Rap & Hip-Hop Music Portal

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: "https://www.britannica.com/browse/Rap-Hip-Hop-Music", "name": "Rap & Hip-Hop Music" } } ] } </script> <nav class="breadcrumb justify-content-center"> <span class="breadcrumb-item "> <a href="/" class="link-white">Home</a> </span> <span class="breadcrumb-item "> <a class="link-white" href="/browse/Entertainment-Pop-Culture">Entertainment & Pop Culture</a> </span> <span class="breadcrumb-item "> <a class="link-white" href="/browse/Contemporary-Music">Music, Contemporary Genres</a> </span> <span class="breadcrumb-item "> Rap & Hip-Hop Music </span> </nav> <h1 class="font-serif mt-30 mb-20">Rap & Hip-Hop Music</h1> <div class="font-serif grid"> <div class="col-sm-70 col-sm-offset-15"> Rap music originated in African American communities in New York City during the 1970s, but its popularity and global impact rapidly expanded. Rap evolved as one element of the hip-hop movement. Hip-hop was also the wellspring of several staple techniques of modern pop music, including digital drumming and sampling. Rappers such as Ice Cube, Eminem, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Drake, and Cardi B have achieved global prominence.</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="container"> <h2 class="label my-30">Rap & Hip-Hop Music Encyclopedia Articles</h2> <a href="/browse/Rap-Hip-Hop-Music/1">See articles</a> <h2 class="label my-30 text-center">Featured Articles</h2> <div class="js-pinboard grid gy-20"> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/hip-hop" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/74/23574-050-0C21E8F5/Public-Enemy.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Public Enemy" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/hip-hop" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">hip-hop</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Hip-hop, cultural movement that attained widespread popularity in the 1980s and ’90s and also the backing music for rap, the musical style incorporating rhythmic and/or rhyming speech that became the movement’s... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Will-Smith" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/66/103066-050-B89D5EAF/Will-Smith-actor-musician-2006.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Will Smith" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Will-Smith" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Will Smith</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Will Smith is an American actor and musician whose charisma and quick wit helped him transition from rap music to a successful career in acting. Smith’s notable films include the blockbusters Bad Boys... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kanye-West" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/07/93807-050-5CEF7302/Kanye-West-2006.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Kanye West" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kanye-West" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Kanye West</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Kanye West is an American producer, rapper, and fashion designer who parlayed his production success in the late 1990s and early 2000s into a career as a popular, critically acclaimed solo artist. One... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nas" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/images/shared/default3.png?v=3.133.36" class="default col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nas" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Nas</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Nas is an American rapper and songwriter who became a dominant voice in 1990s East Coast hip-hop. Nas built a reputation as an expressive chronicler of inner-city street life. Nasir Jones, the son of a... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sean-Combs" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/61/103061-050-D8CED5C1/Sean-Combs-rapper-clothing-line-fashion-world.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Sean Combs" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sean-Combs" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Sean Combs</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Sean Combs is an American rapper, record producer, actor, and clothing designer who founded an entertainment empire in the 1990s. Beginning in 2023, he was the subject of several lawsuits accusing him... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Queen-Latifah" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/34/251034-050-C86DBB5A/queen-latifah-vanity-fair-oscar-party-dana-elaine-owens.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Queen Latifah" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Queen-Latifah" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Queen Latifah</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Queen Latifah is an American musician and actress whose success in the late 1980s launched a wave of female rappers and helped redefine the traditionally male genre. She later became a notable actress,... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/PSY" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/08/164008-050-1B237091/Psy-Gangnam-Style-South-Korean-YouTube-song-December-21.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="PSY" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/PSY" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">PSY</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> PSY is a South Korean singer and rapper. Originally known in his country as a controversial and satirical hip-hop artist, he achieved international fame in 2012 with the music video to his humorous pop... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/NWA" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/images/shared/default3.png?v=3.133.36" class="default col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/NWA" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">N.W.A</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> N.W.A, American hip-hop group from Compton, California, whose popular, controversial music included explicit references to gang life, drugs, sex, and distaste for authority, especially the police. Its... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jay-Z" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/63/136163-050-8AE2A10A/Jay-Z.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Jay-Z" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jay-Z" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">JAY-Z</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> JAY-Z is an American rapper and entrepreneur, one of the most influential figures in hip-hop in the 1990s and early 21st century. Shawn Carter grew up in Brooklyn’s often dangerous Marcy Projects, where... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicki-Minaj" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/68/163068-050-349331AA/Nicki-Minaj-Hammersmith-Apollo-London-June-24-2012.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Nicki Minaj" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicki-Minaj" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Nicki Minaj</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Nicki Minaj is a Trinidadian-born rapper, singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress known for her flowing quick-spoken rap style and for her provocative lyrics. She complements her music... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lil-Wayne" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/11/199511-050-D55ABD32/Lil-Wayne-2008.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Lil Wayne" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lil-Wayne" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Lil Wayne</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Lil Wayne is an American rapper who became one of the top-selling artists in hip-hop in the early 21st century. Lil Wayne grew up in New Orleans’s impoverished 17th Ward. There he came to the attention... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ice-Cube" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/14/198514-050-72C159BB/Ice-Cube-2015.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Ice Cube" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ice-Cube" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Ice Cube</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Ice Cube is an American rapper and actor whose membership in the seminal gangsta rap group N.W.A gained him acclaim and launched his controversial but successful solo career. Ice Cube is known by hip-hop... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eminem" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/63/136263-050-0F71EF3D/Eminem.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Eminem" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eminem" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Eminem</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Eminem is an American rapper, record producer, and actor who is known as one of the most-controversial and best-selling artists of the early 21st century. He was the first recording artist to have 10 consecutive... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Drake" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/37/231937-050-9228ECA1/Drake-rapper-2019.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Drake, 2019" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Drake" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Drake</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Drake is a Canadian rap musician who first gained fame as an actor on the acclaimed TV teenage drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation and went on to have a successful and influential music career.... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/The-Notorious-B-I-G" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/34/243034-050-E2FEC8B2/Notorious-BIG-Biggie-Smalls-performs-London-England-1995.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="The Notorious B.I.G." class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/The-Notorious-B-I-G" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">The Notorious B.I.G.</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> The Notorious B.I.G. was an American rapper who was among the most influential artists of 1990s gangsta rap. Wallace grew up near the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. For most of... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Snoop-Dogg" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/73/135873-050-735FEF6E/Snoop-Dogg-2008.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Snoop Dogg, 2008" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Snoop-Dogg" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Snoop Dogg</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Snoop Dogg is an American rapper and songwriter who became one of the best-known figures in gangsta rap in the 1990s and is for many the epitome of West Coast hip-hop culture. Snoop Dogg’s signature drawled... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Missy-Elliott" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/48/217248-050-78BE5C12/American-rapper-music-producer-Missy-Elliott-2019.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Missy Elliott" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Missy-Elliott" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Missy Elliott</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Missy Elliott is an American rapper and music producer who made a mark on the male-dominated hip-hop world with her talents for writing, rapping, singing, and music production. From an early age, Elliott... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kendrick-Lamar" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/35/193135-050-D792CB71/Kendrick-Lamar-BET-Awards-June-28-2015.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Kendrick Lamar" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kendrick-Lamar" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Kendrick Lamar</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Kendrick Lamar is an American rapper who has achieved critical and commercial success with such albums as good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012) and To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) and singles such as “Not Like Us”... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Calle-13-Puerto-Rican-music-group" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/images/shared/default3.png?v=3.133.36" class="default col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Calle-13-Puerto-Rican-music-group" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Calle 13</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Calle 13, Puerto Rican popular music duo known for intelligent, poetic, and sharply pointed social and political commentary—all delivered through a distinctive blend of hip-hop with a broad range of Latin... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dr-Dre" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/images/shared/default3.png?v=3.133.36" class="default col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dr-Dre" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Dr. Dre</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Dr. Dre is an American rapper, hip-hop producer, and entrepreneur who helped popularize the gangsta rap subgenre. 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With his raw talent and thoughtful lyrics, he frequently addressed social issues in his... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="adm my-30"></div> <DIV class="marketing-CATEGORY_PAGE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="CATEGORY_PAGE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Britannica Premium</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Did you know you're not getting the full Britannica experience? 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