Rap music stemmed from Hip Hop culture.

From its origin with African American and Puerto Rican influences hip hop has now gained popularity all over the world both musically and as a culture. 75% of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. Hip Hop has made the transition from the backstreets to media corporations and advertising campaigns such as McDonalds, Coca Cola and Nike.  The music and film industry discovered this music form helped by artists such as Run DMC and Beastie Boys. Krush Groove was a very popular movie about the life of rap music. Warner Bros earned over 17 million dollars worldwide from sales. Today hip hop continues to have a very strong media presence. People are very interested in this culture and the music that stemmed from it.  Street slang and language is transmitted through rap music e.g. a Chinese hip hopper will use the same slang as the African-American hip hopper. Hip hop appears to cross national, linguistic and cultural borders.

Hip hop is more than just music it is a lifestyle with its own fashion, lingo and music. It does involve personal expression. As outlined by hip-hop pioneer DJ Afrika Bambaataa (Kevin Donovan, universal Zulu Nation founder) traditionally there are 4 main components of the hip hop culture: Mcing, DJing, graffiti writing and break dancing (b-boying).  Mcing or emceeing involves the artist speaking lyrically in rhyme or verse usually to an instrumental or synthesized beat. MC is short for master of the ceremonies. As time progressed, the MCs would become more creative in their chants. MCs would use rhyming verses or ad lib to introduce the DJ. They would also entertain the crowd, keep the event moving and often glorify themselves. Acronyms of MC include Mic Checka, Music Commentator, Moves the Crowd and Microphone Controller.
Rap is often used as a synonym for hip hop however hip hop denotes the practices of an entire subculture. Rap music enabled young black kids a chance to express themselves in a rhythmic form. There was an underlying rage against the system and the inequalities of life. Rap music, graffiti and break dancing gave these kids opportunity to create an individual voice and be noticed.  Through the years rap music has caused controversy and resistance. Kids love to rebel against the status quo. For example, Tipper Gore and C. Delores Tucker are just two individuals who have tried to censor the lyrics of rap music.