Trip hop is a genre of
electronic music that originated in the early 1990s in the
United Kingdom, especially
Bristol. Deriving from later idioms of
acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more
experimental variant of
breakbeat emerging from the
Bristol Sound scene, which contained influences of
soul,
funk and
jazz. It has been described as "Europe's alternative choice in the second half of the '90s", and "a fusion of
hip hop and
electronica until neither genre is recognisable". Trip hop music fuses several styles and has much in common with other genres; it has several qualities similar to
ambient music, and its
drum-based
breakdowns share characteristics with
hip hop. It also contains elements of
R&B,
dub and
house, as well as other
electronic music. Trip hop can be highly experimental.