What is Breakbeat?
{{Infobox music genre |name=Breakbeat |bgcolor=silver |color=black |stylistic_origins= [[Hip hop music|Hip hop]], [[Freestyle music|freestyle]], [[Miami bass]], [[Electro (music)|electro]], [[techno]], [[funk]], [[turntablism]] |cultural_origins=Early 1980s, [[USA]]; Late 1980s, [[United Kingdom]] |instruments=[[Turntables]], [[Sampler (musical instrument)|sampler]], [[Music sequencer|sequencer]], [[synthesizer]], [[drum machine]], [[personal computer]], [[Keyboard instrument|keyboard]] |popularity=Early-1990s; [[United Kingdom]] in [[breakbeat hardcore|rave music]] scene, later late-1990s; within [[big beat]] scene and some mainstream success in late 1990s United Kingdom as well as United States and Australia |derivatives=Jungle or [[drum and bass]], [[2-step garage]], [[4-beat]], [[dubstep]], [[breakbeat hardcore]] |subgenrelist=List of electronic music genres |subgenres=[[Breakbeat#Acid breaks|Acid breaks]], [[big beat]], [[breakcore]], [[broken beat]], [[nu-funk]], [[nu skool breaks]], [[progressive breaks]] |fusiongenres= [[Breakstep]], [[breakbeat hardcore]], [[trip hop]] |regional_scenes= }} '''Breakbeat''' (literally break beat as to interrupt a beat) (also called '''breaks''' or '''breakbeats''') refers to two things. It is both an [[electronic music|electronic]] [[music genre]] and the distinct [[percussion instrument|percussive]] [[rhythm]] from which this [[genre]] takes its name. ==Early history== As a musical device, breakbeats have been known and used for almost a hundred years. The name and modern meaning of the term traces its origins to the rise of [[Hip hop music|hip hop]] in the [[United States]] during the 1980s. The [[electronic]] [[music]] genre is widely regarded as coming from the [[United Kingdom]]'s early rave music. Breakbeats were added to the music to form what became known as [[breakbeat hardcore]]. However, breakbeats had been used by American hip hop [[DJ]]s and [[turntablism|turntablists]] in instrumental sets well before the advent of [[rave]] in the UK. It could be argued tha