum machine, Vocoder, Sampler Mainstream popularity: Mid- to late 1980s with a revival in the late 1990s Derivative forms: Electroclash Subgenres Electro funk - Electro Bass - Freestyle music - Miami bass - Glitch Electro - Techno Bass - - Downtempo Electro - Minimal Electro Fusion genres Ghettotech

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