A rapper is a musician who performs rap music, which is a type of popular music of African-American origin that features rhythmic speaking set to a strong beat. Rapping is a style of music that spills over the boundaries of the beat, closely resembling spoken English. The first rappers were MCs who talked between songs to entertain the crowd while the DJs changed records, then the MCs started talking with the beat, and then boom: rap was born. The term "rapper" can also refer to a person who chats or talks, especially freely. Some examples of rappers include Kurtis Blow, MF Doom, Eminem, Drake, Kanye West, Rick Ross, and Young Jeezy.