Rapping

Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting,^[1] emceeing^[2] or MCing^[2][3]) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and [commonly] street vernacular".^[4] It is usually performed over a backing beat or musical accompaniment.^[4] The components of rap include "content" (what is being said, e.g., lyrics), "flow" (rhythm, rhyme), and "delivery" (cadence, tone).^[5] Rap differs from spoken-word poetry in that it is usually performed off-time to musical accompaniment.^[6] It also differs from singing, which varies in pitch and does not always include words. Because they do not rely on pitch inflection, some rap artists may play with timbre or other vocal qualities. Rap is a primary ingredient of hip hop music, and so commonly associated with that genre that it is sometimes called "rap music".

Precursors to modern rap music include the West African griot tradition,^[7] certain vocal styles of blues^[8] and jazz,^[9] an African-American insult game called playing the dozens (see Battle rap and Diss),^[10] and 1960s African-American poetry.^[11] Stemming from the hip-hop cultural movement, rap music originated in the Bronx, New York City, in the early 1970s and became part of popular music later that decade.^[12] Rapping developed from the role of master of ceremonies (MC) at parties within the scene, who would encourage and entertain guests between DJ sets, which evolved into longer performances.

Rap is usually delivered over a beat, typically provided by a DJ, turntablist, or beatboxer when performing live. Much less commonly a rapper can decide to perform a cappella, meaning without accompaniment of any sort, beat(s) included. When a rap or hip-hop artist is creating a song, "track", or record, done primarily in a production studio, most frequently a producer provides the beat(s) for the MC to flow over. Stylistically, rap occupies a gray area between speech, prose, poetry, and singing.^[13] The word, which predates the musical form, originally meant "to lightly strike",^[14] and is now used to describe quick speech or repartee.^[15] The word had been used in British English since the 16th century. It was part of the African American dialect of English in the 1960s meaning "to converse", and very soon after that came to denote the musical style.^[16] The word "rap" is so closely associated with hip-hop music that many writers use the terms interchangeably.