The third section addresses the terms ‘genre’ and ‘style’ and outlines their similar points of reference while also highlighting their different areas of inquiry. Following the introduction, the second section discusses the controversy surrounding the term ‘trip hop’ and suggests possible reasons behind the artists’ rejection of the label. This article seeks to mediate the discussion between opposing viewpoints by describing the Bristol sound as a style that relates to the trip hop genre. Despite the artists’ objections, music industrialists, fans and academics continually label their music trip hop or its alternate term ‘Bristol sound’, though specifics are never given as to what, if anything, distinguishes the two terms. Portishead, Massive Attack and Tricky, the artists frequently credited with creating trip hop, have unanimously rejected the label, claiming their music has nothing to do with trip hop. Trip hop music emerged in the early 1990s, however, as a label the term ‘trip hop’ has always been problematic. This struggle has been played out in the creation of trip hop music as artists attempt to pay homage to the American originators while still developing their own brand of British hip hop music that speaks to their own cultural identity. Many children born to black and island migrants were forced to deal with issues of identity, what it meant to be black and British. These communities also provided a point of access for the invasion of American hip hop in the 1980s, which, together with reggae, would play an integral part in developing the Bristol sound. The black and Caribbean populations, established during the trading years, grew exponentially in number and migrants from Jamaica brought reggae music with them where it was disseminated into the wider community. Bristol also experienced mass waves of post-war migration from the Caribbean, an event that impacted the future of the city’s music in two distinct ways. This cultural uneasiness nurtures a dark undercurrent that is outputted through the city’s music and art, creating a melancholy sound that reflects the locality’s discomfort.
Bristol was a leading port in the international slave trade and the city has an equivocal relationship with its own history, a city with a proud sense of its own identity that also struggles with its nefarious heritage.
Two seminal events in Bristol’s history have helped to define trip hop music, contributing to its development in three important areas. Before becoming a global phenomenon trip hop was born and developed in the underground music scene of Bristol, England, crafted by artists such as Smith and Mighty, Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky, and the city itself has played a part in shaping the music it produces. Trip Hop exploded onto the popular music scene in the early 1990s, its unique blend of hip hop, reggae, funk and soul conquering the airwaves of England before attaining worldwide popularity.
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