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How rap actually works

Explanations of the terms, techniques and industry mechanics that the artist and scene pages assume you already know.

• What is chopped and screwed?A Houston DJ technique from the early 1990s that became one of the most widely copied production ideas in modern music.
• What is drill music?A style that started on Chicago's South Side, mutated in London, and came back to New York as something different again.
• What is trap music?The production language that went from a specific Atlanta subgenre to the default sound of global pop in about fifteen years.
• What is crunk?Loud, shouted, built entirely for a room — and the bridge between Memphis's underground and Atlanta's takeover.
• How RIAA certifications actually workWhat gold, platinum and diamond mean in 2026, how streams count toward them, and what does not count at all.
• How the Billboard 200 counts streamsThe ratios changed in January 2026, and most published explainers still carry the old numbers.
• What is a producer tag?The short vocal drop at the start of a beat, and how it became one of the most effective branding devices in music.
• What is horrorcore?Graphic horror imagery delivered over rap production — a small subgenre with an influence far larger than its sales.