By: Nejdana Houshyar, Staff Writer
Trip-hop is a musical genre that blends hip-hop with electronica, often taking influences from jazz, techno, and blues. The vocals are soft and sensual while the ambience is moody, funky, and feels like a gritty, sexy 1990s film. Trip-hop fuses with a plethora of other genres, such as dream-pop, shoegaze, and alternative, making it a highly abstract genre. The 1990s are marked as the pinnacle of trip-hop, with popular band Massive Attack being considered the “genesis point of the trip-hop movement,” according to Insomniac. The genre slowly trickled out of the mainstream once the world entered a new millennium; however, new artists are beginning to revive the style. Here is a playlist of three trip-hop songs originating from the 1990s, flowing into today.
“No-One in the World” by Locust
“No-One in the World” is the kind of song that feels timeless while simultaneously being quintessentially ‘90s. It opens with a soft jazz trumpet over a slow beat that seamlessly transitions into an ambient/techno beat — which is the heart of the song. The lyrics are simple and repetitive but in a way that works. A gentle voice softly sings, “No-one in the world / Ever had a love as sweet as my love / Nowhere in the world / Could there be a boy as true as you, love,” and these are the only lyrics in the song. This method works so well because the instrumental beat is so complex — it feels like five songs in one. My one piece of listening advice for this song: you must listen to it on a drive; you will feel like you’re in a coming of age movie.
“Love Me, Please Love Me” by POiSON GiRL FRiEND
A common theme in ‘90s trip-hop is the soft vocals, and “Love Me, Please Love Me” is the definition of such. Reminiscent of Julee Cruise (an American dream-pop artist and the vocals behind the soundtrack of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks), the vocals are high and airy, almost whispered. POiSON GiRL FRiEND sings the majority of the song in French, with the only English lyrics being “Love me, please love me.” This mix adds to the song’s mysterious nature, especially when the lyrics are translated: the song’s supposedly sensual tone shifts as the lyrics reveal a girl pleading to her lover. The song mixes piano with a downtempo beat that creates an elusive vibe for the listener; you don’t know whether to dance, cry, or both, either alone or with a lover.
“Tokyo” by Niko Rubio
Released this year, “Tokyo” is a playful take on trip-hop. Rubio is a clear fan and student of the genre because this song takes all of the classic points of trip-hop while adding a fresh new perspective. The vocals are airy, but Rubio sings them in a childlike, mocking way that completely shifts from the genre’s usual soft whisper. The song is fun and has elements of pop, and the beat reflects this. It is traditionally sensual with downtempo, but the added charms — the sparkle sounds, the ghost-like “wooing,” and the layered adlibs — create, I believe, the new era of trip-hop.
