Art Rap

Art rap is a term for experimental, literate hip-hop coined by Los Angeles rapper *Open Mike Eagle*, who adopted it from the language of art rock to describe rap that treats songwriting and concept as ends in themselves. Its artists — among them *Busdriver*, *Milo*, and the groups *cLOUDDEAD* and *Antipop Consortium* — favour dense, allusive writing, unconventional structures and production borrowed from indie rock, jazz and electronic music over commercial rap formulas. Open Mike Eagle has described the label as a home for rappers too strange for the mainstream yet committed to craft.