According to Wikipedia Dictionary, ""Rapping, the rhythmic delivery of rhymes, is one of the four central elements of hip-hop culture. Rap can be delivered over a beat or over human beatboxing. A rapper may also perform a capella without any accompaniment. Due to its increasing popularity, rapping has also been assimilated into other musical forms.""

Rap serves as the voice of a community; it is a vehicle for expressing resentment and hardship, as individuals often dont have access to mainstream media. Its history is allied with the defiant stance of its creators, who portray themselves within a subjugated context. Since sex and violence sell, there are artists who employ rap for monetary gains. However, critics who dismiss rap as offensive deny the voice of a community that may be offensive, in that they themselves feel slighted.

The early practitioners of rap were first- or second-generation Americans of Caribbean descent. Herc and Hollywood are accredited with introducing the Jamaican style of cutting and mixing into the musical culture of the Bronx. While he was cutting with two turntables, Herc would perform with the mic; his parties gained popularity and were often recorded; duplicate tapes flooded the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, spawning similar acts. Among the new breed of DJs was Afrika Bambaataa, the first Black Muslim rapper. By using rock records, he took rap beyond black youth culture.

In 1979, the first rap records appeared: "King Tim III" and "Rapper's Delight". During the mid-1980s, rap moved from the fringes of hip-hop culture to the mainstream music industry, as white musicians embraced the new genre. In 1986, rap reached the Top 10 on the Billboard pop charts with "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" and "Walk This Way". In the late 1980s, a segment of rap became politicized. Alongside political rap came gangsta rap, which glamorized the outlaw lifestyle. Today, however, rap has become eclectic and exhibits a capacity to draw from any musical form.