Pop-rap

Pop-rap (also known as pop rap and hip pop) is a genre of music fusing the rhythm-based lyricism of hip hop music with pop music's preference for melodious vocals and catchy tunes, which gained mainstream popularity during the 1990s. The lyrics are often lighthearted, with choruses similar to those heard in pop music. The influences and roots of pop rap trace back to late 1980s hip hop artists, such as Run DMC, LL Cool J, and Beastie Boys.

History

Origins (late 1980s and 1990s)

In the 1980s, rap artists including Run DMC, Beastie Boys and LL Cool J set up the blueprints and origins of pop-rap as they suddenly broke into the mainstream. LL Cool J has been described as the very first "pop-rapper" in history, when he rose to prominence on his 1985 debut album Radio. When he joined Russell Simmons' Def Jam label and decided to try merging rap with pop and R&B influences, some people were skeptical that it would ever work. MTV has described LL Cool J's 1987 single "I Need Love," as "one of the first pop-rap crossover hits". Later, rap artists such as Tone Loc, Young MC, and Fresh Prince then made songs with lots of party tunes and storytelling abilities as they became very popular. During the 1990s, pop rap began to expand even more as hip hop music also began to connect strongly with dance music and R&B.MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice have been described as pop-rap since they broke into the mainstream in the early 1990s with songs like "U Can't Touch This" and "Ice Ice Baby". During the 1990s, smash-hit rappers such as MC Hammer caused pop-rap to be "derided (and, occasionally, taken to court) for its willingness to borrow" from well-known hit singles. By the end of the 1990s as rappers fused gangsta rap themes with 1980s pop and soul elements, pop-rap was dominated by many artists.