What is Hip Hop?

Hip Hop is a musical genre which has been developed from a Hip Hop culture such as DJing, sampling, beatboxing and rapping. Hip Hop uses a style of singing called rapping. A singer chants or says a words with rhythm and rhymes. Usually, the lyrics would be about life of urban people in the big cities, gangs, illegal drugs or violence. Hip Hop music sometimes combines their style of music with reggae, disco or pop music.
As a culture, Hip Hop music involves a dress-code in clothing where they usually dress in "urban" clothes. Clothes such as baggy pants, oversize shirts and high top shoes (usually they prefer to wear clothes with brand names.) These are worn to show how "cool" or "rich" you are.
Dancing style called break-dancing or B-Boying is also a type of Hip Hop where they dance in Hip Hop music.

Hip Hop musicians usually use nicknames or stage names if somehow they do not like their own names to be used. Hip Hop musicians such as 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and Eminem always uses their stage names - not their real names.

On the left is a picture of a man B Boy-ing and on the right is a picture of a famous rapper called Jay Z.