Edm Cultural Impact

Cultural Impact of Electronic Dance Music Versus Hip-Hop in America for the Millennial Generation

By: April Rushin

Hip-hop and Electronic Dance Music, abbreviated as EDM, are two musical genres that define the popular American millennial youth culture today. While both of these popular musical genres of today are mutated offspring’s of the original genres, they share extremely familiar roots. Both hip-hop and EDM hold their roots in Jamaica in the late 20th century and are heavily influenced by other Caribbean cultures. Hip-hop and EDM began with the Jamaican traditions of Dub. Dub is reggae music sans words and harmonies. [Katz] Both genres were officially birthed in America, but EDM was developed on a more global scale before being

It is hard to pinpoint the exact history, but scholars generally agree on the key players and landmark albums from the genre.
The first pure Dub album was engineered by Errol Thompson in Kingston, Jamaica in 1970. It was entitled The Undertaker by Derrick Harriott and the Crystallites. Other landmark Dub albums included the 1974 releases of Blackboard Jungle Dub by Lee “Scratch” Perry and Pick A Dub by another Jamaican, Keith Hudson. [ESPN]
Dub music spread quickly to several European destinations where it continued to evolve. Dub music was further diversified by the rising popularity of American originated disco music. However by the 1980’s, the popularity of disco music began to fade. The Europeans, specifically northern Italians and the British, took this disco decline and fused it with Dub and other experimental electronic sounds to create “Eurobeat” and “Europop”. Eurobeat music spread quickly in Europe and that music scene defined their 1980’s popular music culture. [Savage]
EDM Roots in

However, it was wrapped in a brand new package. The main genres in the original American EDM movement were Techno in Detroit, House and Acid House in Chicago, and Trance in New York City. As the underground movement began to catch momentum, new genres emerged. Some of the more popular genres in the late 80’s and 90’s included electro, industrial, and freestyle. The actual term “Electronic Dance Music” did not begin to be widely used until the late 1990’s. During the 90’s it was marketed as “Electronica” and received limited popularity. Popular 90’s Electronica artists included Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and Underworld. In 2011, with the introduction of the millennial generation, EDM began its’ emergence to the surface level in America. It is now the fastest growing musical genre in the United States. Even more genres within EDM have been developed including hardstyle, trap, and dubstep. These modern genres of EDM and their characteristics have been easily explained in figure 1 and figure