Rap's germination is sometimes attributed to the righteous street poetry of the Last Poets and the Watts Prophets, but it didn't begin to take full shape -- and earn its tag -- until after the Sugarhill Gang released "Rapper's Delight" in 1979. Since then, rap spread from its New York epicenter throughout the remainder of the U.S. (with each region taking on its own specific flavor) and then to countless countries. Rap's core components are beats and rhymes, but that simplicity belies the wide range of sounds that have sprung from them. Instrumentalists, a sampled breakbeat, or a drum machine can form the backbone of a track, while an arrangement can be spaciously spare or chaotically dense, and a chorus can range from atonal shouting to a sweet melody. Detractors were still calling rap a fad in 1985, when LL Cool J released his first single. They were doing the same thing when, roughly 20 years later, the same MC released his tenth album, and they'll probably continue to do so as long as the genre exists. Should rap ever die, which isn't likely, it would be far too late to prevent its effect on most other music forms, from R&B; to rock to jazz.
Rap Styles
Gangsta Rap
Hardcore Rap
Hip-Hop/Urban
- Alternative Rap
- Bass Music
- British Rap
- Christian Rap
- Comedy Rap
- Contemporary R&B;
- Dirty Rap
- Dirty South
- East Coast Rap
- G-Funk
- Gangsta Rap
- Go-Go
- Golden Age
- Hardcore Rap
- Jazz-Rap
- Latin Rap
- Left-Field Hip-Hop
- Midwest Rap
- New Jack Swing
- Old-School Rap
- Party Rap
- Political Rap
- Pop-Rap
- Post-Disco
- Quiet Storm
- Reggaeton
- Southern Rap
- Turntablism
- Underground Rap
- Urban
- West Coast Rap
Southern Rap
West Coast Rap
Top Artists
Click here for full listTop Songs
Click here for full listRelated Essays
- Alternative Rap by Alex Henderson
- Bass Music by Alex Henderson
- Electro by Alex Henderson
- Electro by Sean Cooper
- European Rap by Alex Henderson
- Female Rap by Alex Henderson
- Gangsta Rap by Alex Henderson
- Guest Rappers by Alex Henderson
- Hip-Hop Producers by Alex Henderson
- Hip-House by Alex Henderson
- Introduction to the Rap Book by John Bush
- Jazz-Rap by John Bush
- Latin Rap by Alex Henderson
- Old School Rap by Alex Henderson
- Political Rap by Alex Henderson
- Pop-Rap by Alex Henderson
- Posse Tracks by Alex Henderson
- Rap Music by John Floyd
- Rap-Metal by Alex Henderson
- Southern Rap by Alex Henderson
- Turntablism by Nathan Bush
- West Coast Rap by Alex Henderson
- White Rappers by Alex Henderson