20+ Differences between Hip Hop And Pop (Explained)

Although both are renowned, Hip Hop and Pop are different. Anyone with a musical background can tell the difference.

Dissimilarities notwithstanding, they both have affected music and society. First, understand each genre. Hip-hop is electronic rap music. Pop music has a strong melody and rhythm. Let’s compare hip-hop with pop in this article.

Comparison Between Hip Hop And Pop

Parameter	Hip Hop	Pop
Meaning	The kind of music known as “hip hop” is characterized by including rapping and using electronic rhythm sections in its compositions. The word “hip hop” refers to this type of music.	The kind of modern popular music known as “pop music” is characterized by prominently featured melodies and rhythms, and the term “pop music” refers to this type of music. The term “pop music” refers to this particular subgenre.
Feature	Hip-hop has many messages intended to figuratively symbolize the viewpoint that the artist takes on various problems.	Some musicians think that the absence of creative grandeur in the pop genre might be attributed to the fact that pop music is more focused on generating money. Pop music is more focused on making money than other genres. The marketability and individualization of pop music are becoming more important factors.
Originated from	Even though it is affected by a wide variety of musical genres, the two musical forms that have the most important effect on it are rap and R&B. Other musical forms also have an impact.	In addition to more modern music, disco music.
Tone	It has a mostly African-American flavor, with a touch of Latino seasoning added here and there for good measure.	It is reminiscent of the art that was popular in Europe throughout the middle ages and the early modern era.
Important portions	Rapping, DJing, beatboxing, and break dancing are considered to be the four most significant parts of hip-hop culture.	This will serve as the chorus and be repeated several times.
Values	The endeavor to get to the essence of things and be authentic.	Materiality
Instruments	A record player, a bass, a drum machine, and a synthesizer may all be found among this specific collection of musical instruments and electronic gadgets.	This package includes various instruments, including keyboards, acoustic, electric, and percussion instruments. The kit also includes a range of guitars.

Major Differences Between Hip Hop And Pop

What exactly is Hip Hop?

Hip-hop is electronic rap music. Hip hop began in 1970 when Bronx gatherings were known for Jamaican-influenced loudspeakers. Rap, graffiti, DJing, and B-boying began a cultural shift. Hip-hop was created to confront New York’s gang warfare.

Hip-hop conveys symbolic statements about the artist’s views. It features funk, scratching, beatboxing, and vocal percussion. Breakdance and rap differentiate hip hop.

Popular music: Hip Hop

Maya Arulpragasam was a rebel who became a hip-hop pioneer.

Before his death in 2007, rapper Pimp C released this posse cut. It’s a classic journey.

Beat Bop” was a one-off studio version of a 1980s Manhattan dance party.

Jean-Michel Basquiat created the 10-minute song.

15-year-old rapper K-Rob and raconteur Rammellzee battled over a dubby track and a violin.

Lil Wayne’s biggest success compared him to B.I.G., 2Pac, and Jay Z over a spacey minimalist rhythm.

Producer Bangladesh verified Wayne’s claim that he never wrote down hit rhymes: “He freestyled.”

Pusha T raps, “From ghetto to ghetto/backyard to yard/I sell it whipped, unwhipped/And soft, over hard,” to a chilling electro-funk rhythm by the Neptunes.

Chuck D stated the 1987 recordings “fucked altered the world” and “Bring the Noise” needed to be “faster, funkier, and more serious.”

Artists: Hip Hop

Drake’s road to popularity began at age 14, topping Eminem, Tupac, and Jay-Z in album sales.

G-Dragon, a South Korean rapper, worked as a trainee for Y.G. Entertainment for six years before being signed.

He joined the label’s K-pop trio Big Bang alongside T.O.P., Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri.

Before releasing Heartbreaker in 2009, he produced, composed, and wrote for the group.

The Kid Laroi rose to stardom with his debut solo mixtape a year after signing with Benny Blanco, Bobby Raps, Taz Taylor, and Cashmere Cat.

The Australian rapper performed in 2015 with DJ Marcus.

Vivian Fernandes, popularly known as Divine, began underground rapping in 2011.

Divine rapped on his experiences and difficulties growing up in the slums of Mumbai, hoping to be the voice of the marginalized people.

The singer became famous with “Yeh Mera Bombay” and signed with Sony Music India.

Rolling Stone India named the song’s video Best of the Year in 2011.

Key Differences: Hip Hop

It is generally agreed that rapping and MCing were the musical foundations upon which hip-hop was built.

Hip-hop is distinguished by a higher number of artistic characteristics, which provide a rhythmic quality to the social message conveyed by the music.

Hip-hop covers a larger spectrum of social and philosophical themes, mainly those faced by African people.

Hip-hop has a strong emphasis on the significance of the community, as well as political, human, and civil rights.

What exactly is Pop?

Pop music has a catchy tune and rhythm. Pop combines many genres. No other genre has so many influences. It’s designed for a younger audience. Thus it includes popular rhythms and beats.

Pop music began in the 1930s, yet each single maintains a freshness that appeals to the masses. Anyone can tell the difference between each genre’s style.

Pop is more commercial than creative, according to certain artists. Songs are frequently shorter and simpler. Pop singles are often novelty-like love melodies or dance music.

Artists: Pop

Ariana Grande debuted in Broadway’s 13 and rose to stardom on T.V.’s Victorious and Sam & Cat.

Her T.V. series launched her musical career, which resulted in five successful albums and collaborations with other musicians.

Michael Jackson, known worldwide as “The King of Pop,” was successful both with the Jackson 5 and on his own.

Taylor Swift, a Grammy-winning pop and country singer-songwriter, has influenced many artists.

Young talent, she released her first single and album in 2006.

Lady Gaga has been performing since her teens.

She’s a best-selling musician and the winner of several accolades.

She’s noted for reinventing her musical persona. She’s a philanthropic activist.

Selena Gomez was a born entertainer. The Fearless actress made her acting debut.

She earned recognition as a young singer and actress and won 2017’s Billboard Woman of the Year.

Popular music: Pop

Swift’s ‘1989’ album represented a clear departure from her country origins, with a front-to-back record of bangers.

This lead-off track converted T-Swift haters.

You were swaying in your desk chair even though you rolled your eyes at her awful dancing.

Taylor would change her appearance after its triumph, but this is her happiest.

The London diva rose to popularity with this song when she was 21 years old. However, her voice is expertly aged.

High-reaching vocals, a bone-chilling opening note, and the accessible subject matter of tarnished love won Adele two Grammys.

Shakira topped her debut hit ‘Whenever, Wherever’ with this reggaeton smash in 2005.

‘Hips Don’t Lie still gets everyone dancing. However, not everyone can mimic Wyclef’s “Shakira, Shakira” on the rhythm.

Wedding dance floors are changing.

Key Difference: Pop

On the other hand, conventional forms of folk music served as the foundation upon which pop music was built.

Pop music incorporates various genres, leaving the listener with an enduring impression.

Pop music is defined by its intense concentration on the gratification of its audience.

In today’s popular music, the emphasis is rarely placed on the technical elements of making music.

Contrast Between Hip Hop And Pop

Origin:

Hip Hop- It is generally agreed upon that the Bronx, which is a borough of the city of New York in New York City, is the place where hip hop was first established. The Bronx is located in New York City.

Pop- Many people believe that the nation now known as Britain, now known as the United Kingdom, was where pop music was first created.

Theme:

Hip Hop- Play on often hilarious and poetic words and may sometimes use assonance and rhymed stanzas. Focuses on social concerns such as wealth, drug addiction, promiscuity, poverty, luxury, politics, and other themes of a similar kind, among a variety of others.

Pop- In general, more lively, funny, and expressly designed for the purpose of dancing than traditional music. Lyrical content often covers a wide range of subjects, including love, life, and anything else that is easily understandable and applicable.

Definition:

Hip Hop- Hip hop is a kind of music consisting of stylized rhythmic music often performed with rapping. Rapping is a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is screamed, while hip-hop is a form of music that incorporates stylized rhythmic music. Chanted words are used in rap, which is a sort of spoken language. A particular kind of music is known as hip-hop.

Pop- The term “pop” refers to a certain kind of music that is very well-liked.

Artists:

Hip Hop- Notorious BIG, Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Mos Def, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Common, Busta Rhymes, Wu-Tang Clan, and Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All are some of the artists that have collaborated with Wu-Tang Clan. B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Kid Cudi, Mac Miller, and many others.

Pop- Beyonce, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Michael Jackson, and Elton John are famous people who have performed recently.

Type of song:

Hip Hop- Rapping, beatboxing, scratching, and free verses are some of the reoccurring musical components found in most songs categorized as hip-hop.

Pop- Pop music may be distinguished from other forms of music in several ways, including the ease with which it can be performed, the significance that it puts on topics such as love and relationships, and the broad range of ages that are often represented among those who listen to it.

Started from:

Hip Hop- Songs that “had extensive appeal” were the first music to be referred to using the term “pop song,” which was first recorded as being used in 1926. The word “pop song” refers to songs that “had widespread appeal.”

Pop- In New York City, throughout the 1970s, there was a growth in the popularity of block parties, particularly among young African Americans residing in the Bronx.

This was notably the case in the borough of the Bronx. This period saw the beginning of hip hop, not only as a kind of music but also as a social movement.

Music Length:

Hip Hop- When compared to tracks from other genres of music, hip-hop songs often have lyrical material that is more sophisticated and runs longer overall than songs from other genres. Hip Hop songs are often much lengthier than other genres.

Pop– Pop songs, on the other hand, often only endure for a shorter period and include fewer words than hip-hop music. Additionally, melodies are used more often in pop music.

Songs in other genres of music are, on average, substantially longer than pop songs, which are much shorter in duration. Sometimes the duration spent performing a hip-hop song is spread out over a longer period. This is called “stretching out.”

Inspired from:

Hip Hop- It was shaped by the disco, which also contributed to its development in its own way.

Pop- It draws inspiration from various musical styles and subgenres throughout the musical spectrum. Beginning with ballads that are heavy with emotion, the playlist continues with gospel music, soul music, jazz music, country music, rock music, classical music, dance music, electronic music, rap music, and hip-hop music.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. What exactly is an acoustic wave?

Answer. A sound wave is a pattern of disturbance that is caused by the movement of energy as it travels through a medium (such as air, water, or any other liquid or solid matter) as it propagates away from the source of the sound.

Sound waves can travel through the air, water, or any other liquid or solid matter. Sound waves are produced when an item vibrates and causes pressure waves to be formed.

Q2. Which genre, pop or hip hop, do you think has more fans?

Answer. Since 2017, R&B/hip hop has become the preeminent musical genre on the Billboard charts in the United States.

It has surpassed rock and pop as the most popular music genre in the contemporary era and has defined modern popular music.

Q3. What exactly is rapping?

Answer. Rapping is a musical type of vocal delivery that mixes “rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street slang.”

Rapping may be done or chanted in several different ways, and it is often delivered over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. “Content,” “Flow,” and “Delivery” are the three components that makeup rap music.

Q4. How is it that rap is not the same as hip-hop?

Answer. The typical response is that hip-hop is a culture that consists of four components known as deejaying, MCing, graffiti, and dancing, and that rap is a kind of popular music that developed out of the Hip-Hop culture. From this point of view, hip-hop is an in-depth and cultural art form. Rap is shallow and designed for the marketplace.

Q5. To what end does pop music primarily serve?

Answer. According to Frith, making money is pop music’s primary goal. It’s not a place where individuals can express themselves freely.

On the other hand, pop music aims to satisfy listeners’ want for quick empathy via cliched characters, stereotypical plots, and melodramatic flourishes.