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

If crime rises at the same time as rap music becomes more popular, is the music driving behavior or responding to it?

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 2, 2026

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

Junior, Talloi, and I listened to rap music, trying to memorize the lyrics so that we could avoid thinking about the situation at hand.

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