rap music

American  

[rap myoo-zik] / ˈræp ˌmyu zɪk /

Also rap

noun

1. a style of popular music, developed by disc jockeys and urban Black performers in the late 1970s, in which an insistent, recurring beat pattern provides the background and counterpoint for rapid, slangy, and often boastful rhyming patter intoned by a vocalist or vocalists.

   the hottest new talent in rap music today.

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Etymology

Origin of rap music

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

If you toss your cigarette butt onto a train platform or play rap music loudly in the quiet car, you’d better hope Anthony Daniels isn’t around.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026

Abdoulaye N. started building a fan following two decades ago by sharing videos, set to rap music, on the French streaming platform Dailymotion under the social media handle Doudou Cross Bitume.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025

Anderson adds, “When it comes to rap and hip-hop, VIP Records was the first to sell rap music on the West Coast, period.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2025

Ye's contributions to the history of rap music are undeniable.

From Salon • Feb. 7, 2025

We were first introduced to rap music during one of our visits to Mobimbi, a quarter where the foreigners who worked for the same American company as my father lived.

From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah