Urban contemporary music in the context of Pop rap


Urban contemporary music in the context of Pop rap

⭐ Core Definition: Urban contemporary music

Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of Black genres such as R&B, pop rap, quiet storm, urban adult contemporary and hip hop; Latin music such as Latin pop, Chicano R&B and Chicano rap; and Caribbean music such as reggae and soca. Urban contemporary was developed through the characteristics of genres such as R&B and soul.

Because urban music is a largely U.S. phenomenon, virtually all urban contemporary formatted radio stations in the United States are located in cities that have sizeable African-American populations, such as New York City; Washington, D.C.; Detroit; Atlanta; Miami; Chicago; Cleveland; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Montgomery; Memphis; St. Louis; Newark; Charleston; New Orleans; Milwaukee; Cincinnati; Dallas; Houston; Oakland; Sacramento; Los Angeles; Trenton; Columbia; Jacksonville; Flint; Baltimore; Boston; Birmingham; Indianapolis; Augusta; Richmond; Charlotte; Savannah; Hartford; and Jackson.

↓ Menu
HINT:

In this Dossier

Urban contemporary music in the context of Contemporary hit radio

Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts. There are several subcategories, dominantly focusing on rock, pop, or urban music. Used alone, CHR most often refers to the CHR-pop format. The term contemporary hit radio was coined in the early 1980s by Radio & Records magazine to designate Top 40 stations which continued to play hits from all musical genres as pop music splintered into adult contemporary, urban contemporary, contemporary Christian and other formats.

The term "top 40" is also used to refer to the actual list of hit songs, and, by extension, to refer to pop music in general. The term has also been modified to describe top 50; top 30; top 20; top 10; hot 100 (each with its number of songs) and hot hits radio formats, but carrying more or less the same meaning and having the same creative point of origin with Todd Storz as further refined by Gordon McLendon as well as Bill Drake. The format became especially popular in the mid-sixties as radio stations constrained disc jockeys to numbered play lists in the wake of the payola scandal.

View the full Wikipedia page for Contemporary hit radio
↑ Return to Menu

Urban contemporary music in the context of Christian hip hop

Christian hip-hop (originally gospel rap, also known as Christian rap, gospel hip-hop or holy hip-hop) is a cross-genre of contemporary Christian music and hip-hop. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United States during the 1980s.

Christian hip-hop music first emerged on record in 1982 with a track entitled "Jesus Christ (The Gospel Beat)" by Queens, New York artist McSweet. The first full-length Christian hip-hop album, Bible Break, by Oklahoma artist Stephen Wiley, was released in 1985, with the title track becoming a hit on Christian radio in 1986. Other early Christian hip recording artists from the mid-1980s included P.I.D. (Preachas in Disguise), who recorded to funky rock rhythms, as well as JC & the Boys and Michael Peace. During the 1990s and 2000s, rapper KJ-52 rose to prominence in the field.

View the full Wikipedia page for Christian hip hop
↑ Return to Menu

Urban contemporary music in the context of Blue Streak (film)

Blue Streak is a 1999 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Les Mayfield. Inspired by the 1965 film The Big Job, the film stars Martin Lawrence, Luke Wilson, Dave Chappelle, Peter Greene, Nicole Ari Parker and William Forsythe. Lawrence plays Miles Logan, a jewel thief who tries to retrieve a diamond he left at a police station, whereupon he disguises himself as detective named Malone and gets paired with real policeman Detective Carlson to investigate burglaries. The film was shot on location in California. The prime shooting spot was Sony Pictures Studios, which is located in Culver City, California.

Blue Streak was released theatrically by Columbia Pictures on September 17, 1999, and opened as the number one movie in North America. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, it went on to gross nearly $120 million at the worldwide box office against a $36 million budget. The film's soundtrack album, featuring a number of popular urban/hip-hop artists, was certified gold.

View the full Wikipedia page for Blue Streak (film)
↑ Return to Menu