Hip-Hop / Rap

Individuals or bands performing hip-hop or rap music.

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• 2 Chainz
• 2 Live Crew - Trope Codifiers for Dirty Rap.
• 3PAC - Satirical rapper.
• 50 Cent^note Also see Eminem
• Above the Law ^note Also see Cold 187um
• Akon
• Andrew E. – a Filipino version. Known for comedic Bawdy Songs.
• Antoinette
• Aesop Rock - Hip hop artist known for his highly elaborate lyrics.
• Anybody Killa
• A$AP Rocky - The most famous member of the A$AP Mob, albeit not the founder.
• A Tribe Called Quest

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  • The Low End Theory (1991)
• Awkwafina
• Axe Murder Boyz
• Cardi B - The first female rapper to top the Hot 100 by herself in almost 20 years.
• Azealia Banks
• Beastie Boys - One of the first Token White groups in hip-hop, best known for their Genre-Busting/Genre Roulette material and very good Sampling.
  • Licensed to Ill (1986)
  • Paul's Boutique (1989)
• Big Daddy Kane
• Big Hoodoo
• Big K.R.I.T.
• Big L
• Big Pun
• Big Sean
• The Black Eyed Peas
  • Fergie
  • will.i.am
• Blaze Ya Dead Homie
• Bliss N Eso
• B.o.B.
• Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
• Boogie Down Productions
• Boondox
• BROCKHAMPTON - A collective - nay, boy band - of recent formation that massively upsurged in popularity thanks to the extremely positive reception of their breakthrough album SATURATION.
• Brotha Lynch Hung
• Danny Brown - Highly versatile rapper known for his incredible vocal range.
• BTS - 7-member Korean group of which 3 members are rappers (RM, Suga and J-Hope), all three of which have also released solo mixtapes and side-projects of their own.
• Busta Rhymes - Incredibly fast, Large Hammy rapper.

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• Captain Murphy - Alter-Ego Acting of electronic musician Flying Lotus.
• Aaron Carter
• Chief Keef
• Childish Gambino
• Chris Webby
• City Girls
• clipping.
• Cold 187um
• Sean Combs
• Common
• Cupcak Ke - Female rapper known for her highly coarse, sexually-driven lyrics.
• Cypress Hill - Black and Hispanic rap gang with lyrics about marijuana, cartoonishly over-the-top depictions of urban deprivation and violence and cartoonishly over-the-top depictions of urban deprivation and violence while on marijuana.
  • Black Sunday (1993)
• DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - The duo of Jeff Townes and Will Smith before the latter broke out into the movie industry.
  • Will Smith
• Das Racist
• Dayton Family
• Death Grips - Industrial hip hop trio from Sacramento that has a massive cult following. They're well known for MC Ride's larger-than-life presence, abrasive production and convoluted, almost nightmarish lyrics.
• Del Tha Funkee Homosapien
• Diafrix
• Dice
• Die Antwoord - The face of true-bred African rap.
• Digital Underground
• DMX
• Drake - The most famous rapper to come from Canada, bar none.
• EdOGandTheBulldogs
• El-P - New York white rapper and producer, and founder of one of the most important labels in underground hip hop - Definitive Jux.
• Eminem - Token White rapper

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  • The Slim Shady LP (1999)
  • The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
  • The Eminem Show (2002)
• Epik High - Three-member Korean hip hop group that became one of the most influential acts in the Korean hip hop scene.
• EPMD
• Eric B. & Rakim
  • Paid in Full (1987)
• Esham^note Also see Natas
• Flo Rida
• Fort Minor - Best known as Mike Shinoda's hip-hop side project. Released one album in 2005, and almost nothing since.
  • The Rising Tied (2005)
• Jamie Foxx
• The Fugees
  • The Score (1996)
  • Lauryn Hill
    • The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
• Nelly Furtado
• The Game
• Gang Starr
• GEazy - White Bay Area rapper who has a female fanbase that likes him for reasons other his music.
• Geto Boys
  • Scarface
• gmcfosho parodies this.
• Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
  • The Message (1982)
• Gravediggaz
• Gucci Mane - Also the Trope Codifier for Trap Music
• Heavy D - One of the few New Jack Swing artists who could fully cross over between the R&B and hardcore hip hop crowds at will.
• The Historian Himself
• House Of Krazees^note Also see ROC, Twiztid
• House of Pain
• Hopsin - Underground rapper with some of the most aggressive, anvilicious sets of lyrics in rap history. You either love him or hate him for that.
• Ice-T^note Also see Body Count
• Iggy Azalea - Token White female rapper from Australia.
• Immortal Technique
• Insane Clown Posse
  • Carnival of Carnage (1992)
  • The Great Milenko (1997)
• J Dilla - Mostly a producer, but also recorded several vocal albums.
  • Welcome 2 Detroit (2001)
  • Donuts (2006)
• JakProgresso (aka Jak Tripper)
• J Cole - Another critical and commercial darling of modern hip hop, famous for going double platinum with no features.
• Jay Rock
• Jay-Z^note Also see Linkin Park, Kanye West - Known in the '90s as a rising force of hip hop, is now one of the genre's frontrunners.
• Jumpsteady^note Also see Insane Clown Posse, Myzery
• Karmin
• Kendrick Lamar - The most critically adored rapper of recent years, bar none.
  • good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012)
• DJ Khaled
• Kid Cudi
• Kid Rock (as part of a Genre Roulette with rock, country, blues, soul and funk, to name a few, but was originally known primarily as a hip-hop artist)
  • The Polyfuze Method (1993)
  • Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp (1996)
  • Devil Without A Cause (1998)
  • Cocky (2001)
• Kitty
• King Gordy
• Kool Keith
• Kool Moe Dee, one of the founding hip hop pioneers, and a early member of the New Jack Swing era in 1986.
• KRS-One
  • Criminal Minded (1987)
• Kriss Kross
• KSI - Known for his YouTube gaming commentary, he has been coming up in the British hip hop scene.
• Lil B
• Lil Dicky - Token White rapper that combines technical delivery with humorous, often self-deprecating lyrics.
• Lil Jon - THE Large Ham of hip hop.
• Lil' Kim
• Lil Pump
• Lil Ugly Mane
• Lil Wayne
• Little Shannon Dudley
• Lizzo - began as Alternative Hip Hop and now blends her sound with Pop, R&B and Soul.
• LL Cool J
• Ludacris
• Lupe Fiasco - Called "a "breath of fresh air in modern hip hop" by Jay-Z.
• Machine Gun Kelly
• Craig Mack - Bad Boy Records' first successful artist before the debut of The Notorious B.I.G..
• Macklemore - Acclaimed comedy/conscious rap artist who skyrocketed to fame with his song "Thrift Shop".
• Mac Miller
• Master P
• MC Frontalot - one of the Trope Makers of Nerdcore
• MC Hammer
• Meek Mill
• Megan Thee Stallion
• MF DOOM
  • Madvillainy (2004) [As Madvillain, with Madlib]
• M.I.A.
  • Arular (2005)
  • Kala (2007)
• Missy Elliott
• Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer
• Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire
• Myzery
• Nas - One of the faces of East Coast hip hop.
• Natas
• Natasja
• Naughty By Nature
• Necro
• Nelly
• NF
• Nicki Minaj - The most commercially successful female rapper since Missy Elliott.
• The Notorious B.I.G. - The face of East Coast hip hop. Now dead, unfortunately.
  • Ready to Die (1994)
  • Life After Death (1997)
• Nujabes
• N.W.A. - Trope Codifiers of Gangsta Rap.
  • Straight Outta Compton (1988)
  • Dr. Dre
  • Eazy-E
  • Ice Cube
• OFWGKTA - The quintessential modern hip hop crew. Three of its members - Tyler, The Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, and Frank Ocean - have also gained considerable solo success.
• Pitbull
• Poetess
• Positive K
• Post Malone
• Prof
• Professor Elemental
• Professor Green
• Psychopathic Rydas
• Public Enemy
  • It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
  • Fear of a Black Planet (1990)
• Queen Latifah
• R. Kelly
• Raven-Symoné
• Rick Ross - Gangsta rapper known for his cold delivery and his love for luxury cars - after all, when you call your label Maybach Music Group…
• ROC^note Also see House Of Krazees
• Run–D.M.C. - in The '80s, they were the first rap group to become superstars, and go platinum (then multi-platinum), and cross over to rock audiences.
  • Run-D.M.C. (1984)
  • King of Rock (1985)
  • Raising Hell (1986).
• Run The Jewels - A duo consisting of El-P (listed above) and Killer Mike.
• Salt-N-Pepa
• SanE
• Schoolly D
  • Schoolly D (Album) (1985)
  • Saturday Night! – The Album (1986)
• Travis Scott - Brought Auto-Tune distortion back to rap in a big way in 2016.
• Sir Mix-a-Lot - the one who did that song about big butts.
• Slick Rick - The Trope Codifier for narrative storytelling in hip hop, as well as the Ur-Example of the Dirty Rap style ^note He debuted a few years before 2 Live Crew did)
  • 1988: The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
• Jaden Smith
• Snoop Dogg
• Soulja Boy
• Special Ed
• Spose
• Starbomb
• The Sugarhill Gang
• Sweet Cookie
• Sweet Tee
• Tupac Shakur - Highly heralded West Coast hip hop artist. Now dead, but still living in the hearts of many a rap fan.
  • 2Pacalypse Now (1991)
  • Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... (1993)
  • Me Against the World (1995)
  • All Eyez On Me (1996)
• TD Cruze
• Tech N9ne - The face of horrorcore and underground hip hop in the public eye.
• T.I. - Called "the Jay-Z of the South" by renowned producer Pharrell Williams.
• Timbaland
• T-Pain
• Three Six Mafia
• Tinie Tempah
• Tonedeff
• Too $hort
• Torae
• Twiztid^note Also see ROC, House Of Krazees
• UGK
• Urban Dance Squad
• Vanilla Ice
• Mark Wahlberg
• Waka Flocka Flame - Possibly the only one to one-up Lil' Jon as the definitive Large Ham of hip hop. Trope Codifier for Trap Music.
• Watsky
• Kanye West - Commercially and critically loved producer and rapper, who's definitely no stranger to controversy.
  • My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
  • Yeezus (2013)
  • The Life of Pablo (2016)
• Pharrell Williams - By far one of the biggest names in hip hop production, he's well-known for his genre-bending work with The Neptunes and N.E.R.D, but he also has a successful career as a solo musician.
• Wiz Khalifa
• Wu-Tang Clan - Considered to this day as one of, if not the greatest collective in rap history.
• X-Clan
• XXXTentacion - By far the biggest name in SoundCloud rap even after his death.
• Xzibit
• Yo Yo

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