Vinyl: Portishead's trip-hop synthesis
It took a while to get there, but by the late '80s hip-hop had cemented its place into mainstream American consciousness. Rap music was everywhere, from the pop charts with MC Hammer to the underground with alternative groups like The Pharcyde. Naturally, as what happens with most genres (think punk or blues music), the movement transformed into a genre, splintering into categories like alternative, gangsta or pop-rap. Even though hip-hop as a unified cultural movement no longer existed, this level of development opened the doors for artists of different traditions to experiment with hip-hop's fundamental ideas. While some '80s bands, like Blondie and the Clash, did incorporate aspects of hip-hop into their music, it wasn't until the '90s that growth of fusion cross-genre bands really picked up.