By Deepti Hajela and Jaime Holguin | The Associated Press
(AP) – Nothing shows off hip-hop’s ability to change and adapt, to be reinvented again and again, more than the different sounds that have come out over the decades as it spread around the United States and the world. New York City, Los Angeles, Oakland, Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, and these days, the globe – name a place and its likely local rappers have taken the elements of hip-hop and made it their own. They bring their own experiences to the way they rap and what they rap about and the musical influences they use. And as society and technology have changed, so has hip-hop, as creators have taken to different platforms and their music has become readily available to listeners everywhere. It’s all part of the magic of hip-hop.
Listen to music legend Nile Rodgers, professors A.D. Carson and Murray Forman, and ground-breaking rapper Bun B talk about the sounds of hip-hop.
The Roland TR-808 was one of the first electronic drum machines. When it was introduced in 1980, hip-hop artists and producers such as Afrika Bambaataa, Newcleus and Rick Rubin incorporated it into their sounds.
Beyonce performs “Freedom” at the BET Awards in Los Angeles. Beyonce is one of many celebrities reacting to the police-related shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
Drake performs in concert as part of the Summer Sixteen Tour at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Aug. 5, 2016, in New York.
Rapper Bun B performs at the Coors Light Search for the Coldest event at Studio 48, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013, in New York. The Grammy Award nominated rapper is a pioneer in Houston’s regional hip-hop music sound.
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg perform during the halftime show during the NFL Super Bowl 56 football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Inglewood, Calif. The two iconic rappers are inextricably linked to hip-hop’s west coast sound and the gangster rap subgenre.
Rapper E-40, left, toasts fellow rapper Too Short, after teaching him about wine tasting on the Williams Sonoma culinary stage during the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival in Napa, Calif., Saturday, May 28, 2022. The two rappers put the regional San Francisco-Oakland rap sound on the map, including the popular “hyphy” music in the early to mid 2000s.
Rappers Juvenile, left, and the Hot Boys perform for the first UPN’s The Source Hip Hop Music Awards at the Pantages Theater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1999. Juvenile and artists associated with Cash Money Records helped define the New Orleans hip hop sound.
Outkast’s Andre 3000, aka Andre Benjamin, right, and Big Boi, aka Antwan Patton, perform on the first day of the Austin City Limits Music Festival on Friday, Oct. 3, 2014, in Austin, Texas. The rap duo have helped define the Atlanta hip hop sound.
Rakim performs “Eric B is President” at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. Born William Michael Griffin Jr., he rose to prominence as one half of the rap duo Eric B. & Rakim, which helped define the New York and east coast sound during the golden age of hip-hop.