Hip Hop

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Maestro Fresh Wes: I got no gats or grills so my tracks ain't real? Cuz I don't pack steel? Then my tracks appeal?
Classified: And to the mass appeal? Watch how fast they fail -- yeah I'm hip hop son, until my casket's sealed.

Classified, "Hard to be Hip Hop"

Old school hip hop was comprised of four ingredients--graffiti, DJ-ing, MC-ing, and beat boxing (Breakdancing is another staple, but not within the context of hip hop music, just hip hop culture). Nowadays, it is viewed as another name for rap.

Note that there are many different scenes, subgenres, and cultures within hip hop besides gangsta rap. Even gangsta rap has several sub-forms like Horrorcore, and Mafioso rap. Unfortunately, they rarely receive anywhere near the attention in other media (or anywhere near the record sales).

For the Genre Motif found in TV and movies, see here.

Sub-genres include:
Tropes covered within Hip Hop and the industry itself: