Is Rap The Same As Hip Hop?

There are many people who are confused as to what the difference between hip-hop and rap is. The reason for this is that some people use the words interchangeably, while others say that the meaning of the words are completely different. So, is rap the same as hip-hop? Today I will clear up all the confusion so you can better understand the meaning of both terms.

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What Is Rap and Rap Music?

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In simple terms rapping is rhyming words over a rhythm (beat or instrumental). However, some rap artists can rhyme a capella, and this is usually done when freestyling; which is rapping pre-written material or improvising on the spot.

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Also Read: How Do Rappers Record In Jail

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Rap is a genre of music that’s made by rappers. There are many sub-genres of rap music.

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Some of the categories are:

Pop (Popular) rap
Conscious rap
Back-pack rap
Gangster rap
Emo rap
Battle rap
Tropical Rap
Hip Hop

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Rappers choose the sub-category (sub-genre) they’re good at or have the most experience in and create rap music under that banner. Some of the more skilled rappers or rappers with more experience can create music in one or more of the sub-categories. Rappers like Nas and Jay-z are perfect examples of artists that are capable of rhyming about a variety of topics touching just about every sub-category in rap music.

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The Best of 90’s Hip Hop Music.

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What Is Hip Hop?

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Hip Hop is classified as both a culture and and a form of rap music. So let me break it down for you in simple terms so that you can understand.

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Also Read: The Salary of An Independent Rapper

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Hip Hop as a culture is categorized by 4 elements. These 4 elements are:

Rap Music (Oral)
Djing (Aural)
B-boying (Physical)
Graffiti (Visual)

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Rap Music (Mcing) – As I already explained earlier rap is a genre of music made by rappers. It has sub-categories which rappers fall into because they identify with it the most. Since they identify with this sub-category the most they create music based on it. Some rappers can delve into all categories based on life experiences and skill level.

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Djing – Djing is the foundation of rap music. Without the dj theres no one to play the music at concerts or get the crowd hyped for the performance from the artist. Back when rap started the Dj was the most important part of rap because without the music there is no Mcing. The Dj and rapper was a perfect combination to rock the show and give the crowd the best experience possible.

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B-boying – You can simply refer to b-boying as dancing. Back in the day the most popular form of b-boying was break dancing. Now the younger generation have come up with popular dancea like the Milly Roc, The Nae Nae, Whip and so on and so forth. Dancing has always been apart of Hip Hop and more specifically black culture, which is another topic all by itself.

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Graffiti – Is the element of hip hop that is visual arts. Graffiti or “Tagging” which is the street slang name for it, is cool street art that has been apart of the hip hop since its inception. Graffiti is edgy street art that comes from urban communities and is expressed through this culture.

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Hip Hop as a Form of Rap Music

As I mentioned earlier hip hop is a form or type of rap music. When a rapper says they do hip hop music they usually mean something specific. Hip hop music usually consists of a rapper rhyming over boom bap beats showcasing their lyrical abilities.

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Hip hop rappers usually don’t brag about money, cars, jewelry and other material things. Instead they rap about every day life, politics, social issues, their communities, and bringing about positive change in the world.

Some Hip Hop artists choose to use their voices and notoriety to bring attention to issues that need to be resolved in order to create a better humanity. While other hip hop artists just like to display their lyrical abilities without any message at all. Whichever you like – hip hop or rap – both are here to stay forever!

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Also Read: Why Do Rappers Drink Lean?

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Written By Jerome Kyng

@JeromeKyngMP