History Main / GlamRap

Some rappers are also praised for using the subject matter as raw material for skilled wordplay -- [[Music/EricBAndRakim Rakim]] and Big Daddy Kane are pioneering and innovative rhymers who mostly wrote about getting money, Music/JayZ spent a decades-long career building a drug-dealer-turned-HonestCorporateExecutive persona with nuanced and clever writing, and Cash Money Records alumni Music/LilWayne uses a unique, [[{{Improv}} improvised]] HurricaneOfPuns style to write songs about cash and sex. Many female rappers (and pop stars inspired by hip-hop) that emerged in TheNewTens use obsession with shopping and luxury goods to create {{Camp}}y diva personas that appeal to an LGBTFanbase.

Glam Rap isn't so much a genre as it is a label for hip-hop with lyrical content about the rapper [[BoastfulRap bragging about their expensive rich-person lifestyle]], a style which originated [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHipHop in the 80s]] and became ubiquitously popular in the [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000s]]. Expect the music videos to feature the following motifs: [[BigFancyHouse sprawling mansions]]; [[CoolBoat long, luxury yachts]]; [[CoolCar exotic, six-figure sports cars and luxury cars]]; {{pimped out car}}s with big DUB rims (which may or may not be [[SpectacularSpinning spinning]]) and/or lowrider hydraulics; tons of {{stripperific}} models [[ThreeMinutesOfWrithing gyrating]] by the large infinity pool with glasses full of champagne; plus lots of big, gaudy jewelry and [[BillionaireWristband expensive watches]].

Glam Rap isn't so much a genre as it is a label for hip-hop with lyrical content about the rapper [[BoastfulRap bragging about their expensive rich-person lifestyle]], a style which originated [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHipHop in the 80s]] and became ubiquitously popular in the [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000s]]. Expect the music videos to feature the following motifs: [[BigFancyHouse sprawling mansions]]; [[CoolBoat long, luxury yachts]]; [[CoolCar exotic, six-figure sports cars and luxury cars]]; {{pimped out car}}s with big DUB rims (which may or may not be [[SpectacularSpinning spinning]]) and/or lowrider hydraulics; tons of {{stripperific}} models [[ThreeMinutesOfWrithing gyrating]] by the large infinity pool with glasses full of champagne; plus lots of big, gaudy jewelry and [[BillionaireWristband watches]].

Despite its reputation for being mindless party music, GlamRap is [[ConsciousHipHop not without social commentary]]. Many glam rappers are praised for writing thoughtful songs that link their wealth to their pride in [[RagsToRiches overcoming oppressive poverty and racism]], or to the rise of HipHop culture overall. Some rappers are also praised for using the subject matter as raw material for skilled wordplay -- [[Music/EricBAndRakim Rakim]] and Big Daddy Kane are pioneering and innovative rhymers who mostly wrote about getting money, and Cash Money Records alumni Music/LilWayne uses a unique HurricaneOfPuns style to write songs about cash and sex. Many female rappers (and pop stars inspired by hip-hop) that emerged in TheNewTens use obsession with shopping and luxury goods to create {{Camp}}y diva personas that appeal to an LGBTFanbase.

Despite its reputation for being mindless party music, GlamRap is [[ConsciousHipHop not without social commentary]]. Many glam rappers are praised for writing thoughtful songs that link their wealth to their pride in overcoming oppressive poverty and racism, or to the rise of HipHop culture overall. Some rappers are also praised for using the subject matter as raw material for skilled wordplay -- [[Music/EricBAndRakim Rakim]] and Big Daddy Kane are pioneering and innovative rhymers who mostly wrote about getting money, and Cash Money Records alumni Music/LilWayne uses a unique HurricaneOfPuns style to write songs about cash and sex. Many female rappers (and pop stars inspired by hip-hop) that emerged in TheNewTens use obsession with shopping and luxury goods to create {{Camp}}y diva personas that appeal to an LGBTFanbase.

From the "Shiny Suit Era" Music/SeanCombs-mentored acts of the 90s, to the [[CondemnedByHistory ringtone rap]] craze of the 2000s, to {{autotune}}d teens in TheNewTens [[TheUnintelligible slurring]] about owning luxury cars they're too young to drive, the subgenre attracts a lot of heat. A lot of listeners don't agree that materialism is something to celebrate (or, if they don't have any money, find the songs impossible to relate to), and may feel wealth-bragging has crowded out more socially conscious topics on the radio. While wealth-bragging is still a popular topic, the GlamRap style became less dominant on the radio starting from the middle of TheNewTens, with darker and more emotional topics like relationships and mental health becoming popular (although many artists did both these songs ''and'' glam rap, such as Music/JuiceWRLD).

There is a lot of overlap with GangstaRap, as many of these artists have a dark side. In fact, Glam Rap is arguably a KinderAndCleaner version of Gangsta Rap that evolved to get through radio censorship -- skipping over the controversial violence and political/religious/[[{{Horrorcore}} horror]] themes often found in Gangsta Rap leaves only the part of the story where the criminal is enjoying the spoils of their crimes. However, a lot of Gangsta Rap is unglamorous and concerned with survival, and a lot of Glam Rap is about getting rich from a legitimate music career. TrapMusic and GFunk, as subgenres of Gangsta Rap, also overlap.

* MealTicket -- Many a MisogynySong has been written about the kind of women who go after rich men.
* MockMillionaire -- It's common that young rappers just starting out write songs full of money brags, because that's what they hear on the radio, while still a broke BurgerFool. Bhad Bhabie was mocked for rapping about owning luxury cars while too young to drive.
* MoneySong -- Obviously.

Glam Rap isn't so much a genre as it is a label (usually pejoratively) that's thrown at most hip-hop in the TurnOfTheMillennium. The [[UrExample earliest form of hip-hop]] that showed shades of this was probably Music/EricBAndRakim's ''Music/PaidInFull'' album, followed by the works of Big Daddy Kane and eventually Cash Money Records. Music/JayZ's "Big Pimpin" is the TropeCodifier. Glam Rap is arguably a good way for a rapper to be mainstream without losing "street cred". Sure, they talk about the streets, but not necessarily in the same way as in [[GangstaRap other, more controversial rap genres]].

Their content is more or less the hip-hop equivalent of the ''Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous'', and definitely lighter in tone and more radio-friendly. Expect the music videos to feature the following motifs: [[BigFancyHouse sprawling mansions]]; [[CoolBoat long, luxury yachts]]; [[CoolCar exotic, six-figure sports cars and luxury cars]]; {{pimped out car}}s with big DUB rims (which may or may not be [[SpectacularSpinning spinning]]) and/or lowrider hydraulics; tons of {{stripperific}} models [[ThreeMinutesOfWrithing gyrating]] by the large infinity pool with glasses full of champagne; plus lots of big, gaudy jewelry and [[BillionaireWristband watches]].

From the "Shiny Suit Era" Music/SeanCombs-mentored acts of the 90s, to the Napster-filler mixtapes of the 2000s, to teenagers on the internet rapping unintelligible AutoTune lyrics about things they don't actually own in TheNewTens, the subgenre attracts a lot of heat. Some listeners disagree with the values of these songs (or, if they don't have any money, find them impossible to relate to), and the RadioFriendliness of wealth-bragging leads to it [[ItsPopularNowItSucks crowding out songs about other topics on the radio]] and [[MagazineDecay in magazines]]. This creates an illusion that rap has gotten too commercial, and that acts tend to be less topical and reliant on novel lyrical flow. In this sense, it can be seen as rap's analogue to the unapologetically commercial and hedonistic HairMetal that dominated the [[HeavyMetal metal]] scene (and rock music in general) in TheEighties, and the antithesis to the old-school hip-hop that came out of that era. The names are even similar -- one of the most common alternative names for hair metal (and which happens to be the one in use at Website/TheOtherWiki) is "glam metal".

There is some overlap with GangstaRap, as many of these artists have a dark side -- in fact, one theory about the popularity of Glam Rap is that it's what you end up with if you write a GangstaRap song with all the radio-unfriendly elements removed in favour of [[DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster enjoying the spoils]]. However, a lot of GangstaRap is unglamorous and concerned with survival, and a lot of GlamRap is about getting money from a legitimate music career.

Despite its reputation for being mindless and materialistic, GlamRap is not without social commentary. Many glam rappers celebrate their wealth as a sign of their pride in overcoming oppressive poverty and racism, and some Golden Age-era glam rap expanded the rapper's success to the rise of HipHop culture overall. Some rappers use the subject matter as [[SatireParodyPastiche parody]] or raw material for knotty wordplay bars, and some female rappers (and pop stars inspired by hip-hop) use obsession with materialism to create {{Camp}}y diva personas that appeal to an LGBTFanbase.

* Music/JayZ: His song "Big Pimpin"

* This was Cashmoney Records' whole shtick.