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Greek hip hop refers to hip hop music originating in Greece, either in Greek or English. The earliest Greek hip hop groups date back to 1987, though native language albums did not appear until the mid-1990s.

History

Some of the most important early hip-hop groups in Greece were Imiskoumbria, Terror X Crew (members: Αρτέμης, Ευθύμης, DJ ALX), FF.C (members: Ρυθμοδαμαστής, DJ Everlast, Σκηνοθέτης, plus many guests) and Active Member.

This differentiation caused a lot of tension among the Greek hip-hop fans. Between 1995 and 2000, there was a lot of conflict, relatively speaking. Things escalated from there when the Battle rap era in Greece begun with the group ZN (Ζωντανοί Νεκροί - The Living Dead) that started dissing Active Member and other hip hop groups. ZN was composed of 5 members. They followed the Wu-Tang style and have been influenced from the Wu-Tang Clan. They first released an EP and then a group album, followed by releasing solo albums. Their one and only album (due to feuding) as a group was "O Protos Tomos" (The First Volume) in 1997.

As American hip hop lyrics became more widely violent, so did international hip hop lyrics, and Greece was no exception. Rapping about guns, drugs, violence and sex became the norm. Hardcore Greek rap had swept the genre, and commercial hip hop followed suit.

Commercial hip-hop in Greece has become hugely successful, with acts like Imiskoumbria, Terror X Crew and Goin' Through blazing the trails. Imiskoumbria and Terror X Crew both were the first to have their records going gold. Goin' Through became a massive success after their last album, La Sagrada Familia, was granted gold status as of 2006. Their follow-up, Vendetta, achieved gold sales within three months of its release.

Goin' Through has also established Greece's big name hip-hop label, Family, where some other acts are signed. Some of the more noted acts of Family are Taraxias, Thirio, NEVMA, Ominus & DJ "S", TNS. It should be noted that the group Imiskoumbria, is widely credited as one of the Greek rap acts that made Greek hip hop a household thing. Before this, Greek hip hop was considered to be a fad or a novelty of sorts.

A New Breed

There is now a new breed of Greek hip-hop artists trying to make a name for themselves, such as Antiksoes Paragoges, Rodes, Efiologos, Skotini Plevra, PasPar2, Stixoima or (Bet).

Underground Hip Hop Scene

In addition to Commercial, Hard Core, and Low Bap rap music, Greece has an underground rap scene, comparable in style to the New York mixtape scene, that is thriving. Sifu VERSUS, Psychodrama, Vita Peis, Voreia Asteria, Alytoi Grifoi, Corona Virus, Phase 3, Ladose, Apexeis, Antixoes Paragoges, Flowjob, Ntopa Styles, Psyclowns, SMA, Low Profile, Professional Sinnerz, RNS, XOY are considered the most influential artists of this new underground circuit.

External links

• streetstyle.gr
• hiphopkinima.com
• hiphop.gr
• greekhiphop.com
• fourelements.gr
• hiphopStuff.gr
• newstyle.gr
• Popular Music and Society

Album covers of the most influential Greek hip-hop CDs

• Terror-X-Crew - TXC
• Terror-X-Crew - Gefsi tu menus (The taste of Wrath)
• Terror-X-Crew - Polis Ealo (The city has fallen)
• FFC - Se ali diastasi (In other dimension)
• Hmiz - 30 years of hits
• Nevma - Otan epistrepsoume sti gi (when we return to earth)
• Pedi Thavma - Rima gia Hrima (Wonder Boy - Rhyme for Money)
• Alfa Gama - Agnostofovia (Fear of the unknown)
• Midenistis - Megalos Iroas (Big Hero)
• Terror-X-Crew - Esete Imar (The Day will come)
• Nikolas (Razastarr) - En Xrono
• Phase 3 - Eksakrivosi Stoiheion (Identity Verification)

References

• Androutsopoulos, Jannis and Scholz, Arno (January 2002). "Spaghetti funk: Appropriations of hip-hop culture and rap music in Europe"

• Articles needing cleanup from January 2007
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• Greek hip hop
• Hip hop by nationality