Three Awesome Sub Genres of Hip Hop and Rap

Yo yo, s’happenin down in the hood ma homies!? I… Oh to hell with that, I’m way to white bred to talk street properly. This article is on some of the sub genres of hip hop and rap. Most people, when they think of rap get the image of the American gangsta. You know, your tupac, your 50 cent, massive muscled black guys with AK-47’s and gold chains rapping about how much money they make and how they shoot anyone who disrespects them.

While this is probably the most identifiable area of rap, it is by no means the only one. Like any other big group of music, rap has its own sub genres, all of which sound very different to one another. So, without further ado, let’s take a butcher’s hook at some of them.

Reggaeton

Just as gangsta rap is traditionally associated with the black community, Reggaeton is a form of Hip-hop that’s traditionally associated with the Hispanic populace. Most reggaeton artists are Latino, and the preferred language of the genre is Spanish rather than English. Right off the bat this makes for an interesting sound as Spanish is so much more pleasant to listen to that English.

Unlike gangsta rap, reggaeton is mainly sung rather rapped, but rapping is not uncommon within the genre itself. Many songs combine the two, creating a counterpoint style of structure which is both pleasant and interesting to listen to. Many reggaeton artists do however keep the typical ‘gangsta’ or ‘street’ image, so often associated with rap and hip-hop.

Perhaps the biggest difference in style between reggaeton and gangsta rap lies in the lyrics. This is a shame, because I don’t speak Spanish (English is hard enough), I don’t get the full force of the art. Where gangsta rap focuses a lot on self promotion, the mean streets, drugs, guns and hookers, reggaeton explores a very different area. Common themes include love stories, and real life problems that many ordinary people, not just rich musicians, face in their day to day lives. That’s not to say that there’s none of the gangsta elements in reggaeton lyrics, there are plenty of songs which explore this area of life if that’s what you’re interested in. As Reggaeton is so heavily associated with, and performed by Hispanic and Latino artists, the genre has also become a flagship for the ideas of racism and cultural identity, much like gangsta rap in inner city areas.