Meanings
- slanguncountableentertainmentUnderground or alternative rap music.
The sound of backpack rap dates to rap music's origins, but was popularized in the late 1980s and early 1990s by “Native Tongue” acts such as De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest.
2014, Geoff Harkness, Chicago Hustle and Flow: Gangs, Gangsta Rap, and Social Class1 more example
Backpack rap is often synonymous with underground rap, in which the focus is on lyrical craft. Backpack rappers tend to avoid topics that are common in mainstream commercial rap, such as money and expensive cars; […]
2018, Michael Berry, Listening to Rap: An Introduction
Origin
In reference to the backpacks in which records might be carried.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
backpack rap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backpack%20rap
“backpack rap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backpack%20rap. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “backpack rap,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backpack%20rap.
Source: backpack rap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.