rap music

American  

[rap myoo-zik] / ˈræp ˌmju 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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rap music

"Finally," Skepta promises BBC Newsbeat, "some good rap music, some good UK grime sounds."

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026

His boss's Instagram page now features videos of the former prime minister lifting weights to rap music, or chatting with Shalev in the street.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

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

The RAP Act is a freedom-of-speech bill, and whether you’re into rap music or not, that’s something you should be able to support across the aisle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2025

I explained to him that it was called rap music and that myself, my brother, and my friends—not the ones I was with—used to listen to it and perform the songs at talent shows.

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

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