History Main / GlamRap

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 sometimes expanded the rapper's success to the rise of HipHop culture overall. Some rappers use the subject matter as [[SatireParodyPastiche parody]], 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.

The sub-genre gets a lot of heat because it's usually [[WolverinePublicity the only type of rap]] [[ItsPopularNowItSucks that seems to get played on the radio]] or [[MagazineDecay covered in magazines]], leaving people to believe 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. One doesn't always indicate the other, however.

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; and lots of big, gaudy jewelry.

The sub-genre gets a lot of heat because it's usually [[WolverinePublicity the only type of rap]] [[ItsPopularNowItSucks that seems to get played on the radio]] or [[MagazineDecay covered in magazines]], leaving people to believe 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 Wiki/TheOtherWiki) is "glam metal". There is some overlap with GangstaRap, as many of these artists have a dark side. One doesn't always indicate the other, however.

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 [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning spinning]]) and/or lowrider hydraulics; tons of {{stripperific}} models [[ThreeMinutesOfWrithing gyrating]] by the large infinity pool with glasses full of champagne; and lots of big, gaudy jewelry.

->''"[[TropeNamers Glam rap.]] It's made for the clubs where they don't know the truth, but they making it up.\\
Glam rap. It glitters and it shines, but it don't reflect for me and mine.\\
Glam rap. We gonna burn it down, quick to wreck your body and say "turn the party out".\\
Glam rap. It's pretty-faced and perfect, we working the circuits just to bring the fans back."''
-->-- '''Mars ILL''', "Glam Rap"

* Music/FiftyCent (now short on dollars)

* Music/{{Eminem}} generally avoided wealth boasting, but he's parodied it on occasion.

--> I got so much candy paint in my rims\\

** "Elevator" is a sardonic wealth-boasting song about him living in an impossibly enormous house 'with a fuckin' elevator'... into which Shady invites the fans who hassle him all day, cuts the cable, and goes to the kitchen to make a snack while he waits for them to fall to their death.

-->Now count it, five, ten, yeah, fifteen, twenty\\

* Music/{{Eminem}}'s [[CreatorBreakdown writer's block phase]] in the mid-to-late 2000s was related to the saturation of this style of music on the radio, which he hated for its lack of craft. He wrote numerous [[{{Satire}} extremely mean-spirited satires]] of this style during this time, including many that were ghostwritten for other artists but rejected, which have been bundled by fans into the ''King Mathers'' bootleg album. One notable example is "Ballin' Uncontrollably", in which Slim Shady sneers about his car:

Paint be flyin' off my car be candy paintin' the neighborhood kids\\
I got that whole block lookin' like it's Candyland\\
Ask about me, man, they be like, "There go the candy man"\\
I park the car in the garage and go in and\\
come back the next mornin', the rims are still spinnin'\\
Hit the doors on that Phantom, man, that shit looks like the Batmobile\\

* Theatre/Six has a send up in this trope in Ann of Cleves song "Get Down". Ann of Cleves sings about her life of luxury in a similar style to Glam Rap... But with luxuries that were common in the sixteenth century such as, hunting dogs, fast horses, and golden crosses. Ann of Cleves has the happiest song in the show because of the wealth she gained after Henry divorced her, so it doubles as a strange FemaleEmpowermentSong as Ann celebrates not needing Henry or any other man anymore.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* Dr. Evil's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jZiKFLL6MI&t=20s rap]] in the third ''Film/AustinPowers'' film parodies glam rap, which takes place while he's in prison. It's never explained where he and Mini-Me got the costumes, the props or the scantily-clad women for the 'video', or where they went after the end of the track.

[[AC:{{Music}}]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where it was used as a GainaxEnding to the episode "Pranksta Rap"

-->--- '''Mars ILL''', "Glam Rap"

-->--- '''Canibus''', "Levitibus"

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/money_maker_2_1.png]]

* Dr. Evil's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jZiKFLL6MI&t=20s rap]] in the third ''Film/AustinPowers'' film parodies glam rap, which takes place while he's in prison. It's never explained where he and Mini-Me got the costumes, the props or the scantily-clad women for the 'video', or where they went after the end of the track

* Music/MonsterMagnet's video for "Space Lord" is a parody of glam rap videos in general and Puff Daddy's in particular. For the sake of humorous contrast, the first minute or so of the video is stark, dimly lit, and artsy, parodying {{Surreal Music Video}} tropes prevalent in contemporary AlternativeRock videos.

[[quoteright:252:[[Magazine/{{Forbes}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/752ef7ac697e00ee9d1d413ba9efe039.jpg]]]]

* Music/MonsterMagnet's video for "Space Lord" is a parody of glam rap videos in general and Puff Daddy's in particular.

* [[Music/LilKim Lil' Kim]].

* This was Cashmoney Records whole shtick.

* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where it was used as a GainaxEnding to the episode "Pranksta Rap"

* Monster Magnet's music video for "Space Lord" is a parody of glam rap videos in general and Puff Daddy's in particular.
* Aphex Twin's music video "Windowlicker" parodies glam rap.

* Dr. Evil's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jZiKFLL6MI&t=20s rap]] in the third ''Franchise/AustinPowers'' film parodies glam rap, which takes place while he's in prison. It's never explained where he and Mini-Me got the costumes, the props or the scantily-clad women for the 'video', or where they went after the end of the track

* Dr. Evil's rap in the third ''Franchise/AustinPowers'' film parodies glam rap.

The sub-genre gets a lot of heat because it's usually [[WolverinePublicity the only type of rap]] [[ItsPopularNowItSucks that seems to get played on the radio]] or [[MagazineDecay covered in magazines]], leaving people to believe 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 TheOtherWiki) is "glam metal". There is some overlap with GangstaRap, as many of these artists have a dark side. One doesn't always indicate the other, however.

[[quoteright:252:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/752ef7ac697e00ee9d1d413ba9efe039.jpg]]

* Music/FiftyCent

[[quoteright:552:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/752ef7ac697e00ee9d1d413ba9efe039.jpg]]

->''"[[TropeNamer Glam rap.]] It's made for the clubs where they don't know the truth, but they making it up.\\

* Mars ILL's "Glam Rap" is the [[/index]] TropeNamer. [[index]]