Eazy-E

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Eazy-E

American musician

Also known as: Eric Wright

Learn about this topic in these articles:

Dr. Dre

In Dr. Dre
…Wit Attitudes) with fellow rappers Eazy-E and Ice Cube. The group’s second album, Straight Outta Compton (1988), was a breakthrough for the nascent gangsta rap movement, featuring explicit descriptions (and often glorifications) of street violence and drug dealing. While Dre appeared prominently as a rapper in N.W.A, his most-lauded role…
Read More

Ice Cube

In Ice Cube: N.W.A
…his first song to rapper Eazy-E and Ruthless Records. The song, originally titled “The Boyz-n-the-Hood,” was passed over by one rap group before being recorded by Eazy-E himself. The result was a major success as both Eazy-E’s first single and as the first collaboration between future N.W.A members Ice Cube,…
Read More

rap

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rap

music

Also known as: rap music

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: May 15, 2025 • Article History

Key People:: Kanye West; Ice-T; Drake; Mac Miller; Wu-Tang Clan

Related Topics:: hip-hop; gangsta rap; funk; rap metal; trap music

On the Web:: University of Michigan - Program for Research on Black Americans - Rap Music and Rap Audiences: Controversial Themes, Psychological Effects and Political Resistance (PDF) (May 15, 2025)

See all related content

rap, musical style in which rhythmic and/or rhyming speech is chanted (“rapped”) to musical accompaniment. This backing music, which can include digital sampling (music and sounds extracted from other recordings), is also called hip-hop, the name used to refer to a broader cultural movement that includes rap, deejaying (turntable manipulation), graffiti painting, and break dancing. Rap, which originated in African American communities in New York City, came to national prominence with the Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” (1979). Rap’s early stars included Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J, Public Enemy (who espoused a radical political message), and the Beastie Boys. The late 1980s saw the advent of “gangsta rap,” with lyrics that were often misogynistic or that glamorized violence and drug dealing. Later stars include Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, OutKast, Eminem, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Drake, and Nicki Minaj.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.