Rapping (also known as emceeing,MCing,spitting (bars), or rhyming) refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” (rhythm and rhyme), and “delivery”. Rapping is distinct from spoken word poetry in that it is performed in time to a beat.

Rapping is a primary ingredient in hip hop music and reggae, but the phenomenon predates hip hop culture by centuries. It can also be found in alternative rock such as that of Cake and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Rapping is also used in Kwaito music, a genre that originated in Johannesburg, South Africa and is composed of hip hop elements. Rapping can be delivered over a beat or without accompaniment. Stylistically, rap occupies a gray area among speech, prose, poetry, and song. The use of the word to describe quick speech or repartee long predates the musical form, meaning originally "to hit". The word had been used in British English since the 16th century, and specifically meaning "to say" since the 18th. It was part of the African American dialect of English in the 1960s meaning "to converse", and very soon after that in its present usage as a term denoting the musical style. Today, the terms "rap" and "rapping" are so closely associated with hip hop music that many use the terms interchangeably.

Andre Levins, also known as A+ (born August 29, 1982,Hempstead, New York) is an American rapper. As a teenager he released albums in 1996 and in 1999.

A+ began his music career in 1995, after winning a national talent competition sponsored by Def Jam Records. He was the first act signed to Kedar Massenburg's record label, Kedar Entertainment. According to Massenburg, the A+ moniker "means that he's striving for perfection, and he's not really talking about the same things as other young rappers." In 1996, at the age of 13, A+ released his first album, The Latch-Key Child, which featured contributions from AZ, Mobb Deep and Q-Tip. "All I See" was chosen as the lead single, and it peaked at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, staying for 14 weeks.

His second album, Hempstead High, was released in February 1999. Guest appearances on the album included DeBarge, the Lost Boyz and Canibus. The single "Enjoy Yourself", which sampled the 1976 Walter Murphy song "A Fifth of Beethoven," reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart, number 63 of the U.S. Hot 100 for three weeks, and was also commercially successful in Germany and Japan.

Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio personality, television host, author, actor and photographer best known for his radio show which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style. Stern has been exclusive to Sirius XM Radio, a subscription-based satellite radio service, since 2006. The son of a former recording and radio engineer, Stern wished to pursue a career in radio at the age of five. While at Boston University he worked at the campus station WTBU before a brief stint at WNTN in Newton, Massachusetts.

He developed his on-air personality when he landed positions at WRNW in Briarcliff Manor, WCCC in Hartford and WWWW in Detroit. In 1981, he was paired with his current newscaster and co-host Robin Quivers at WWDC in Washington, D.C. Stern then moved to WNBC in New York City in 1982 to host afternoons until his firing in 1985. He re-emerged on WXRK that year, and became one of the most popular radio personalities during his 20-year tenure at the station. Stern's show is the most-fined radio program, after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued fines to station licensees for allegedly indecent material that totaled $2.5 million. Stern has won Billboard's Nationally Syndicated Air Personality of the Year award eight times, and is one of the highest-paid figures in radio.

Justin Drew Bieber ( /ˈbiːbər/ BEE-bər, born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian Pop/R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher, and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid. Bieber's debut single, "One Time", was released in 2009 and peaked in the top twenty in Canada and charted in the top thirty in several international markets. His debut album, the seven-track EP My World, followed in November 2009, and was soon certified platinum in the United States. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born June 7, 1990), better known by her stage name Iggy Azalea is an Australian hip hop recording artist signed to Grand Hustle Records. She is perhaps better known for her promotional songs "Two Times", "Pu$$y" and "My World" whose music videos went viral on YouTube. On 27 September 2011, Azalea released her first project, a mixtape titled Ignorant Art, saying she made it "with the intent to make people question and redefine old ideals".

Iggy Azalea was born Amethyst Amelia Kelly in Sydney, Australia but moved with her family to Mullumbimby when she was still a baby, into a house on 12 acres that her father built by hand from mudbricks in New South Wales. Her father was a comic artist and painter and her mother a real estate agent. Azalea says her father "made her look at [art] as a teenager" which has always influenced her life and work.

Azalea began rapping at age 14. Azalea took her stage name from her family's dog while growing up. Before embarking on a solo career, Azalea formed a group with two other girls from her neighborhood: "I was like, I could be the rapper. This could be like TLC. I’ll be Left Eye." Azalea eventually decided to leave the group because the other girls weren’t taking it seriously: "I take everything I do serious. I’m too competitive."