Individuals or bands performing hip-hop or rap music.
- 21 Savage
- 2 Chainz
- 2 Live Crew - Trope Codifiers for Dirty Rap.
- 3PAC - Satirical rapper.
- 3rd Bass
- 50 Centnote
- Above the Law note
- 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
- 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)
- Lamont Bentley
- Big Daddy Kane
- Big Hoodoo
- Big K.R.I.T.
- Big L
- Big Pun
- Big Sean
- The Black Eyed Peas
- Blaze Ya Dead Homie
- Bliss N Eso
- B.o.B.
- Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
- Boogie Down Productions
- Boondox
- Bre-Z
- 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.
- Aaron Carter
- Chief Keef
- Childish Gambino
- Chris Webby
- City Girls
- clipping.
- Cold 187um
- Sean Combs
- Common
- Coolio
- 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.
- Das Racist
- Miles Davis - No, seriously, he actually recorded a rap/jazz fusion album produced by The Notorious B.I.G.'s producer, Easy Mo Bee.
- Music/Doo-Bop (1992)
- 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
- Doja Cat
- 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
- 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)
- Eshamnote
- Ester Dean
- FAKE TYPE. - A Japanese duo, consisting of [TOPHAMHAT-KYO] and DYES IWASAKI.
- Flo Rida
- Flying Lotus - and by extension his Alter-Ego Acting, Captain Murphy
- 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
- 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
- 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 Krazeesnote
- 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-Tnote
- 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-Znote - Known in the '90s as a rising force of hip hop, is now one of the genre's frontrunners.
- Josh Martin
- Jumpsteadynote
- 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 'N Play: Best known for the House Party films these days, but they were rappers first and foremost.
- 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.
- Kottonmouth Kings - known for mixing G-funk with Psychedelic Rock and Punk Rock and Stoner Lyrics
- 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
- Logic
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- Playboi Carti
- Poetess
- Positive K
- Post Malone
- Prof
- Professor Elemental
- Professor Green
- Psychopathic Rydas
- Public Enemy
- 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…
- ROCnote
- 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
- ScHoolboy Q
- 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.
- Shaquille O'Neal - NBA legend who also released several successful albums and singles throughout the 90s. Quietly retired from rap professionally in 2001, but still drops loosies and freestyles once in a while.
- Diggy Simmons - the son of Rev. Run of Run DMC.
- 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
- Jaden Smith
- Snoop Dogg
- Soulja Boy
- Special Ed
- Spose
- Starbomb
- Stormzy
- The Streets
- 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 6 Mafia
- Tinie Tempah
- Tonedeff
- Too $hort
- Torae
- Twiztidnote
- 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
