noun
-
something used for rapping, such as a knocker on a door
-
a performer of rap music
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rapper
1605–15; 1970–75, rapper for def. 3; rap 1 + -er 1
Explanation
A rapper is a musician who drops rhymes to the beat. “Rapper’s Delight,” the first rap to hit the Top 40, starts with “…to the hip, hip hop, and you don't stop” and ends 15 minutes later. The story is that the first rappers were MCs who talked between songs to entertain the crowd while the DJs changed records, then the MCs started talking with the beat, and then boom: rap was born. It came together as a music genre in the late 70s in New York City, but “rappers” didn’t suddenly pop up — rap emerged from African American traditions that had been around. The first rapper to sign to a major label was Kurtis Blow, in 1980.
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.
Just before the boxer from the little village of Smithborough in County Monaghan was due to make the walk to the ring, the rapper appeared at his dressing room door.
From BBC • Jun. 25, 2026
That language has been echoed by everyone from Nelson Mandela to the rapper Coolio, who used it in his 1995 megahit “Gangsta’s Paradise.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 21, 2026
Keith, a Memphis native, first found fame producing for rapper BlocBoy JB when they were teenagers.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2026
The victim requested the maximum sentence for the rapper.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 17, 2026
“This is exactly why I didn’t want you hanging out with those rapper guys,” he said, because he needed to close with something sufficiently parental for it to count as a proper talking-to.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
