Subgenre of rap which became very popular in the late 80s and early 90s due to popularity of performers like Ice T and N.W.A. Originally was used to describe harsh realities of life for a modern black male living in poor areas of US. Later, however, the genre expanded and included downright vile messages of violence and hatred against white people, females and so-called "haters" (people who dislike the genre or particular performer).

Features
-Sense that some of performers suffer from severe severe mental retardation (see Nelly, Ja Rule, 50 Cent, Snoop Dog, Cash Money Records roster)
-Mumbling (in some cases) see Lloyd Banks, I20)
-Heavy use of profanities - in particular, words like "hoe" or "bitch" (female), "nigga" (friendly black male or female) and to lesser extent "cracker"/"white devil" (applied to white males primarily)
-Heavy use of words "aha" and "what?" in the background.
-Poetic lines similar to the ones below
"Well nigga lets get one thing clear, I don't leave the block without my glock.
Is it because i'm standing with your bitch? Or got all these stones on my wrists?
Don't think you're leavin' here with this. I don't leave the block without my glock."
-Stabs at balladry, usually dedicated to Tupac Shakur (who is currently releasing new material, 10 years after being shot) and to lesser extent to Biggie Smalls (who is recording new material after being shot, but not as often as Tupac). However, some ballads are dedicated to other subjects as love and non-violence (see Ja Rule, DMX)
-Almost total absence of females in the genre. The ones that do rap (see Lil Kim, Foxy Brown) tend to talk about material things and their love of thugs. However, there's a large amount of beautiful black ladies who appear in videos, usually in order to satisfy enormous sexual appetites of male performer.
-Heavy use of jewelry and extremely expensive cars in videos, all of which are discussed in lyrics in detail.