This book contains the complete lyrics to 200 rap songs, with a history and overview of this musical form. Once dismissed as a fashionable music form, rap is a vital force in American culture itself. From music awards to McDonalds adverts, sounds of rap have permeated the media. Controversies caused by groups such as Public Enemy, sometime coarse language and lyrics of the street have caused the public at large to scrutinize popular music in an attempt to control it. The lyrics run from the socially aware to the hedonistic and selfish. While the Beastie Boys sing crudely about sex, durgs, music, and defy anyone to stop them, de la Soul, whose album sold 1.5 million copies, rap against drugs, oppression and for a sense of individuality.