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

Chalemet, meanwhile, has been open for years about his love of hip-hop and rap music, naming stars like Kid Cudi and Nicki Minaj as favorites. —Rachel Desantis, PEOPLE, 11 Dec. 2025

As a born and bred New Yorker in her late 40s with an older brother who once worked in the hip-hop industry, much of what was revealed in the documentary was not news to me. —Essence, 11 Dec. 2025

In all, 13 albums and 46 singles released in 2025 were rated #RIAATopCertified, with 23 pop, 18 R&B/hip-hop, seven country, seven soundtracks and four alternative titles earning Gold (500,000 units) and Platinum (one million) status this year. —Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 11 Dec. 2025

Judging by Wilson’s air guitaring a Nirvana song at the postparade rally and dancing onstage with Crime Mob, one of her favorite hip-hop groups, pettiness—at least her version of it—has taken an exuberant turn. —Sean Gregory, Time, 10 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

perhaps from hip entry 2 + hop entry 1

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for hip-hop

• atop
• backdrop
• backstop
• bebop
• blacktop
• bookshop
• clatsop
• desktop
• eavesdrop
• estop
• hardtop
• hilltop

Kids Definition

hip-hop

noun

ˈhip-ˌhäp

: the rhythmic music that often accompanies rap

also : a cultural movement associated especially with rap music