House music is a genre of
electronic dance music that originated in the
American city of
Chicago in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized circa 1984 in Chicago, but beginning in 1985, it fanned out to other major cities such as
Detroit,
Toronto,
Mexico City,
New York City,
San Francisco,
Boston,
Montreal,
Cancún,
Manchester,
[1] Miami,
London,
[1] and
Paris. It then began to influence popular music in
Europe, with songs such as "House Nation" by House Master Boyz and the Rude Boy of House (1987) and "Doctorin' The House" by
Coldcut (1988) in the pop charts. Since the early to mid-1990s, house music has been infused in mainstream
pop and
dance music worldwide.
Early house music was generally dance-based music characterized by repetitive
4/4 beats, rhythms mainly provided by
drum machines,
[2] off-beat
hi-hat cymbals, and synthesized basslines. While house displayed several characteristics similar to
disco music, it was more electronic and minimalistic,
[2] and the repetitive rhythm of house was more important than the song itself. House music today, while keeping several of these core elements, notably the prominent
kick drum on every beat, varies a lot in style and influence, ranging from the soulful and atmospheric
deep house to the more minimalistic
microhouse. House music has also fused with several other genres creating fusion subgenres,
[2] such as
Euro house,
tech house, and
electro house.
House music, after enjoying significant underground and club-based success in Chicago from the early 1980s onwards, emerged into the UK mainstream pop market in the mid-to-late 80s. Popularity quickly followed in the rest of Europe, and it became a global phenomenon from the early-to-mid 90s onwards.
[2] It proved to be a commercially successful genre and a more mainstream
pop-based variation grew increasingly popular. Artists and groups such as
Madonna,
[2] Janet Jackson,
[3] Björk,
Kanye West,
[4] and
C+C Music Factory[2] incorporated the genre into their work. After enjoying significant success in the early to mid-90s, house music grew even larger during the second wave of
progressive house (1999–2001). The genre has remained popular and fused into other popular subgenres, as the
DJ Mag Top 100 DJs poll has been dominated by house DJs since the beginning of the polls. Today, house music remains popular in both clubs and in the mainstream pop scene while retaining a strong foothold on underground scenes across the globe.
Some
disco songs incorporated sounds produced with
synthesizers and
drum machines, and some compositions were entirely electronic; examples include
Giorgio Moroder's late 1970s productions such as
Donna Summer's hit single "
I Feel Love" from 1977,
Cerrone's "
Supernature" (1977),
[5] Yellow Magic Orchestra's synth-disco-pop productions from their
self-titled album (1978),
Solid State Survivor (1979),
[6][7] and several early 1980s disco-pop productions by the
Hi-NRG group
Lime.
Soul and disco influenced house music, plus mixing and editing techniques earlier explored by disco
DJs, producers, and audio engineers like
Walter Gibbons,
Tom Moulton,
Jim Burgess,
Larry Levan,
Ron Hardy,
M & M, and others who produced longer, more repetitive, and percussive arrangements of existing disco recordings. Early house producers like
Frankie Knuckles created similar compositions from scratch, using
samplers, synthesizers,
sequencers, and drum machines.
Charanjit Singh's
Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat (1982) anticipated the sounds of
acid house music, but it is not known to have had any influence on the genre prior to its rediscovery in the 21st century.
It is possible that the term 'house music' surfaced in reference to the sounds played at the Warehouse by Knuckles.
[citation needed] Initially it was a catch-all term to describe the wide range of music being played at the Warehouse. It soon became the word used to define the raw,
drum machine based edits and tracks that Knuckles was playing in the early 1980s. Knuckles bought his first drum machine from a young
Derrick May who regularly made the trip from Detroit to see Knuckles at the Warehouse, and
Ron Hardy at the Music Box
To Us growing up the genre of Music was simply known as INTERNATIONAL MUSIC. It carved the taste, direction and preference of one's Music. This commonly known source of Music is a Mother to a lot of Newly Born Genres. The SOUND Mimics one's Heartbeat and pierces through Your Soul.
Thank You God For House Music.
