Lipstick rap

Lipstick rap is a subgenre and cultural movement that originated in the northern region of Kuboia during the late 1990s. The genre fuses hip hop and rapping with elements of youth-orientated genres like teen pop and bubblegum pop. It is usually performed and marketed towards pre-teen and teenage girls.

Lipstick rap has its origins from around the mid-1990s, having relations to social shacks and community-based radio stations. It peaked in popularity around 1999-2000 before seeing a decline around the mid to late 2000s. It has been cited as one of the biggest musical developments in Kuboian history.

Characteristics
As a subgenre, lipstick rap fuses old-school hip hop of the 1980s up to the early 2000s with teen pop, R&B and sometimes other genres such as jazz, funk and rock. Instrumentals often feature disc scratching sounds, electronic guitars and pianos, and the tempo is usually around 95 beats per minute. Lyrics are usually about social and teenage rebellion and commentary on social issues, though rarely talk about very mature subject matters in order to appeal to a younger audience. Unlike other teen-orientated genres, lyrics are not commonly about love and romance. Vocals are prominently rap, though also often feature melodic and rich singing choruses - these are usually done by young boys with high-pitched and/or feminine voices.

Lipstick rapper CP Virus explained in 2004 that it is a very broad genre, and whether an artist can be declared a "lipstick rapper" or not can depend on personal taste.

Early history
Lipstick rap has its origins through social shacks and community radio. Teenagers, typically girls, would often spend their free time recording music, typically by paying for recording sessions with money they earned from part-time jobs. A majority would write and perform lyrics over instrumentals from the Free Beats series of compilation discs that were released in the mid 1990s. In 1997, Vision News produced a documentary about teenage girls who had released their music on white label records.

Although the first ever song to be classified as "lipstick rap" is debatable, several of the earliest examples were released on white labels around 1996, including "Find a Way" by Missy Robins. A majority of the genre's earliest releases were re-released (and sometimes re-recorded) as singles in 1999 and the early 2000s.

Around the same time, Charlie Karma, Sharlie Deem and Emily Merletta had recorded rap songs for some children's television series, such as The New Adventures of The Sweet Treets and Ouraine.

Mainstream success
Lipstick rap began to see mainstream success around late 1998 and early 1999, with artists like Missy Robins and CP Virus being amongst the most notable. In addition to individuals, lipstick rap groups like Sweet 16 were also prominent at the time - the groups usually had at least one female rapper and one male singer. Some of the children who appeared on Charlie Karma and Company, including Uroika Mabus and Lizzie Dennison, released lipstick rap songs in the early 2000s.

Around 2002, some lipstick rappers began to release songs with influence of eurodance, trance and rave music, a majority of which sampled classic house and disco tracks. Early examples of this movement included "Can You Feel It?" by GoGo Girl, which interpolates Livin' Joy's single "Dreamer", and "Get Down Tonight" by Meiling Chen, which is a cover of KC and the Sunshine Band's single "Get Down Tonight". Iroune Ruby released several dance-orientated lipstick rap songs throughout the mid 2000s.

Decline
Lipstick rap began to decline around 2007, with many lipstick rappers either retiring, decreasing their productivity or finding difficulty finding commercial success.

Around 2017 and 2018, lipstick rap saw a resurgence in international markets and on the internet.

Deep mixtape
In lipstick rap terminology, a deep mixtape is generally used to describe an independently released single typically containing two unique tracks and multiple different versions or remixes of each track, and sold at a cheaper price than the average single. They were typically released in the late 1990s and early 2000s by independent lipstick rappes to gain recognition. Deep mixtapes are recognisable via their magenta-coloured label. The term was coined by Missy Robins in 1997 when she released "Find a Way" on a custom-made pink labelled maxi CD.

Some teen pop-based singers influenced by lipstick rap have also released deep mixtapes.

Influence
Although lipstick rap is performed mostly by young girls, a few male lipstick rappers have also seen commercial success, including Zeke Kattenby.

Lipstick metal
Lipstick metal, which fuses lipstick rap with nu metal and rap rock, had minor popularity in the early 2000s, with some lipstick metal artists such as Jessie Dred and Lollipopz receiving airplay on American active rock radio.

Asian movements
In the mid and late 2000s, a few Japanese and South Korean artists collaborated with Kuboian lipstick rappers to create fusion genres which combined lipstick rap with J-pop and/or K-pop. These type of songs go under several names, such as Asian lipstick or K-lipstick.

Film and television
Lipstick rap music has been featured in several television series, mostly ones targeted towards children. The 1999 animated series Cindi and Friends features several lipstick rap songs in its soundtrack.

Lipstick rap was prominently featured in the children's television series Polly Kettle.

Video games
The 2004 action-adventure video game Lipstick Underground is centred heavily around lipstick rap and Kuboian youth culture. Lipstick rapper Sissy Missy directed the game to make sure it was culturally accurate, with a few other musicians who were prominent in the movement at the time contributing to its soundtrack.

Two rhythm video games, Sweat Party Mix and Sweat Party Mix 2, were released for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 in 2003 and 2005 respectively. Both games feature lipstick rap songs in their soundtracks.

Fanbase
Lipstick rap is heavily associated with karoul culture.

LGBT representation
Since its early conception, a majority of lipstick rappers and the community have identified as being part of the LGBT community. Studies carried out in North Kuboia in 2004 claimed that, out of thousands of young listeners of lipstick rap, about 12% identified as being homosexual, with a further 27% identifying as bisexual - a large portion of female listeners identified as "lipstick lesbians", and a significant number of those surveyed mentioned being in a relationship with another fan of the genre.

International fanbases
Lipstick rap has passionate followings throughout Europe, particularly the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. There are also smaller cult followings of the genre in other areas of the world, including Australia, Brazil, Japan and the United States.

Criticism
A few sources have cited the lipstick rap fanbase as unfriendly, particularly towards those who are heterosexual or religious.