gangsta rap

noun

: hip-hop music with lyrics explicitly portraying the violence and drug use of American inner-city gang life
gangsta rapper noun

Examples of gangsta rap in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Thomson ought to spend some time listening to death metal and gangsta rap, or reading the gory novels of Stephen King and Cormac McCarthy. Michael O’Donnell, The Atlantic, 2 July 2026 Save for the playlist that had firmly moved from gangsta rap to smooth R&B, the last 20 minutes of our ride was mostly silent, with several of us dozing off. Danielle Dorsey, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2026 West’s victory marked a major shift in mainstream hip-hop—Glock-toting gangsta rap was out, euphoric genre-blending was in—but the face-off between West and 50 Cent may be most remembered as one of the last album-promotional events of its kind. Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2026 Under the Geto Boys umbrella, the trio pushed gangsta rap to grisly and funky extremes, depicting ghetto life as an eternal Halloween night. Pitchfork, 30 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for gangsta rap

Word History

First Known Use

1989, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gangsta rap was in 1989

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Cite this Entry

“Gangsta rap.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gangsta%20rap. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.

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