# Rap, Hip Hop, R&B- what's the difference? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rap-hip-hop-r-b-whats-the-difference/256397 "2004-07-22T19:41:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rap-hip-hop-r-b-whats-the-difference/256397/21 "2004-07-23T22:55:08Z")
> [@Qwertyasdfg](#): > > That’s the sort of distinction that I make between hip-hop music and rap. Technically they’re the same thing, but one (hip-hop) has that certain something that the other lacks. You can make up whatever distinctions you want - you can say that the difference between a lamp and a lightbulb is that one of them has better taste in classic automobiles - but that doesn’t make you right. ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rap-hip-hop-r-b-whats-the-difference/256397/22 "2004-07-23T23:26:40Z")
That’s true, but I specifically said in my post that it was my opinion, and even gave an overview of the more generally accepted distinction that people make. But, again, that’s just their opinion. That said, I’m not the only one who makes this distinction. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rap-hip-hop-r-b-whats-the-difference/256397/23 "2004-07-24T00:21:06Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > I’m glad somebody thought to ask, as I’d wondered about those distinctions for some time. I thought Hip Hop had something to do with that one song “hip, hop, hipping to the hopping don’t stop a rocking to the bang bang” or however it goes (Rapper’s Delight?). …she said, my name is Lois Lane, I got a boyfriend named Superman I said, He’s a fairy, I do suppose flyin’ through the air in pantyhose. “Rapper’s Delight” forever will be the song that defines Rap for me, although the man from mars is through with cars and through with bars and now he only eats guitars yeah, uh, what was I saying? ---
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rap-hip-hop-r-b-whats-the-difference/256397/24 "2004-07-24T02:35:48Z")
> [@noname](#): > > This is really informative. But tell me, if rap is all about talking about guns and sex over a steady beat, then how come M C Hammer was called a rapper? ‘You can’t touch this’ had a pretty good dance beat, and no, he did’t talk of how many people he had killed or how many girls he had sex with. He himself said that he wanted to be the best rapper ever (a quote right at the begining of his career). Didn’t you read anything I wrote? I don’t say this often but I’m probably most qualified to answer your question being that I probably buy, download and listen to more rap music in a week than most people on this board will in their entire life…rap is rap regardless of the content. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rap-hip-hop-r-b-whats-the-difference/256397/25 "2004-07-24T03:14:20Z")
> [@START](#): > > I’m probably most qualified to answer your question being that I probably buy, download and listen to more rap music in a week than most people on this board will in their entire life…rap is rap regardless of the content. Did you think that there might be people here who, in addition to listening to X amount of rap music every week, are actually rappers themselves? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rap-hip-hop-r-b-whats-the-difference/256397/26 "2004-07-24T04:05:44Z")
> [@START](#): > > Didn’t you read anything I wrote? I don’t say this often but I’m probably most qualified to answer your question being that I probably buy, download and listen to more rap music in a week than most people on this board will in their entire life…rap is rap regardless of the content. And how does this qualify you over a rapper, a music historian, or a musicologist? Just listening a lot doesn’t make you an expert. It certainly gives you an informed opinion, but it’s not everything. ---
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rap-hip-hop-r-b-whats-the-difference/256397/27 "2004-07-24T07:41:50Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Did you think that there might be people here who, in addition to listening to X amount of rap music every week, are actually rappers themselves? How do you know I’m not a rapper, how do you know I don’t write my own raps…and I’m not just a casual listener of Hip Hop but I am immersed in the culture. It was a simple question that was easy for me to answer and I’m not a music historian, don’t need to be for that particular question. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rap-hip-hop-r-b-whats-the-difference/256397/28 "2004-07-24T18:28:51Z")
We’ve been over this a thousand times and no one ever likes my data, despite being from a pretty good source. I worked at an HBUC for several years. _All_ of the students there _only_ used “hip hop”. Some sub-genres like “gangsta rap” were okay labelled as such. But _anyone_ who referred to “rap music” was laughed at like a clueless idiot. If you wanted to be seen as “clueless white kid from the suburbs”, then “rap music” is _the_ term to use. As to R&B, there are never any clear lines between genres. E.g., Boyz II Men worked both sides of the track. So, different genres but crossovers could be done without much ado. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rap-hip-hop-r-b-whats-the-difference/256397/29 "2004-07-24T19:34:59Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I worked at an HBUC for several years What is an HBUC? > [@ftg](#): > > All of the students there only used “hip hop” Well, they might not have been technically wrong, since _hip hop_ could be shorthand for _hip hop music_, which is more or less synonymous with rap. > [@ftg](#): > > But anyone who referred to “rap music” was laughed at like a clueless idiot. Sounds like the students were clueless idiots. > [@ftg](#): > > If you wanted to be seen as “clueless white kid from the suburbs”, then “rap music” is the term to use. Ah yes, the proverbial stupid white kid from the suburbs :rolleyes: > [@ftg](#): > > As to R&B, there are never any clear lines between genres. E.g., Boyz II Men worked both sides of the track. I must admit that I wasn’t a fan but I don’t remember Boyz II Men ever doing anything anywhere near rap. Are you sure you’re not thinking of Bel Biv Devoe? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rap-hip-hop-r-b-whats-the-difference/256397.md?page=1)