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rap music

American

[rap myoo-zik] / ˈræp ˌmyu zɪk /

Also rap

noun

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.

Etymology

Origin of rap music

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The stranger was blasting rap music, “and nobody did anything, because everyone in Britain is afraid now.”

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

In Nottingham he visited the Community Recording Studio, an initiative supported by BBC Children in Need, where he applauded a rap music performance, giving a hug to one of the young people taking part.

From BBC • Sep. 9, 2025

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

From Salon • Feb. 7, 2025

He didn’t know what rap music was, so I did my best to explain it to him.

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023