hip-hop

noun

ˈhip-ˌhäp 

variants or less commonly hip hop or hiphop

1

a

: a stylized rhythmic music of African American origin that typically features rapping (see rap entry 6 sense 2) over synthesized beats (see beat entry 2 sense 4d) or sampled tracks

… the first bits of hip-hop were born out of DJs breaking apart funk and disco beats … until all that was left was the percussion, cut up into small, danceable portions for the people in the audience to sweat to.

—Hanif Abdurraqib

… hip hop has become a form reflecting both the beauty and the belly of the beast in American society, refracted through the lens of black American culture.

—Imani Perry

The music that Charanga plays is … a combination of jazz and rumba spiced with reggae, funk and hiphop.

—Silvana Paternostro

—often used before another noun

hip-hop artists

a hip hop song

b

or hip-hop dance or less commonly hip hop dance or hiphop dance : syncopated dancing typically performed to hip-hop music

For decades, Harris has been swerving away from stereotypes and expectations of hip-hop dance, all while staying true to its roots.

—Brian Seibert

… an untapped market of people wanting to learn hiphop dance.

—Nick Vogel

Unlike the verticality of classical dance … hip-hop uses a horizontal body, dissonance, and ragged gesture juxtaposed with a cool, relaxed, laid-back attitude.

—Karen Lynn Smith

—often used before another noun

a hip-hop dance group/crew

… a dance team that performs hip-hop routines at most weekend home games …

—Gina Cherelus

2

: a cultural movement associated especially with rap music

In one sense, hip-hop had triumphed over America. … No matter the race, class, or geography, the kids wore the same clothes, spoke the same language, listened to the same music.

—Jeff Chang

In my elementary school years, everyone I knew around my age loved hip-hop. … I loved every aspect of the culture and tried my hand at all of it.

—Rakim

—often used before another noun

the hip-hop generation

Hip hop culture is a four-legged stool, its artistic pillars of deejaying, graffiti art, rapping, and b-boying coming into existence in the early 1970s and each influencing the ways in which the other evolved.

—Jelani Cobb

Examples of hip-hop in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Tacos and Tequila Festival — which serves up throwback hip-hop stars along with margaritas at Franklin Field — is coming back for its third year in 2025, and returning to its September window. —Piet Levy, Journal Sentinel, 22 Dec. 2024

Fewer than a dozen hip-hop artists or groups have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. —C. Brandon Ogbunu, WIRED, 21 Dec. 2024

Since then, Buzbee has helped lead a new wave of legal action against Combs, including allegations that the hip-hop mogul drugged and raped a 10-year-old boy and raped a 13-year-old girl while attending an MTV Video Music Awards after-party in the early 2000s. —Edward Segarra, USA TODAY, 21 Dec. 2024

The unidentified woman recently added Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, to her lawsuit against Combs in Manhattan federal court, claiming that she was attacked by the hip-hop moguls in 2000 after Combs' limo driver offered her a ride to an MTV Video Music Awards after-party. —Brittany Williams, arkansasonline.com, 20 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

perhaps from hip entry 2 + hop entry 1

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

hip-hop

noun

ˈhip-ˌhäp

: the rhythmic music that often accompanies rap

also : a cultural movement associated especially with rap music