rapper

American  

[rap-er] / ˈræp ər /

noun

• rappers
  plural

1. a person or thing that raps or knocks.

2. the knocker of a door.

3. Slang. a person who chats or talks, especially freely.

4. a person who performs rap music, especially professionally.

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rapper British  

/ ˈræpə /

noun

1. something used for rapping, such as a knocker on a door

2. a performer of rap music

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• rappers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of rapper

1605–15; 1970–75, rapper for def. 3; rap ¹ + -er ¹

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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

See Examples For:

rapper rappers

Musicians ranging from composer Will Marion Cook to the rapper Tupac Shakur, and former Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. all lived there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

Davis told the task force, led by the LAPD, that they only noticed Knight and Shakur in the BMW because some women were yelling at the rapper.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

By the end of 2022, her dance track Escapism featuring US rapper 070 Shake had gone viral on TikTok and shot up the charts to number one.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

The jail, which opened in 1932 and has counted John Lennon's killer Mark David Chapman, rapper Tupac Shakur, and Sex Pistols musician Sid Vicious among its residents, was due to shutter by 2027.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

You were a pretty good rapper, Mr. Mac.

From "Booked" by Kwame Alexander

I remember back then, older people were saying sampling is not real music, rappers are not musicians.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

Durk Banks’ trial, playing out in a downtown federal courthouse, has drawn rappers like Ye and Machine Gun Kelly, along with swarms of fans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026

Wallace, a New Yorker, was Shakur's big rival and the two rappers embodied the East Coast - West Coast feud that dominated 1990s hip-hop.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Beyond Ryonex, there exists a universe of algo-manipulating copypastas that concern everything from authentic Afrobeats superstars to fake Asian rappers, international holidays to articles of clothing, legit news items to dumbed-down historical timelines.

From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026

This is what the rappers mean when they pronounce themselves addicted to “the streets” or in love with “the game.”

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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