Electronic Music Background

The music genre, EDM (Electronic Dance Music), is made for what it is called for, dancing and or dance-based environment. The artist is a disk jockey (DJ) that typically performs with a DJ set or laptop. EDM can be mixed with a wide range of other music genres, such as but not limited to, hip-hop, trance, house, disco, etc.

EDM started developing in the 1980's when nightclubs started to become popular. The rave scene began in the late 80's as well. EDM that was at first made for dancing, slowly became more of a dance-style genre. In the 1990's electronic instruments became widely popular, and only continued to grow to even today. As more advanced technology came out in computers, EDM only continued to grow. EDM has become extremely popular with hip-hop, house, and dubstep. Artist, such as, Deadmau5 and Skrillex were not only appeared at the Grammy's of 2012, but they performed there, and were nomiated for awards.

Hip-Hop EDM
Hip-Hop was developed in the 1970's in the Bronx, New York. Hip-Hop typically deals with rapping, dancing, and DJ's/spinning. Hip-hop as DJing began with no vocals. However, as technology began to advance, hip-hop was able to create mixtapes which led to the first hip-hop record, "Rapper's Delight". By the 80's, hip-hop began to become diversed with many different styles. Popular hip-hop artists in the 80s were LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, and Run DMC. Popular artists in the 90's were Wu Tang Clan, Biggie Smalls, Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and MC Hammer. Hip-hop in the 90's began more of a gangster style in the music genre. Popular artists from 2000 until presents are artists like Eminem, Jay Z, Kayne West, Ying Yang Twins, 50 Cent, Nicki Minaj, Flo Rida etc. Looking more into the electronic side of hip-hop, most electronic artist are creating a style of electronic and hip-hop mixed together called mashups. Mashups are combining two or more songs into one track. To see examples of mashups go to Popular Electronic Artists link. Current hip-hop artists, like Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj, are beginning to work with EDM DJs to produce a different style of music. For example Flo Rida worked with Pretty Lights to create the song "Good Feeling" and Nicki Minaj worked with David Guetta to create "Turn Me On".

House EDM
House music was originated in Chicago, IL in the 1980's. House music was more popular in large cities like New York City, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Toronto, and over in Europe. House music was influenced by pop and dance music from around the world. House music began to become more popular in the 90's with artists like Madonna, Janet Jackson, C+C Music Factory, etc. House music is still widely popular over in Europe, but some what faded in the United States after early 2000's. A current popular artist of house music is David Guetta. To see more check out the Popular Electronic Artists link.

Dubstep EDM
Dubstep is a genre of EDM which orginiated from the UK. Dubstep is music that has bass lines and drum patterns that spaz out. As I'm sure most parents would agree, dubstep is the new "noise" of the century. The earliest dubstep release was late 1990s. Dubstep is more popular over in the UK with more singles and hits making way into their music charts. However, this genre is widely growing and becoming more and more popular over the years. Artists like Britney Spears used dubstep sounds in some of her songs from her album in 2007. By 2009, dubstep became more reconized from the UK hit "Bulletproof" by La Roux. Current popular artists in this genre are artists like Skrillex, Deadmau5, and Nero (more listed under Popular Electronic Artists).

By Ashley Foltz