Crossover (music)

In music crossover is a term used to describe artists of a certain style or genre whose popularity crosses the considered boundaries of where the music of that style or genre is normally found. "Crossing over" is a marketing term, and is always a movement toward the mainstream.

Crossover as music of mixed genres

In popular music, the term crossover is most commonly used to describe a style of heavy metal that became popular in the 1980's. Bands who appreciated the fast hardcore punk stylings of bands like Minor Threat and Negative Approach, and equally appreciated the fast heavy metal stylings of Slayer and Metallica began combining elements of both styles for an even faster music style that became known as crossover. The first notable band of this style was New York City's Stormtroopers Of Death. The two hotbeds of the style were located in New York City and Southern California, home to Suicidal Tendencies. Suicidal Tendencies, led by "Cyco" Mike Muir were an extremely fast, thrashy hardcore band on their first self titled album, but by their next effort, "Join The Army" they had become a full on speed metal band. Other notable bands of the era were the Crumbsuckers, Hirax, Leeway, Cryptic Slaughter, The Cro-Mags, Method Of Destruction, and probably the most famous of all, Texas' Dirty Rotten Imbeciles or DRI.

Related Topics:
Popular music - Heavy metal - Hardcore punk - Minor Threat - Negative Approach - Heavy metal - Slayer - Metallica - Stormtroopers Of Death - Suicidal Tendencies - Mike Muir - Join The Army - Crumbsuckers - Hirax - Leeway - Cryptic Slaughter - Method Of Destruction - Dirty Rotten Imbeciles

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Crossover can also refer to another very popular style that showed up in the early 1990's, when bands would mix together a multitude of pop styles such as funk, hip hop, punk rock, and some heavy metal. This style was initially referred to as funk metal. Some well-known crossover artists are the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Rage Against The Machine.

Related Topics:
Funk - Hip hop - Punk rock - Funk metal - Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Rage Against The Machine

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However, crossover as mixing of genres in one piece has a longer tradition than that: see e.g. Deep Purple's Concerto for Group and Orchestra, where the pop music of that time is crossing the border with classical music. Around the 1970s several pop music artists produced such classical/pop crossover music, e.g. also Frank Zappa who composed pieces for execution by a classical orchestra.

Related Topics:
Deep Purple - Concerto for Group and Orchestra - 1970s - Frank Zappa

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This is also called fusion, especially jazz fusion which mixes jazz with other styles.

Related Topics:
Fusion - Jazz fusion - Jazz

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