Proto-rap
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Performance art forms that served as precursors to rap, especially those that feature rhythmic spoken and/or half-sung lyrics. uncountable
"They make much ado over Bob Dylan as a proto-rap pioneer, and taunt Public Enemy for being "unable to locate even one pure black source" (begging Chuck D's own question in "Fear of a Black Planet": "Who is Pure? What is pure?")."
- 2 A specific piece or performance delivered in such an art form. countable
"Another source of rap, this one closer to home, was George Clinton's funk; we heard a proto-rap at the beginning of “Tear the Roof Off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk)."
Example
More examples"They make much ado over Bob Dylan as a proto-rap pioneer, and taunt Public Enemy for being "unable to locate even one pure black source" (begging Chuck D's own question in "Fear of a Black Planet": "Who is Pure? What is pure?")."
Etymology
From proto- + rap.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.