Emo rap (also known as emo hip-hop and hipster hop) is a term typically used to describe hip hop music with melancholic, depressive, sorrowful or self-degrading lyrics comparable to that of emo music. Musically, emo rap is not always related to emocore, as it is lyrical content what defines emo rap.
History
According to Sage Francis, the term "emo rap" emerged when the press release to his "Personal Journals" album was published. The press release was written by , the founder of Anticon record label, who is also considered to be an emo rapper.
Artists can be considered to be emo rappers because of similarity to emocore in the lyrics (Sage Francis, Pigeon John), music (Zebrahead, P.O.S., MC Lars, Closed Heart Surgery) or similar listener base. Some artists are marketed towards indie or backpacker audience. Gym Class Heroes is a band considered to be emo rap by some, but certainly not by most critics.
Criticism
The cultural term emo has generated significant backlash, and many fans of alleged emo rap artists disapprove of such use of the term "emo." Like emo rock, emo rap is often criticized by artists labeled as such.
Emo rap is seen by some critics as an inherently racist or biased label, because most emo rappers are white, suggesting that other (mostly African American) rap artists are unemotional or shallow.
Some critics point out that emotion is nothing new to the hip hop scene, as many rappers (including gangsta rappers) write emotionally charged and/or romantic lyrics. This criticism fails to notice that "emo" in "emocore" or "emo rap" usually refers to very specific emotions such as depression, sorrow and hysteria, not to being emotional in general.
Criticism of rappers who try to market their music to non-urban audiences isn't limited to supposed "emo rap" artists, but to alternative hip hop at large.
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