“Every MC raps, but not every rapper is an MC”: Examining the MC/Rapper rivalry in American rap music

Abstract

What’s the difference between the terms “rapper” and “MC”? Do they both describe the same practice? How can their deep-seated rivalry be explained? And how has the symbolic hierarchy between them been established? Through an analysis of the rise (1973-1979) and the economic consolidation of the hip hop movement and of rap music (in the early 1980s), this article contends that the differences between the two terms rely on a chronological basis which then entailed a symbolic prevalence of “MC” over “rapper.”