Dirty Rap - Contemporary Dirty Rap

Contemporary Dirty Rap

Dirty rap was a popular subgenre into the late 1990s and 2000s, particular in Southern hip hop. Luke Campbell of 2 Live Crew continues to produce dirty rap as a solo artist.

Kool Keith described the lyrical content of his 1997 album Sex Style as "pornocore". The album features Keith variously portraying himself as characters ranging from pimps to perverts. Keith also uses sexual metaphors to diss other rappers, many of which involve urolagnia.

In 2000, Afroman released the comical rap single "Crazy Rap," a song in which he describes sexual activities such as anal intercourse in heavy detail. While many of his songs focus on sex, Afroman's songs can range from topics such as drugs to life in the ghetto.

The genre has made a strong comeback in 2005 with the two hit singles, Ying-Yang Twins' sexually explicit "Wait (The Whisper Song)", as well as David Banner's dirty single, "Play," both produced by the "father of snap", Mr. Collipark. D4L also garnered success that year with their dirty rap single, "Laffy Taffy," a song dedicated to the female labia. Plies released a dirty rap/R&B song with singer Tank called "You" where he makes graphic references to oral and anal sex as well as ejaculation. Most of Plies' work focuses on drugs and violence and he is not a full-time dirty artist, although almost all the singles released contained dirty rap. Other southern-based artists, such as Three 6 Mafia and Lil Wayne, often include lyrics focusing on sexual exploits in their music.

Some examples of dirty rap by eastcoast rap artists include Akinyele's "Put It in Your Mouth", The Notorious B.I.G's "Nasty Girl", Lil' Kim's "How Many Licks?", Bravehearts' "Oochie Wally", 50 Cent's "Magic Stick", "Candy Shop", and "AYO Technology", featuring Justin Timberlake, which contains references to looking at porn and urges to perform in bisexual activities. Also notable is "Tush" by Ghostface Killah and Missy Elliott.

Female artists such as Lil' Kim, Gangsta Boo, Khia, Lil' Slow, the Miami-based Jacki-O and Trina are prominent in the once male-only genre.

Many recent indie rappers, such as Spank Rock, Bonde Do Role, Amanda Blank and Yo Majesty have created an underground, electro funk and dance-influenced version of dirty rap, dubbed "electro-smut" by Spin Magazine. These rappers are heavily influenced by the Baltimore Club and ghettotech scenes.