hip-hop

hip-hop — noun

1. A style of popular music built on a strong, steady beat, in which performers spe

1.nounB1
Definition

A style of popular music built on a strong, steady beat, in which performers speak or chant rhyming lyrics instead of singing them. The lyrics often address social or political topics.

Example

Jabari downloaded a new hip-hop album and played it on repeat all weekend.

attributive: hip-hop album

The bass in that hip-hop track made the windows of the car vibrate.

collocation: hip-hop track

Common collocations
  • hip-hop music
  • hip-hop song
  • hip-hop artist
  • hip-hop album
  • hip-hop track
  • hip-hop beat
  • listen to hip-hop
  • play hip-hop
Synonyms
  • rap music

    Often used interchangeably with hip-hop in everyday talk, but rap music strictly refers to the vocal style (rhyming lyrics delivered over a beat), while hip-hop names the whole genre and its associated culture.

  • rap

    Shorter, more casual form of rap music. Can also mean the act of rapping itself (e.g. 'He does rap'), whereas hip-hop is always a genre or culture noun.

Grammar Patterns

hip-hop + noun (attributive)

Usage Note

Frequently used attributively before nouns such as music, song, artist, album, track, and beat. The hyphenated form hip-hop is standard in most publications, but the open form hip hop also appears in informal contexts.

Common Mistakes

I like hip-hop songs because they sing beautifully.
I like hip-hop songs because the rappers’ wordplay is clever.
Hip-hop features rapping or chanting, not conventional singing.
Hip-hop and rap mean exactly the same thing.
Hip-hop is the broader music genre and culture; rap is the vocal style within it.
Rap is one element of hip-hop, not a synonym for the whole genre.

2. A youth culture that grew out of African American communities in United States c

2.nounB2
Definition

A youth culture that grew out of African American communities in United States cities during the 1970s, encompassing not only hip-hop music but also distinctive forms of dance (breaking), visual art (graffiti), fashion, and language.

Example

Layla wrote her school essay on how hip-hop culture influenced street fashion around the world.

attributive: hip-hop culture

The community center offers free classes in hip-hop dance and graffiti art for teenagers.

elements of the culture: dance, graffiti art

Common collocations
  • hip-hop culture
  • hip-hop dance
  • hip-hop fashion
  • hip-hop community
  • hip-hop art
  • hip-hop graffiti
  • history of hip-hop
  • pillars of hip-hop
Synonyms
  • hip-hop culture

    Emphasises the cultural rather than musical aspect; often used to distinguish this sense from the music genre sense.

  • street culture

    Broader term that includes other urban youth cultures; less specific than hip-hop and may refer to skateboarding or punk-influenced cultures as well.

Grammar Patterns

hip-hop + noun (attributive)

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1 (MUSIC GENRE): this sense names the full cultural movement—including dance, visual art, fashion, and language—not simply the music. Common attributive combinations include hip-hop culture, hip-hop dance, hip-hop fashion, hip-hop community, and hip-hop art.

Common Mistakes

Hip-hop is just a type of music.
Hip-hop is a culture that includes music, dance, art, and fashion.
Reducing hip-hop to only the music ignores its broader cultural roots and practices.

Word family

  • hip-hopper
    nounB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Hip-hop and rap are often used as if they mean the same thing, but they operate at different levels. Hip-hop is the broader category: it names the music genre and the whole cultural movement that emerged from 1970s New York. Rap (or rap music) refers specifically to the vocal technique of delivering rhyming lyrics over a beat—it is one element of hip-hop. All rap songs are hip-hop, but hip-hop also includes DJing, breaking (dance), graffiti art, and fashion. In conversation, saying 'I listen to rap' focuses on the vocal style, while 'I listen to hip-hop' suggests the genre as a whole including its beats and production style. For example: 'Kendrick Lamar's rap style is dense with wordplay' narrows the focus to his vocal delivery, whereas 'Kendrick Lamar is a major figure in hip-hop' places him within the full musical and cultural tradition.

hip-hop ↗rap ↗rap music

Common collocations

Nouns

  • hip-hop scene
  • hip-hop history
  • hip-hop roots
  • hip-hop generation

Phrases

  • hip-hop and R&B
  • golden age of hip-hop
  • underground hip-hop

Prepositions

  • in hip-hop
  • of hip-hop

Etymology

African American EnglishEnglish

The word hip-hop combines two slang terms from African American English: hip, meaning 'aware, cool, in the know,' and hop, referring to movement or dance. Disc jockey and rapper Keith Cowboy of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five is credited with coining the phrase in the late 1970s, reportedly teasing a friend who was about to join the U.S. Army by mimicking the sound of marching soldiers—'hip-hop-hip-hop.' Cowboy later used the term on stage, and it was picked up by early hip-hop publications such as the magazine Hip Hop (1981). What began as a playful onomatopoeic phrase became the name of a global music genre and cultural movement.