Hip Hop Collectives

Hip Hop Collectives

Musical collective is a phrase used to describe a group of musicians in which membership is flexible and creative control is shared. Such entities have transitioned from the traditional hierarchical configuration that features either a frontman (e.g. The Cure's Robert Smith, or Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails), or a plurality of band members in tension for dominance (e.g. Louise Post & Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt, or The Beatles' John Lennon & Paul McCartney.) Collectives are seen as an alternative to more ego-driven, combative paradigms of group music-making.

Musical collectives allow for flexibility in their rosters. As such, most of the members are free to rotate in and out of the line-up. They may exist in almost any genre of music, although they have been especially prominent in indie rock and hip hop.

A musical collective is distinct from a musicians collective, such as the London Musicians Collective which is an organisation with more general aims and larger membership.