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A person, male or female, who express their hard lives, an oppression in a poetical, musical form. A Rapper is usually a very talented person, who puts a lot of time an work into their "thug poetry". A rapper often unfortunately has a poor background. The term "rapper" evolved from the black culture and began in the late 70's. Much gratitude to Herbie Hancock.
A professional Rapper has a lot of talent
rapper by Emejdoubleti May 29, 2004
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evolved from being a hype man for famous djs in the 70s. hype men used to kick small simple rhymes to get the crowd wild, and, after awhile turned to full songs.

rappers are divided into many categories and subcategories, but the 2 dominant ones are simple. mainstream (popular and on major label with endless airplay and) and underground (not signed to a major label,no airply, and possibly holding down other job than rapper).
man...piggy banks, tony mayo, 5 cent piece and dumb fuck are talentless mainstream rappers. lets listen to a real rapper by the name of Krs-one.
rapper by flavor flav February 3, 2005
1) What a few talented people can do by stringing together phrases with elaborate detail to make them sound cool.
2) What white people think they are when they can make a few words rhyme.
Nelly is a rapper, and a good one at that. Mike Shinoda, from Linkin Park, thinks he's a rapper.
rapper by Death By Definition December 31, 2004
A person who can be of any race of creed who expresses themselves verbally through rapping about their lives, dreams and ideals. Wrongly percepted as talking only about hoes, money and guns (try listening to talib kweli you fags) Rapping is a great style of music and the best way to express yourself. Anyone whoi thinks rapping is about being 'gangsta' is obviously a bit of a retard and has heard no rap since they saw 50 cent on channel U. And as for 'listen to rock', no ta, i'd rather die than listen to some self-pitying adolescent whining into a microphone about their love life over a 3 powerchord guitar riff. Rock is for thick people.
Nas is one of the greatest rappers alive today.
rapper by rock is dead January 12, 2005
an MC
rap iz hip-hop n hip-hop iz a culture itz a way of life itz thug life
yea der r sum pussys out der like ja rule n irv gotti but dey aint rapperz dey just pussys
tupac iz a true rapper and so iz JMJ and run DMC
tupac wuz and still iz da greatest rapper of all tymez
rapper by AnG December 15, 2003
Outta the music biz, a rapper is a person who talks too much shit.
rapper ex.
...and so my girlfriend talked her ass off for hours man, shes a rappa'.
rapper by Toronto Raptors February 12, 2008
A modern day descendant of a number of noble masters of rap and beyond, who include not only black people but those of other shades.
Some of these ancestors include The Last Poets and Woody Guthrie.

The single most significant difference between the present day rappers and the original real rappers is the intent.

Last Poets spoke out about civil rights, social issues facing black people.
Woody Guthrie spoke out for those who were victimized or taken by the ones who had money and power, including politicians.

Modern day rappers are most often motivated by sexual superiority of male over female, their money and possessions (which include cars, jewelry, electronics, and women etc in that order), drugs, and violence without reason.
So in the context of the Last Poets and Woody Guthrie, they are The Enemy Within.
The Last Poets are the rapper grandfathers, alongside Keorapetse Kgositsile and Woody Guthrie.
Rapper by notimeforbullshite January 31, 2010