Rap & Hip-Hop Music, 50 -WU-
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.
Rap & Hip-Hop Music Encyclopedia Articles By Title
50 Cent
By the time he was 25 years old, American rapper, actor, author, producer, and entrepreneur 50 Cent had survived......
ASAP Rocky
ASAP Rocky is an American rapper and artist known for his experimental approach, âcloud rapââstyle music, bold......
Bad Bunny
Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter who helped bring reggaeton and trap music to a wider audience......
Balendra Shah
Balendra Shah is a Nepali politician who became the prime minister of Nepal in March 2026. He previously served......
Bambaataa, Afrika
Afrika Bambaataa was an American disc jockey (deejay or DJ) and music producer who is credited as being a leading......
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys, American hip-hop group and the first white rap performers to gain a substantial following. As such,......
Black Eyed Peas
Black Eyed Peas, American musical group with an eclectic range of styles encompassing hip-hop, dance, and pop.......
Blige, Mary J.
Mary J. Blige is an American singer-songwriter and actress who has been called the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. A major......
Blondie
Blondie, American rock group known for incorporating varied influences, including avant-garde, reggae, and hip-hop,......
Calle 13
Calle 13, Puerto Rican popular music duo known for intelligent, poetic, and sharply pointed social and political......
Cardi B
Cardi B is an American rapper who vaulted onto the music scene in the late 2010s with the release of the hit single......
Chance the Rapper
Chance the Rapper is an American rap and hip-hop singer and songwriter who burst on the music scene in the early......
Combs, Sean
Sean Combs is an American rapper, record producer, actor, and clothing designer who founded an entertainment empire......
Common
Common is an American hip-hop artist, actor, and activist who became a mainstream success in the early 21st century,......
De La Soul
De La Soul, American rap group whose debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising (1989), was one of the most influential......
Def Jam Records: Hip-Hop Harbingers
Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons managed several pioneer hip-hop acts, including Run-D.M.C., through their Rush Management......
DJ Kool Herc
DJ Kool Herc is a Jamaican American disc jockey (deejay or DJ) who is credited as the founder of hip-hop, a musical......
Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre is an American rapper, hip-hop producer, and entrepreneur who helped popularize the gangsta rap subgenre.......
Drake
Drake is a Canadian rap musician who first gained fame as an actor on the acclaimed TV teenage drama series Degrassi:......
Elliott, Missy
Missy Elliott is an American rapper and music producer who made a mark on the male-dominated hip-hop world with......
Eminem
Eminem is an American rapper, record producer, and actor who is known as one of the most-controversial and best-selling......
gangsta rap
gangsta rap, form of hip-hop music that became the genreâs dominant style in the 1990s, a reflection and product......
Glover, Donald
Donald Glover is an American writer, comedian, actor, and musician who has won acclaim in all his disparate arts.......
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, American group that was instrumental in the development of hip-hop music.......
Green, CeeLo
CeeLo Green is an American singer, rapper, and songwriter known for his soulful voice and flamboyant persona, both......
Hill, Lauryn
Lauryn Hill is an American singer whose soulful voice and acclaimed album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)......
hip-hop
Hip-hop is a global cultural movement that attained widespread popularity in the 1980s and â90s after its birth......
Ice Cube
Ice Cube is an American rapper and actor whose membership in the seminal gangsta rap group N.W.A gained him acclaim......
Ice-T
Ice-T rose to fame in the late 1980s and early â90s as a gangsta rapper who developed a reputation for being fearless......
Jam Master Jay
Jam Master Jay was an American rap musician and producer who was a member of Run-DMC, the first rap group to attract......
JAY-Z
JAY-Z is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who became one of the most influential figures in......
Jean, Wyclef
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian rapper, producer, and philanthropist whose dynamic, politically inflected rhymes and keen......
Juice WRLD
Juice WRLD was an American rapper known for his freestyling ability and introspective lyrics. He first gained popularity......
KâNaan
KâNaan is a Somali-born Canadian hip-hop musician of the early 21st century whose brightly melodic songs and clever......
Lamar, Kendrick
Kendrick Lamar is an American rapper who achieved critical and commercial success with such albums as good kid,......
Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter best known for his 2018 country rap single âOld Town Road,â......
Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne is an American rapper who became one of the top-selling artists in hip-hop in the early 21st century.......
Lizzo
...
LL Cool J
LL Cool J is an American rapper and actor who was a leading exponent of mid-1980s new-school rap. After achieving......
Ludacris
Ludacris is an American rapper and actor who exemplified the Dirty South school of hip-hop, an exuberant profanity-laden......
M.I.A.
M.I.A. is a British-born Sri Lankan rapper who achieved global fame with politically charged dance music. Mathangi......
Megan Thee Stallion
Megan Thee Stallion is an American rapper who rose to prominence in the 2010s as part of a growing cohort of women......
MGK
MGK is an American musician and actor known for his rapid-fire rapping, energetic style, high-profile feuds, and......
Miller, Mac
Emerging as a rapper, producer, and songwriter in the âparty rapâ tradition, Mac Miller went on to captivate audiences......
Minaj, Nicki
Nicki Minaj is a Trinidadian-born rapper, singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress known for her......
Miranda, Lin-Manuel
Lin-Manuel Miranda is an American actor, composer, lyricist, and writer who created and starred in stage productions......
MTV
The Bugglesâ âVideo Killed the Radio Star,â the first music video broadcast on MTV (Music TeleVision) when it debuted......
MTV
MTV is a cable television network that began as a 24-hour channel for music videos. SKYD MTV debuted just after......
N.W.A
N.W.A, American hip-hop group from Compton, California, whose popular, controversial music included explicit references......
Nas
Nas is an American rapper and songwriter who became a dominant voice in 1990s East Coast hip-hop. Nas built a reputation......
Notorious B.I.G., The
The Notorious B.I.G. was an American rapper who was among the most influential artists of 1990s gangsta rap. Wallace......
Outkast
Outkast, American rap duo, formed in 1992, that put Atlanta on the hip-hop map in the 1990s and redefined the G-Funk......
PSY
PSY is a South Korean singer and rapper. Originally known in his country as a controversial and satirical hip-hop......
Public Enemy
Public Enemy, American rap group whose dense, layered sound and radical political message made them among the most......
Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah is an American musician and actress whose success in the late 1980s launched a wave of female rappers......
Rap
Rap is a musical style in which rhythmic or rhyming speech is ârappedâârecited or chantedâto musical accompaniment.......
Roots, the
the Roots, American jazz/hip-hop jam band that was perhaps best known as the house band for Late Night with Jimmy......
Rubin, Rick
Rick Rubin is an American record producer whose light touch and keen ear made him one of the most sought-after......
Run-DMC
Run-DMC, was an American rap group that brought hip-hop into the musical and cultural mainstream, introducing what......
Saint Levant
Saint Levant is a Palestinian trilingual singer and rapper known for music that blends funk, rock, hip-hop, and......
Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa, American rap group that became one of the first all-female ensembles not only to break into the male-dominated......
Scott, Travis
Travis Scott is an American rapper and producer known for his dark ambient style, high-energy performances, and......
Shakur, Tupac
Tupac Shakur was an influential American rapper and actor who was one of the leading names in 1990s gangsta rap.......
Smith, Will
Will Smith is an American actor and musician whose charisma and quick wit helped him transition from rap music......
Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg is an American rapper and songwriter who became one of the best-known figures in gangsta rap in the......
Sugar Hill Records: âRapperâs Delightâ
Launched in 1979 by industry veterans Sylvia and Joe Robinson as a label for rap music (at that time a new genre),......
Sugarhill Gang, the
the Sugarhill Gang, American rap group best known for its hit single âRapperâs Delightâ (1979), which was the first......
SZA
...
Timbaland
Timbaland is an influential American producer and hip-hop and rhythm-and-blues performer who contributed to the......
Today in HistoryâApril 16: A Landmark Win for Hip-Hop
âSit down. Be humble.â On this day in 2018 Kendrick Lamar did neither: He made history by becoming the first artist......
Tommy Boy Records: Rocking the Planet from West 85th Street
Dance Music Report editor Tom Silverman started up Tommy Boy Records in 1981 in his Manhattan, New York City, apartment......
trap music
trap music, subgenre of rap music characterized by heavy bass, complex drum patterns including rapid hi-hats and......
Tyler, The Creator
Tyler, The Creator is an American rapper, producer, and fashion designer known for his often subversive artistic......
West, Kanye
Kanye West is an American producer, rapper, and fashion designer who parlayed his production success in the late......
What Was Dr. Dreâs Role in Creating the Subgenre of G-Funk?
If gangsta rap was the prevailing subgenre of hip-hop from the late 1980s into the 1990s, âG-funkâ (âGâ as in âGangstaâ)......
Williams, Pharrell
Pharrell Williams is an American musician who was involved in a number of pop hits as part of the producing team......
Williams, Saul
Saul Williams is an American rapper, poet, and actor who has been a prominent figure in the scenes of alternative......
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan, groundbreaking American rap collective known for its sharp lyricism, old-school rap influence, and......