You have excellent taste, by the way. 
Asimovian, I for one would like a definition of what hip-hop is. Like DragonAshsaid, the first example that r4 gave us was not something I would have labeled as such. I imagine it would be hard to give an exact definition, but could you (or anyone else here) provide some guidelines so those of us who are apparently not in the know can wise up? Maybe it’s just rap I abhor? What’s the difference between the two?
I like that first one, also – it sounds like the R&B/funk sort of thing that I often dance West Coast Swing to. But it’s not something I would typically think of as “hop-hop”, either.
I’m not saying that Wikipedia is an authority, but here’s at least how it’s being defined there. They appear to be defining it as consisting of two main components – rapping and DJing (mixing, scratching, etc).
From Wiki:
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It appears that Hip-hop is the culture that rap music is a part of that also includes dance, fashion etc…
Ok, this is my most complicated post yet and I hope this works, if not just look it up on wiki. 
Here’s how dictionary.com defines it.
Most sources I’ve seen refer to the term “hip-hop” by itself as the entire youth culture built around it (including clothing, graffiti art, etc), not just the music itself. But sources I’ve looked at that use the phrase “hip-hop music” tend to use this not as a sysnonym for “rap music”, but rather to include the DJ-ing element mixed in.
Other sites are distinguishing between “hip-hop” and “hip-pop” – claiming that the letter term is better suited for most mainstream rap on the radio today.
Thanks all for the definitions. Based on those, I think I have been correctly identifying rap, and yes, *I * still think it sucks. Still not sure what exactly constitutes hip-hop, as those entries seem to say the term encompasses a culture, but I guess it’s safe to say that rap is a subclass of hip-hop, but all hip-hop doesn’t have to include rapping?
I think that’s correct. It could be hip-hop dance or just a DJ without a rapper/MC.
Is Aphex Twin hip-hop?
All Hip hop doesn’t suck. But MOST hip hop does. A bunch of flavor-of-the-week, no-talent, stylist-created clones. Most of them act like thugs but probably aren’t any more gangsta than Vanilla Ice.
I could get into some Dr. Dre, Snoop, and Ice Cube 15 years ago. But I’ve finally had my fill of bitches, money, and bling.
That’s no more most hiphop than Limp Bizkit is most rock music.
PS: You people need to kill your radios.
Rap is really just a particular style of lyrical delivery, and its use is not limited to hip-hop. Cradle of Filth have used rapped lyrics from time to time, and they’re definitely not hip-hop.
The Aphex Twin stuff I’ve got isn’t really, although he’s certainly lifted some hip-hop beats. Pretty unclassifiable IMO, unless you invoke the dread term “electronica”.
C.S. Lewis seemed to think so.
This movement to somehow seperate rap music from hip-hop music is a pretty recent development and I don’t really buy it. I guess a case could be made that hip-hop is the culture, but honestly, it began as hip-hop music. Period. So I’d say that hip-hop (synonomous with rap) is the music, and all the other stuff (breaking, graph, etc.) is hip-hop culture, an offshoot of the music.
Then, I’d say, hip-hop is undefinable, just as obscenity. You know it when you hear it. All definitions that can be given of hip-hop can be counter-argued with a legitimate exception.
I think that’s true. I talked about this with a co-worker who is also a long-time fan of the genre. We both agreed that rap is a subset of hip-hop, and we were both able to cite several examples of things that were and were not hip-hop.
However, when I talked to her about this thread and trying to define hip-hop, we were both equally at a loss about how to describe it, outside of recognizing a certain pattern of beats and rhythms. The phrase “you know it when you hear it” came up. I remain very much of the mind that r4’s first example is absolutely hip-hop.
Well, there is hip-hop that isn’t rap. Turntablism is no doubt hip-hop, but does not include rapped vocals, for instance.
Also, there are hip hop artists who don’t rap, or who don’t always rap: Lauryn Hill, Dre3000, Jill Scott. Erykah Badu. They are all considered hip hop artists.
And of course there’s Blondie’s “Rapture”, which is what I was really trying to remember and just not having any luck with…
I’ve been trying to *forget * it and haven’t had any luck.
Everyone here who thought they’d live to see Blondie, T.S. Eliot, Shakespeare, Nietzsche and Fifty Cent mentioned in the same thread, raise your hand.
That’s what I thought…