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US president contrasts British position with that of the EUView the full article

So you flew too close to the sun—downloading app after app, recording hi-res video, binging podcasts—and now you’re faced with the dreaded “Storage Almost Full” pop-up on your iPhone. It’s OK: we can handle this together. Here are three extremely expeditious tricks you can use to clear out the clutter and get back to a carefree life of digital hoarding. Detach from big message attachments Every hilarious GIF. Every video of someone’s kid skiing. Every duck-faced selfie. They’re all taking up space, and you’ll almost never need to revisit them. Free up a metric pant-load of storage in mere moments by heading to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Review Large Attachments (you may need to tap “Show All” to see it. All your space hoggers will be presented, from the largest to smallest. Hit the Edit button and eradicate with extreme prejudice. I’ve found this to be the best way to clear up a ton of cruft quickly. I’d say your mileage may vary, but it won’t. We’ve all been clinging to this stuff for way too long. Intelligently offload unused (or seldom used) apps Finally, a useful application of artificial intelligence. Yes, my family and I elf ourselves one day every December. No, the app doesn’t need to be taking up space the rest of the year. For all the one-off, long forgotten, and rarely used apps, there’s Apple’s offloading feature. It doesn’t get rid of apps entirely— it just gets rid of them until you need to use them again. Navigate to Settings > General > App Store > Enable “Offload Unused Apps” (way at the bottom) to mothball them. When you need them again, one tap brings them back, complete with all your settings. Send your photos to the cloud I realize the irony of suggesting you pay for cloud storage to house all the photos that are taking up too much space on your phone, but the fact of the matter is that at some point, you’re eventually going to have so many photos they won’t even fit on your phone anyway. For that, there’s iCloud, and shelling out $3 a month for 200 GB of storage isn’t outrageous. Now, that doesn’t mean you should let a bunch of other digital junk take up too much iCloud space. If you think of it primarily as a photo backup tool and work to keep your other files pruned, pared, and organized, you’ll be able to optimize your storage. Speaking of optimization, head to Settings > Apps > Photos > Optimize iPhone Storage to enable the feature. You’ll need to enable the iCloud Photos toggle if it isn’t already, at which point the Optimize iPhone Storage Option will appear. This keeps a smaller copy of each photo on your phone itself, while housing its higher-resolution version in iCloud. If you take a lot of photos, this is a great way to keep their respective storage sizes in check. View the full article

If you own a house, your insurance premiums have probably surged over the last several years. A new report outlines how much worse it could get as climate disasters keep growing: In Florida, for example, the insurance cost for an average house could go up 89% in the next 30 years. In Miami, the cost for a homeowner could go up by 322%, or an additional $11,000 a year. As you pay more for insurance, the value of your house is likely to simultaneously drop if you’re in a high-risk area. The report, from the climate risk analysis nonprofit First Street, estimates that an average house in Florida will lose around 29% of its value by the 2050s. Meanwhile, home values will rise in certain areas—like Madison, Wisconsin—that face lower climate risk. The report classifies around 21,000 communities as “climate abandonment neighborhoods”—places with high climate risk and spikes in insurance premiums where populations are likely to decrease. Thousands of other areas are likely to later reach that tipping point. In other high-risk areas, like Miami, populations will keep growing because there are enough other amenities that people are willing to live with the risk and expense. “What we’re seeing is that in some places where the economic structure is a little bit weaker, the impact of climate is stronger,” says Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications research at First Street. “It’s something that’s just an additional factor that people decide, ‘Okay, that’s enough. I can’t get a job here, and I also don’t want to put up with persistent extreme rainfall events’ or something like that.” As more people leave and cities have lower tax revenue, those local economies will struggle even more. Nationally, home insurance premiums are expected to rise by an average of 25.3%, with some of the steepest jumps in the West and Southwest. Idaho will see costs rise 50%; premiums in New Mexico could go up by 82%. In the past, insurance costs were relatively stable. In the 2000s and early 2010s, they were 7%-8% of mortgage payments. But over a little more than a decade, they’ve grown by 115%. That’s because of the enormous losses that insurance companies are facing as disasters grow. In 2023, insurers paid out around 10% more than they collected in premiums. (Ironically, despite the impact on their business from climate change, insurance companies continue to invest in fossil fuels.) The report calculated how much insurers’ costs are likely to grow because of climate change, and how much premiums will correspondingly rise. When a homeowner’s insurance premiums go up, their house will be worth less when it sells. And as buyers better understand climate risks, that also impacts value. When a house gets added to a FEMA zone, for example, that discounts the value by 4%. “Once awareness is raised around it, it does make the property a little less desirable,” Porter says. “It raises the flag that there’s going to be a little more in terms of cost of homeownership for this property.” In Paradise, California, after a devastating wildfire in 2018, insurance costs rose 36.8% by 2023. Property values dropped by 42%. First Street makes tools that homebuyers can use to better understand the risk of climate disasters like flooding or wildfire for a specific house. Now, if you search for a house on Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, or Homes.com, that data is integrated. A recent Zillow study found that 80% of homebuyers now consider at least one climate risk when they’re searching for a house. Homeowners can use the same tools to find ways to make their houses more resilient. If you live in a neighborhood that hasn’t flooded in the past, for example, but First Street’s models tell you that there’s now a strong likelihood of flooding, you might invest in a rain garden, permeable pavement, or ditches in your yard (or, depending on your risk, you might spend much more to elevate your house). Insurance companies are beginning to more proactively encourage homeowners to make changes to prepare for disasters, including a California startup that focuses on homes in high-risk fire zones. City planners can use the same tools to plan for resilience, and try to help residents avoid some of the financial costs that the report predicts. While only a handful of large cities have teams focused on climate risk, the tools can help fill the gap for others. “Understanding what parts of the community are at risk, which residents, which assets, which infrastructure pieces, gives them the ability then to effectively and efficiently allocate resources to protect the community and really adapt to the climate risk,” Porter says. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I accidentally peed on a fabric chair at work I’m close to tears writing this. I was drinking some water at my desk and some of it went down the wrong tube, which led to a coughing fit. I coughed so hard that I peed. This is the first time this has ever happened and I’m mortified. Worse still, it happed on a specially ordered orthopedic chair with a cloth seat. And yes, the urine soak through. What do I do?!? I’m afraid if I tell my manger they’ll be horrified and wonder how I could possibly be incontinent. I don’t want to be the coworker who peed on the chair. Will I totally ruin my professional image? As much as I just want to not tell anyone I don’t think the chair is salvageable and it stinks of urine now. Someone is bound to notice. Do I have to change my name and live life as a hermit? Help! You do not have to change your name and live as a hermit! You are a normal human with a normal human body, and normal human bodies sometimes do weird things. You are far from the only person who has had this happen. (Here are some other letters with similar stories if it helps!) Anyone who would hold this against you is a jerk; most people will just be sympathetic. (In fact, it’s entirely possible your manager or whoever you end up talking to about it will have had something similar happen to themselves at some point.) Talk to the person who’s in charge of ordering furniture and say this: “I had a medical incident that unfortunately ruined the cloth seat of my chair, and I need to order a new one. What’s the process for doing that?” 2. Why have policies that aren’t enforced? Having seen this in real life and reading about it frequently in your column, I’m curious: from a manager’s point of view, what’s the purpose of policies that aren’t enforced and when there’s no intent to enforce them? Why have these policies at all? Obviously sometimes policies are made at a high level that’s detached from everyday operations, and managers don’t care about them, and no one will really notice they’re not enforced. But in situations where managers do have meaningful authority, what’s this all about? This could be dress codes, WFH vs working in the office, timeliness or absenteeism, or any kinds of procedures — situations where there’s a definite rule, something a manager says must or must not be done, but they openly ignore when the rules aren’t followed or refuse to enforce them. Affected underlings sometimes have cynical interpretations of what’s going on here, but I’m curious what the people with authority think they’re doing. There’s a bunch of explanations. Sometimes the policy was made by someone other than the manager and they don’t agree with it, or don’t think it’s a big enough deal to enforce (and may think it’s counter to more important goals, like treating good employees well). Sometimes the policy sounded right when it was made but has turned out not to be a big enough deal for anyone to bother enforcing it, and no one has gone back to revisit it. Sometimes they really should be enforcing it, but the manager is too wimpy or too negligent (those are the same thing, really) to do it. Sometimes the policy wasn’t thought out well enough and so it doesn’t contain the nuance that the manager has in their head — for example, a manager might think “I need people to do X except in situations Y or Z” but they don’t bother to call out Y or Z as exceptions in the policy, so it looks like the policy is just going unenforced (or worse, being inconsistently enforced), whereas if they’d written the policy better their intent would have been clear. And sometimes there’s more of a cumulative aspect to it — if you break the policy once or twice, it’s not a big deal, but if you’re breaking it all the time it’ll be more of a problem and worth addressing. Related: how strictly should managers enforce company policies? 3. My manager’s brain injury is causing problems on our team My supervisor had a traumatic brain injury 11 months ago (workman’s comp). She has gotten treatment (sort of); she is very religious and delayed treatment based on her religious beliefs. After nearly a year, she is still out a lot, has memory issues, is late, is irritable, works remotely a lot, and has accommodations that — at least to our staff — are mysterious and undefined. Early on I stepped up, worked extra, helped out and went the extra mile. We had been friends before working together. Then about six months ago, she bit my head off, told me I had overstepped, and told me to stay in my lane. Fine — I went back to working my actual job and minding my own business. But she is clearly not okay. Now she flip flops between “I feel like we are estranged friends” and asking weird things like wanting to give me her password for a software program, which is strictly prohibited by institution policy. I am at my wits’ end. This is above your pay grade to solve! Please talk to HR about what’s going on. Not to get your manager in trouble, but because these are problems that you can’t handle on your own, and someone above you needs to know what’s going on so they can step in and help (which could include coming up with more effective accommodations, connecting her with different support, changing the way your team is managed, or all sorts of other things). 4. Technology stipend purchases — my property or the company’s? Two years ago I accepted a job that advertised, under the “Compensation and Perks” section of the job posting and official job description, a $1,500 technology stipend. In our negotiation emails, the owner of the firm said that the salary offer plus my professional development budget plus this technology budget “pushes you over (desired salary) for the year, with lots of room for upward mobility. Plus when you earn X certification, you’ll be eligible for a $5,000 raise.” I assumed — based on this correspondence and my spouse’s previous experiences with technology stipends — that I would have a budget of $1,500 to spend on whatever I wanted for tech for my home office, and that it would be mine to keep. There was no mention of returning the purchases at any point. And I did spend it on whatever I wanted (no instructions or guidance provided by the employer), which was a laptop, monitor, ergonomic keyboard and mouse, and some other smaller things specific to my home office. I submitted receipts for reimbursement. Fast forward to last month, when I gave notice. The owner of the firm was very upset. He said many inappropriate and rude things to me, but what he did not say then, during my exit interview, or on my last day, was anything at all about returning the items I’d purchased two years earlier with this stipend. And I didn’t think anything of it, because I was under the impression that this stipend had been compensation. My final paycheck had an error in it that shorted me about $150. It was a mistake due to negligence, not anything malicious, so after trying to resolve it with the payroll company directly, I reached out to my former employer because apparently only he can remedy the mistake. A month later, I checked back in to ask if he’d seen my email, and he replied quickly to say that he wants me to mail him my laptop and monitor, and then once he receives it he’ll Venmo me (?!) the mistakenly withheld wages plus the shipping costs. I don’t even know how to reply. It seems retaliatory for him to be asking for this now (why didn’t he mention it literally at any point earlier?) and it doesn’t match my understanding of the stipend’s terms (which of course aren’t written down anywhere). Not to mention that Venmo’ing me seems like a weird thing to do — the $150 is supposed to be taxable income. What do you think? Is it worth even pointing out to him that he’d offered the stipend to me as part of my compensation package? Would it be egregious to tell him that I’m unwilling to handle the packaging and front the postage costs myself, but if he sends me packaging with prepaid labels I’ll send the items back? Some companies with technology stipends do require the items to be returned when you leave, but they clearly spell that out so you know. I suspect that is not how your manager intended it since if the plan was for you to return the items all along, it wouldn’t have made any sense to include it in “pushing your salary over $X” (just like you don’t include the cost of other work-provided equipment in your salary calculations). Plus he didn’t say anything about returning it until you asked him to remedy the payroll error and when he was already upset about you leaving. You could reply to him, “My understanding from our negotiations when I was hired was that the stipend was part of my compensation, and there was no discussion of those items being returned. If you documented something different, I am happy to take a look at it (although would then ask that you prepay for the shipping back so that I’m not covering that myself). Meanwhile, for the payroll error, I don’t think we can Venmo it — it needs to be through payroll so that taxes are taken out correctly and so the state has a record of it. Thanks for handling it, I appreciate it.” You might also look up your state’s law on final pay and when it’s due and what the penalties are if it’s late, just so you have that in your pocket if you need it. (Google the of your state and “final paycheck law” with no quotes.) 5. What state do I file for unemployment in? Federal employee here. I live in State A and work in State B. If/when the axe falls, do I apply for unemployment benefits in State A, State B, or (for whatever reason) Washington, D.C.? You apply for unemployment in the state you worked in. View the full article

The end to self-delusion?View the full article

While it is still early to see the full impact on delinquencies, 5% fewer borrowers in these areas made their monthly mortgage payment by Jan. 17. View the full article

Fruit, tequila and even cars could be more expensive as a result of the US president’s decisionView the full article

UK’s most valuable listed company raised NHS rejection of its new breast cancer drug and the drug pricing mechanism during negotiationsView the full article

Companies from Boeing to Amazon have sought out the world’s richest man as he seeks to remake US government View the full article

Quarter-point reduction forecast even as short-term inflation pressures are set to increaseView the full article

The Aluminium Association of Canada has strongly criticized the 25% tariffs imposed by the U.S. administration on Canadian aluminium, warning of significant economic repercussions for American workers and consumers. The tariffs will immediately increase the cost of aluminium, affecting industries that rely on the metal for manufacturing. The U.S. consumes six times the amount of primary aluminium it produces, and Canada plays a critical role in supplying the shortfall. “This situation will unfortunately impact workers and consumers in America with the immediate increase on the price of aluminium,” said Jean Simard, President and CEO of the Aluminium Association of Canada. The association highlighted the interdependence of North American aluminium industries, stating that 9,500 Canadian aluminium workers supply metal to over 500,000 American manufacturing jobs, generating more than $200 billion in U.S. economic output annually. The Canadian aluminium industry intends to work closely with government officials, business leaders, and unions to maintain economic stability despite the tariffs. The industry also plans to engage with U.S. stakeholders—including businesses, workers, and policymakers—to underscore the negative economic impact of the tariffs. The Aluminium Association of Canada stressed that the real threat to the North American aluminium sector comes from China’s state-subsidized overproduction, not from Canada. The organization urged both nations to prioritize addressing unfair Chinese trade practices rather than imposing tariffs on Canadian aluminium. “Going forward the focus for our industry and our countries must be set on addressing the devastating impacts of unfair Chinese trading practices stemming from massive state subsidies on the entire aluminium ecosystem,” the statement noted. Canada has already taken several measures to align its trade policies with the U.S. to protect North America from Chinese aluminium dumping, including: Implementing a 25% surtax on Chinese aluminium imports. Establishing a Market Watch Unit within the Canada Border Services Agency to monitor aluminium trade. Enhancing anti-circumvention rules to prevent transshipment. Launching an Aluminium Imports Monitoring System in 2019. Developing a digital traceability system to track metal shipments in real-time. The association reiterated that Canadian aluminium should remain exempt from tariffs due to its strategic importance in North America’s industrial supply chain. With U.S. production limited to one million metric tons per year, tariffs on Canadian imports will increase costs for American manufacturers and consumers, counteracting efforts to curb inflation. Image: Envato This article, "Aluminum Assoc. of Canada: US Tariffs on Canadian Aluminium WIll Disrupt Industry, Drive Up Costs" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The Aluminium Association of Canada has strongly criticized the 25% tariffs imposed by the U.S. administration on Canadian aluminium, warning of significant economic repercussions for American workers and consumers. The tariffs will immediately increase the cost of aluminium, affecting industries that rely on the metal for manufacturing. The U.S. consumes six times the amount of primary aluminium it produces, and Canada plays a critical role in supplying the shortfall. “This situation will unfortunately impact workers and consumers in America with the immediate increase on the price of aluminium,” said Jean Simard, President and CEO of the Aluminium Association of Canada. The association highlighted the interdependence of North American aluminium industries, stating that 9,500 Canadian aluminium workers supply metal to over 500,000 American manufacturing jobs, generating more than $200 billion in U.S. economic output annually. The Canadian aluminium industry intends to work closely with government officials, business leaders, and unions to maintain economic stability despite the tariffs. The industry also plans to engage with U.S. stakeholders—including businesses, workers, and policymakers—to underscore the negative economic impact of the tariffs. The Aluminium Association of Canada stressed that the real threat to the North American aluminium sector comes from China’s state-subsidized overproduction, not from Canada. The organization urged both nations to prioritize addressing unfair Chinese trade practices rather than imposing tariffs on Canadian aluminium. “Going forward the focus for our industry and our countries must be set on addressing the devastating impacts of unfair Chinese trading practices stemming from massive state subsidies on the entire aluminium ecosystem,” the statement noted. Canada has already taken several measures to align its trade policies with the U.S. to protect North America from Chinese aluminium dumping, including: Implementing a 25% surtax on Chinese aluminium imports. Establishing a Market Watch Unit within the Canada Border Services Agency to monitor aluminium trade. Enhancing anti-circumvention rules to prevent transshipment. Launching an Aluminium Imports Monitoring System in 2019. Developing a digital traceability system to track metal shipments in real-time. The association reiterated that Canadian aluminium should remain exempt from tariffs due to its strategic importance in North America’s industrial supply chain. With U.S. production limited to one million metric tons per year, tariffs on Canadian imports will increase costs for American manufacturers and consumers, counteracting efforts to curb inflation. Image: Envato This article, "Aluminum Assoc. of Canada: US Tariffs on Canadian Aluminium WIll Disrupt Industry, Drive Up Costs" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Rand falls after president singles out Brics nation over expropriation of propertiesView the full article

The U.S. residential construction market is expected to expand by $242.9 million between 2025 and 2029, growing at a 4.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), according to a new report from Technavio. Rising household formation rates and a growing emphasis on sustainable construction practices are key factors driving market growth. However, the industry continues to face challenges, particularly in the availability of skilled labor for large-scale projects. The U.S. residential construction sector is seeing increased demand for affordable housing, spurred by lower mortgage rates and federal programs aimed at expanding access to homeownership. The Federal Reserve’s interest rate policies remain a crucial factor influencing housing affordability, while supply chain disruptions and labor shortages continue to limit the pace of new construction. The market is also experiencing a shift towards eco-friendly and energy-efficient homes, with homeowners seeking solar panels, energy-efficient insulation, and sustainable building materials. Federal incentives, including tax credits and rebates, are further encouraging the adoption of green building practices. Millennials, a major segment of first-time homebuyers, are driving demand for single-family homes, while urbanization trends continue to fuel the development of apartments and condominiums in metropolitan areas. Challenges in the Construction Sector Despite strong demand, the industry faces significant hurdles, particularly a shortage of skilled labor. An aging workforce, lack of new training programs, and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to worker shortages, leading to delays and increased costs for residential projects. In 2023, the construction sector required an estimated 723,000 new workers annually to meet demand, a gap that continues to strain the industry. Additionally, while home construction spending has seen double-digit growth, the supply of new homes has failed to keep pace with demand, contributing to rising home prices. Mortgage rates, lending guidelines, and stricter credit requirements remain key barriers for potential buyers. Industry Outlook and Market Segmentation The residential construction market is segmented by: Product: Apartments and condominiums, villas, and other housing types. Type: New construction and renovation. Application: Single-family and multi-family homes. Geography: Primarily North America, with U.S. market trends closely tied to Canadian housing conditions. AI’s Impact on Market Trends Artificial intelligence is playing an increasing role in the residential construction sector, driving efficiencies in project planning, cost estimation, and workforce management. AI-powered analytics tools help builders optimize material procurement, reduce waste, and improve construction timelines, offering a competitive edge in an industry facing labor shortages and rising costs. Looking Ahead The U.S. residential construction market is expected to experience continued growth through 2029, supported by demand for affordable housing, sustainability initiatives, and evolving homebuyer preferences. However, economic uncertainty, labor constraints, and regulatory challenges remain factors to watch in the coming years. Image: Envato This article, "US Residential Construction Market Projected to Grow by $242.9 Million from 2025 to 2029" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The U.S. residential construction market is expected to expand by $242.9 million between 2025 and 2029, growing at a 4.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), according to a new report from Technavio. Rising household formation rates and a growing emphasis on sustainable construction practices are key factors driving market growth. However, the industry continues to face challenges, particularly in the availability of skilled labor for large-scale projects. The U.S. residential construction sector is seeing increased demand for affordable housing, spurred by lower mortgage rates and federal programs aimed at expanding access to homeownership. The Federal Reserve’s interest rate policies remain a crucial factor influencing housing affordability, while supply chain disruptions and labor shortages continue to limit the pace of new construction. The market is also experiencing a shift towards eco-friendly and energy-efficient homes, with homeowners seeking solar panels, energy-efficient insulation, and sustainable building materials. Federal incentives, including tax credits and rebates, are further encouraging the adoption of green building practices. Millennials, a major segment of first-time homebuyers, are driving demand for single-family homes, while urbanization trends continue to fuel the development of apartments and condominiums in metropolitan areas. Challenges in the Construction Sector Despite strong demand, the industry faces significant hurdles, particularly a shortage of skilled labor. An aging workforce, lack of new training programs, and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to worker shortages, leading to delays and increased costs for residential projects. In 2023, the construction sector required an estimated 723,000 new workers annually to meet demand, a gap that continues to strain the industry. Additionally, while home construction spending has seen double-digit growth, the supply of new homes has failed to keep pace with demand, contributing to rising home prices. Mortgage rates, lending guidelines, and stricter credit requirements remain key barriers for potential buyers. Industry Outlook and Market Segmentation The residential construction market is segmented by: Product: Apartments and condominiums, villas, and other housing types. Type: New construction and renovation. Application: Single-family and multi-family homes. Geography: Primarily North America, with U.S. market trends closely tied to Canadian housing conditions. AI’s Impact on Market Trends Artificial intelligence is playing an increasing role in the residential construction sector, driving efficiencies in project planning, cost estimation, and workforce management. AI-powered analytics tools help builders optimize material procurement, reduce waste, and improve construction timelines, offering a competitive edge in an industry facing labor shortages and rising costs. Looking Ahead The U.S. residential construction market is expected to experience continued growth through 2029, supported by demand for affordable housing, sustainability initiatives, and evolving homebuyer preferences. However, economic uncertainty, labor constraints, and regulatory challenges remain factors to watch in the coming years. Image: Envato This article, "US Residential Construction Market Projected to Grow by $242.9 Million from 2025 to 2029" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

EU tariffs ‘will definitely happen,’ Trump saysView the full article

US President Donald Trump is planning to slap tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico on Saturday. Now comes the guessing game of how they will affect the global stock market. View the full article

New levies expected to lift the US dollar and prompt market turbulence, investors say View the full article

Time is our most valuable resource, but it’s also often the most mismanaged. When you’re juggling the efforts of multiple people working on the same project, the struggle of time management becomes amplified. You don’t necessarily want to monitor an employee’s every move, but you do need to know where they are in their work The post Streamlining team workflows: The power of shared time tracking for project success appeared first on RescueTime Blog. View the full article

There was a time when artists representing two of America’s biggest homegrown musical genres wouldn’t get a look in at the Grammys. Hip-hop and house both have their origins in the 1970s and early 1980s—in fact, they recently celebrated a 50th and 40th birthday, respectively. But it was only in 1989 that an award category for “best rap performance” started recognizing hip-hop’s contribution to U.S. music, and house had to wait another decade, with the introduction of “best dance/electronic recording” in 1998. At this year’s awards, taking place on February 2, hip-hop and house artists will be among the most talked about. House duo Justice and Kendrick Lamar, a hip-hop superstar who incorporates elements of house himself, are among those looking to pick up an award. Meanwhile, a nomination for a collaboration between DJ Kaytranada and rapper Childish Gambino shows how artists from both genres continue to feed off each other. And while both genres are now celebrated for their separate contributions to the music landscape, as a scholar of African American culture and music, I am interested in their commonality: Both are distinctly Black American art forms that originated on the streets and dance floors of U.S. cities, developing a devoted underground following before being accepted by—and transforming—the mainstream. The pulse of the 1970s The roots of hip-hop and house music both lie in the seismic shifts of the late 1970s, a period of sociopolitical unrest and electronic experimentation that redefined the possibilities of sound. For hip-hop, this was expressed through the turntable manipulation pioneered by DJ Kool Herc in 1973, when he extended and looped breakbeats to energize crowds. House music’s innovators turned to the drum machine to create the genre’s foundational four-on-the-floor dance rhythm. That rhythm, foreshadowed by Eddy Grant’s 1977 production of “Time Warp” by the Coachouse Rhythm Section, would go on to shape house music’s distinct pulse. The track showed how electronic instruments such as the synthesizer and drum machine could recast traditional rhythmic patterns into something entirely new. This dance vibe—in which a base drum provides a steady four-four beat—became the heartbeat of house music, creating an enduring structure for DJs to layer bass lines, percussion, and melodies. In a similar way, Kool Herc’s breakbeat manipulation provided the scaffolding for MCs and dancers in hip-hop’s formative years. Marginalized communities in urban centers like Chicago and New York were at the forefront of these innovations. Despite experiencing grinding poverty and discrimination, it was Black and Latino youth—armed with turntables, drum machines, and samplers—who made these groundbreaking advances in music. For hip-hop, this meant manipulating breakbeats from songs like Kraftwerk’s “Trans-Europe Express” and “Numbers” to energize B-boys and B-girls; for house, it meant extending disco’s rhythmic pulse into an ecstatic, inclusive dance floor. Both genres exemplified—and continue to exemplify—the ingenuity of predominantly Black and Hispanic communities who turned limited resources into cultural revolutions. From this shared origin of technological experimentation, cultural resilience and creative ingenuity, hip-hop and house music grew into distinct yet globally influential movements. The message and the MIDI By the early 1980s, both genres had found their feet. Hip-hop emerged as a powerful voice for storytelling, resistance and identity. Building on the foundations laid down by DJ Kool Herc, artists like Afrika Bambaataa emphasized hip-hop’s cultural and communal aspects. Meanwhile, Grandmaster Flash elevated the genre’s technical artistry with innovations like cutting and scratching. By 1984, hip-hop had evolved from its grassroots beginnings in the Bronx into a cultural movement on the cusp of mainstream recognition. Run-DMC’s self-titled debut album released that year introduced a harder, stripped-down sound that departed from disco-influenced beats. Their music, paired with the trio’s Adidas tracksuits and gold chains, established an aesthetic that resonated far beyond New York City. Music videos on MTV gave hip-hop a new medium for storytelling, while films like Beat Street and Breakin’ showcased the features and tenets of hip-hop culture: DJing, rapping, graffiti, breaking and knowledge of self – cementing its cultural presence, and presenting it to a world outside the U.S. But at its core, hip-hop remained a voice for the voiceless that sought to address systemic inequities through storytelling. Tracks like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message” vividly depicted the reality of living in poor, urban communities, while Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” and Tupac Shakur’s “Keep Ya Head Up” became anthems for social justice. Together these artists positioned hip-hop as a platform for resistance and empowerment. Becoming a cultural force Unlike hip-hop’s lyrical storytelling, house music focused on the physicality of rhythm and the collective experience of the dance floor. And as hip-hop moved away from disco, house leaned into it. Italy’s “father of disco,” Giorgio Moroder, showed the way with his pioneering use of synthesizers in Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.” Over in New York, Larry Levan’s DJ sets at Paradise Garage demonstrated how electronic instruments could create immersive, emotionally charged experiences as a club that centered crowd participation through dance and not lyrics. By 1984, Chicago DJs Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy were repurposing disco tracks with drum machines like the Roland TR-808 and 909 to create hypnotic beats. Knuckles, known as the “Godfather of House,” transformed his sets at the Warehouse club into euphoric experiences, giving the genre its name in the process. House music thrived on inclusivity, served as a safe space for Black and Latino members of the LGBTQ+ communities at a time when hip-hop was severely unwelcoming of gay men. Tracks like Jesse Saunders’s “On & On” and Marshall Jefferson’s “Move Your Body” celebrated freedom, love, and unity, encapsulating its liberatory spirit, as rap music and hip-hop culture embarked on its mainstream journey with songs like Run DMC’s “Sucker M.C.s (Krush Groove)” and Salt-N-Pepa debuted their album Hot, Cool, & Vicious. As with hip-hop, by the the mid-1980s house music had become a cultural force, spreading from Chicago to Detroit to New York and, eventually, to the U.K.’s rave scene. Its emphasis on repetition, rhythm, and electronic instrumentation solidified its global appeal, uniting people across identities and geographies. Mainstays in modern music Despite their differences, moments of crossover highlight their shared DNA. From the late 1980s, tracks like “Yo Yo Get Funky” by Fast Eddie and “I’ll House You” by the Jungle Brothers merged house beats with hip-hop’s lyrical flow. Artists like Kaytranada and Doechii continue to blend the two genres today, staying true to the genres’ legacies while pushing their boundaries. And technology continues to drive both genres. Platforms like SoundCloud have democratized music production, allowing emerging artists to build on the decades of innovations that preceded them. Collaborations, such as Disclosure and Charli XCX’s “She’s Gone, Dance On,” highlight their adaptability and enduring appeal. Whether through hip-hop’s lyrical narratives or house’s rhythmic euphoria, these genres continue to inspire, challenge and transcend. As the 2025 Grammy Awards celebrate today’s leading house and hip-hop artists and their contemporary achievements, it is clear that the legacies of these two genres are mainstays in the kaleidoscope of American popular music and culture, having come a long way from back-to-school park jams and underground dance parties. Joycelyn Wilson is an assistant professor of ethnographic and cultural studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. View the full article

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