Abstracthiphop is a genre of hip hop that eschews many of the conventions and aesthetics found in traditional hip hop. This style typically features unconventional production techniques, abstract lyrical content and extensive sampling.

Abstract Hip Hop – Lyrical Content

The lyrical content of abstracthiphop tends to be more existentialism or social institution based, rather than braggadocio. It is also more often characterized by lengthy metaphors and symbolic word choice than traditional hip hop.

Music is an important aspect of abstracthiphop, as it typically combines elements of jazz, funk, soul, and electronic music. Some artists also use spoken word and poetry as part of their lyrics.

Creative appropriation and productive consumption

As an ethos that swells from the emergence of a racialized, urban youth culture (Hebdige 1979; Hebdige and Harris-Lacewell 2010), hip hop regularly attempts to transform its resources and materials into new cultural expressions. This process of productive consumption is rooted in the ethos of entrepreneurship, which encourages a spirit of sharing and creativity that repurposes what is scarcely available in a given society.

Layering and ruptures

In order to achieve their desired flows, hip hop emcees and deejays frequently employ a variety of polyrhythmic layering practices. These include flirtations with and strategic embellishments of ruptures that disrupt rhythmic stability. In turn, ruptures generate exclamations, asymmetries, and angularities that astonish listeners and evoke sensations of spontaneity.