History Main / PopRap

* Ja Rule, beloved in the early 2000s for combining his thug persona with love songs and dance routines, as much as he denied being a pop rapper. His career as a credible force was ended after losing a beef with Eminem, another pop rapper in denial, who accused him of... being a pop rapper. Whew. Anyway, [[OvershadowedByControversy then he showed up running the Fyre Festival]].

* Music/MCHammer, known for his enormous "Hammer pants", athletic dancing and his wide appeal -- at the peak of his popularity, he had a Saturday morning cartoon. He faced a severe backlash due to the rise of GangstaRap and GFunk, which he attempted to transition into to little success (despite Music/TupacShakur as {{Ghostwriter}}). Ironically, in real life he had gang connections and was involved in some near-fatal beefs.

* Music/DJJazzyJeffAndTheFreshPrince:
** Creator/WillSmith, both solo and with DJ Jazzy Jeff, was a shameless pop rapper, and openly wore the label during the height of his solo career. This, and being famous for [[KinderAndCleaner not using profanity]], led to him being mocked by more hardcore contemporaries, most famously Music/{{Eminem}}. Ironically, Music/{{Nas}}, his total opposite (though he was flirting with pop rap at the time), was a ghostwriter on select tracks on his 1997 release ''Big Willie Style''.
** DJ Jazzy Jeff felt limited by the ContractualPurity of his association with Will Smith as it prevented him working with edgier rappers. A collaboration he did with the considerably more vulgar Music/{{Eminem}} ("When To Stand Up") was squelched by his record label for this reason.

* Music/SeanCombs and his Creator/BadBoyRecords was a significant force on pop rap in the late 90s and early 2000s, often blamed for the "Jiggy Era" or "Shiny Suit Era", a controversial moment in pop culture where rappers wore SpaceClothes and rapped about how much money they had into fish-eye lenses.
** Bad Boy signee Jadakiss of The L.O.X. made a significant album in this style (''Money, Power, Respect''), but admitted [[https://rockthebells.com/articles/jadakiss-admits-he-hated-the-shiny-suit-era/ he hated it]], rebelling against it as soon as he was able.
** Music/LilKim, one of the most controversial recipients of five mics in ''The Source'' for ''The Naked Truth'' in 2005 -- a review which [[https://www.passionweiss.com/2020/09/29/a-definitive-ranking-of-all-the-original-5-mic-albums-in-the-source/ commentators have speculated was payola]] at a time when ''The Source'' was struggling with its ownership and editorial staff.
** Ma$e, considered a great of the Shiny Suit Era. Famously quit rapping to become a priest.
** Music/MissyElliott, another great of the Shiny Suit Era, a boundary-pushing BigBeautifulWoman and [[DirtyRap sexually dominant]] female MC.

** 2009: ''Music/BangPowBoom''

** 1992 - ''Music/CarnivalOfCarnage''
** 1993 - ''Music/BeverlyKills50187''
** 1994: ''Music/{{Ringmaster}}''
** 1995: ''Music/RiddleBox''
** 1997 - ''Music/TheGreatMilenko''
** 1999 - ''Music/TheAmazingJeckelBrothers''
** 2000 - ''Music/BizaarBizzar''

** ''Music/CarnivalOfCarnage'' (1992)
** ''Music/BeverlyKills50187'' (1993)
** ''Music/TheGreatMilenko'' (1997)
** 2002: ''Music/{{The Wraith Shangri-La}}''

* Music/{{BoB}}, an iconic pop rapper of the early 2010s who is probably now better known for his [[ConspiracyTheory questionable views on astrophysics]].

* Man Parrish: 1983's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0L_AVc1OjE Boogie Down Bronx]]" is arguably the UrExample. Man was heavily influenced by Music/GiorgioMoroder-style disco, and had an image and music sensibility that was closer to "New York club scene" than what early hip-hop artists were doing at the time.