A rapper's stage name, especially when it is different from their real name.
A rapponym can be anything from a single word (e.g. Drake) to an acronym (e.g. G.U.R.U.), or a multi-word phrase (e.g. Method Man), and can be appended with a prefix such as big or lil (e.g. Big Pun, Lil House Phone). Numbers are sometimes used as phonetic substitutes of words/syllables (e.g. 2Pac for Tupac), or simply to add textual distinctiveness (e.g. 6ix9ine for SixNine). Rapponyms beginning with 'DJ' often indicate that the rapper is also a turntableist, producer, or beatmaker (e.g. DJ Khaled). Some particularly goated rappers use their real name, or part of it, as a stage name (e.g. Kendrick Lamar), but it's not really a rapponym if it is the same as their common IRL name.
Non-rap musicians and other entertainers may have stage names that follow a similar format, but those cannot be rapponyms as they do not belong to rappers.
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For you etymology nerds, this term is a portmanteau of 'rapper' and 'endonym'.
A rapponym can be anything from a single word (e.g. Drake) to an acronym (e.g. G.U.R.U.), or a multi-word phrase (e.g. Method Man), and can be appended with a prefix such as big or lil (e.g. Big Pun, Lil House Phone). Numbers are sometimes used as phonetic substitutes of words/syllables (e.g. 2Pac for Tupac), or simply to add textual distinctiveness (e.g. 6ix9ine for SixNine). Rapponyms beginning with 'DJ' often indicate that the rapper is also a turntableist, producer, or beatmaker (e.g. DJ Khaled). Some particularly goated rappers use their real name, or part of it, as a stage name (e.g. Kendrick Lamar), but it's not really a rapponym if it is the same as their common IRL name.
Non-rap musicians and other entertainers may have stage names that follow a similar format, but those cannot be rapponyms as they do not belong to rappers.
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For you etymology nerds, this term is a portmanteau of 'rapper' and 'endonym'.
by Pseudo-Random Tŷpek December 23, 2024