gangsta rap

noun

: hip-hop music with lyrics explicitly portraying the violence and drug use of American inner-city gang life
gangsta rapper noun

Examples of gangsta rap in a Sentence

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The others include the Eminem-starrer 8 Mile, and Straight Outta Compton traced the roots of the seminal rap group N.W.A and its rise to become one of the most influential acts of the gangsta rap and West Coast hip hop subgenres. Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 9 June 2025 He was born there in 1986, as local legend MC Hammer went on to make waves, gangsta rap sparked national intrigue and dismay, and Oakland adoptee Tupac was on his way to becoming one of the most influential artists of all time. Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 2 June 2025 During hip-hop’s golden era in the late 1980s and early 1990s, jazz rap emerged just as gangsta rap and pop rap were dominating the airwaves and climbing the charts. Ime Ekpo, Forbes.com, 30 May 2025 That plays out in the visually surreal musical sequence halfway through the movie, where, at Smoke and Stack’s juke joint, the blues is traced to gospel, funk, twerk music, West Coast gangsta rap, HBCU marching bands, and even Kanye West’s opulence. Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 25 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for gangsta rap

Word History

First Known Use

1989, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gangsta rap was in 1989

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Cite this Entry

“Gangsta rap.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gangsta%20rap. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.

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