Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music. It began in the mid-1990s, growing out of England's hip hop and house scenes, including that of the Bristol underground. 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."

Common musical aesthetics include a bass-heavy drumbeat, often emulating the slowed breakbeat samples typical of hip hop in the 1990s. Vocals in trip hop are often female and feature characteristics of various singing styles including R&B, jazz and rock. The female-dominant vocals of trip hop may be partially attributable to the influence of genres such as jazz and early R&B in which female vocalists were more common. However, there are notable exceptions; Massive Attack has collaborated with male and female singers. Tricky often features vocally in his own productions and Chris Corner now provides the vocals for Sneaker Pimps. Trip hop is also known for its melancholy and surreal aesthetics. This is due to the fact that several acts were inspired by post punk bands; in the 1990s, Tricky and Massive Attack both covered and sampled songs of Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure.

Trip hop tracks often sample Rhodes pianos, saxophones, trumpets, and flutes. Trip hop differs from hip hop in theme and overall tone. Instead of gangsta rap with its hard-hitting lyrics, trip hop offers a more aural atmospherics with instrumental hip hop, turntable scratching, and breakbeat rhythms. Regarded in some ways as a 90s update of fusion, trip hop may be said to 'transcend' the hardcore rap styles and lyrics with atmospheric overtones to create a more mellow tempo that has less to do with black American urbanite attitude and more to do with a middle-class British impression of hip hop. As Simon Reynolds put it, "trip hop is merely a form of gentrification." Trip hop production is historically lo-fi, relying on analogue recording equipment and instrumentation, although more traditional instruments such as electric guitars and drum kits are common features. Portishead, for example, record their material to old tape from real instruments, and then sample their recordings, rather than recording their instruments directly to a track. They also tend to put their drums through considerable compression.