After 10 years, the Understand Rap website is no longer being maintained.

The main pages of the site have been preserved, but all user accounts and data have been removed. We no longer serve advertisements or track any visitor information as referenced in the Privacy Policy or Terms of Use.

You can still order the book from Abrams Books, Indie Bound, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

I'd like to thank all the people in my life who inspired and supported this idea back in 2009, the artists around the world making rap music every day, the anonymous individuals on IRC who helped me implement the site, everyone who contributed content in the form of confusing lyrics or insightful explanations, the media outlets who reviewed the site and interviewed me, and Abrams Books for believing in the concept in book form and approaching me to draft a manuscript.

Terms of Use

The Understand Rap web site (the "Site") is an online information service provided by Understand Rap ("Understand Rap") and its administrator(s), subject to your compliance with the terms and conditions set forth below. PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCESSING OR USING THE SITE. BY ACCESSING OR USING THE SITE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH BELOW. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE THE SITE. Understand Rap MAY MODIFY THIS AGREEMENT AT ANY TIME, AND SUCH MODIFICATIONS SHALL BE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UPON POSTING OF THE MODIFIED AGREEMENT ON THE SITE. YOU AGREE TO REVIEW THE AGREEMENT PERIODICALLY TO BE AWARE OF SUCH MODIFICATIONS AND YOUR CONTINUED ACCESS OR USE OF THE SITE SHALL BE DEEMED YOUR CONCLUSIVE ACCEPTANCE OF THE MODIFIED AGREEMENT.

1. COPYRIGHT, LICENSES, AND IDEA SUBMISSIONS:

The entire contents of the Site are protected by international copyright and trademark laws. The owner of the copyrights and trademarks are Understand Rap and its administrator(s). YOU MAY NOT MODIFY, COPY, REPRODUCE, REPUBLISH, UPLOAD, POST, TRANSMIT, OR DISTRIBUTE, IN ANY MANNER, THE MATERIAL ON THE SITE, INCLUDING TEXT, GRAPHICS, CODE AND/OR SOFTWARE. You may print and download portions of material from the different areas of the Site solely for your own non-commercial use provided that you agree not to change or delete any copyright or proprietary notices from the materials. You agree to grant to Understand Rap a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual license, with the right to sub-license, to reproduce, distribute, transmit, create derivative works of, publicly display and publicly perform any materials and other information (including, without limitation, ideas contained therein for new or improved products and services) you submit to any public areas of the Site or by e-mail to Understand Rap or its administrator(s) (including, but not limited to Questions, Answers, Explanations, Interpretations, Album Reviews, Events, Comments, and other related types of content) by all means and in any media now known or hereafter developed. You also grant to Understand Rap the right to use your name in connection with the submitted materials and other information as well as in connection with all advertising, marketing and promotional material related thereto. You agree that you shall have no recourse against Understand Rap for any alleged or actual infringement or misappropriation of any proprietary right in your communications to Understand Rap. Understand Rap and all content on Understand Rap is copyrighted and protected, and unauthorized copying of the site as a whole or any content on Understand Rap is prohibited. Understand Rap (including all content) is provided as-is, and you should use Understand Rap at your own risk. Understand Rap and its administrator(s) do not warrant in any way the accuracy of the content on this site. Understand Rap welcomes opinions from its users and all information contained on this site [whether submitted by users or the administrator(s) of Understand Rap and including (but not limited to) artists, albums, album reviews, songs, song interpretations, terms, term explanations, questions, answers, events, and associated information] should be considered opinion and not fact. Opinions expressed by users of Understand Rap do not reflect the views of Understand Rap nor its administrator(s), and the information on Understand Rap should not be assumed to be fact. Under no circumstances shall Understand Rap be liable for any consequential, direct, incidental, indirect, punitive or special damages related to the use of, the inability to use, or errors or omissions in the contents and functions of Understand Rap.

2. TRADEMARKS:

Publications, products, content or services referenced herein or on the Site are the exclusive trademarks or servicemarks of Understand Rap. Other product and company names mentioned in the Site may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Some content on Understand Rap references artists and their work. Artist names, album titles, record company names, album release dates, song titles, terms used in songs, and other similar types of content are included for the purpose of providing information about, criticism of, interpretaion of, and explanation of the aforementioned content by users. Artist names, album titles, record company names, song titles, and other similar types of content are included for informational purposes, to support the understanding of certain events and their significance, to provide background and support for answering questions, to clarify language that may be found confusing or have multiple meanings or explanations depending on the context of such content, and other informational or educational purposes.

3. CONTENT:

Although content on Understand Rap is primarily intended to promote the understanding of rap music and associated ideas, concepts, and events, it may or may not be completely factual and is intended for entertainment purposes only. Rankings and votes for content on Understand Rap are a result of user actions and shall not be considered endoresment of this content by Understand Rap nor its administrator(s). User contributed content including (but not limited to) artists, albums, album reviews, songs, song interpretations, terms, term explanations, questions, answers, events, and comments may not be moderated and, even if such content is moderated, moderation is to screen content which contains spam, which links to third-party sites, which contains misinformation, or which seems to be inappropriate. Any content submitted to Understand Rap by users may be rejected, deleted, edited, or unpublished without reason or cause and without providing notification to any user. Because some of the content on Understand Rap contains vulgar and/or controversial language, Understand Rap is not intended for anyone under 18 years of age and is intended to be accessed only by users 18 years of age or older. Parental discretion is advised if a parent wishes to allow their child to view Understand Rap. If you are not yet 18 years of age or are offended by any of the content on this site, please do not use Understand Rap.

4. CONTESTS AND PROMOTIONS:

Understand Rap may offer promotions or contests through the site which may have their own Terms and Conditions in addition to these Terms. Additional terms may be stated on Understand Rap, and your participation in any promotion or contest is on a voluntary basis and may be withdrawn by you or Understand Rap at any time. Any promotion or contest may be terminated, canceled, or made unavailable to you or all visitors to Understand Rap at any time and without reason. Your qualification to participate in any promotions or contests and judgement of whether or not you have won, lost, or are eligible for such promotions or contests is up to the administrator(s) of Understand Rap.

5. USE:

You understand that, except for information, products or services clearly identified as being supplied by Understand Rap, Understand Rap does not operate, control or endorse any information, products or services on the Internet in any way. Except for Understand Rap- identified information, products or services, all information, products and services offered through the Site or on the Internet generally are offered by third parties, that are not affiliated with Understand Rap. You also understand that Understand Rap cannot and does not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading through the Site will be free of infection or viruses, worms, Trojan horses or other code that manifest contaminating or destructive properties. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to the Site for the reconstruction of any lost data. YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK FOR YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND THE INTERNET. Understand Rap PROVIDES THE SITE AND RELATED INFORMATION "AS-IS" AND DOES NOT MAKE ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS OR ENDORSEMENTS WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR NONINFRINGEMENT, OR THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE) WITH REGARD TO THE SERVICE, ANY MERCHANDISE INFORMATION OR SERVICE PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICE OR ON THE INTERNET GENERALLY, AND Understand Rap SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY COST OR DAMAGE ARISING EITHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FROM ANY SUCH TRANSACTION. IT IS SOLELY YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO EVALUATE THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS AND USEFULNESS OF ALL OPINIONS, ADVICE, SERVICES, MERCHANDISE AND OTHER INFORMATION PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICE OR ON THE INTERNET GENERALLY. Understand Rap DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE SERVICE WILL BE CORRECTED. YOU UNDERSTAND FURTHER THAT THE PURE NATURE OF THE INTERNET CONTAINS UNEDITED MATERIALS SOME OF WHICH ARE SEXUALLY EXPLICIT OR MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO YOU. YOUR ACCESS TO SUCH MATERIALS IS AT YOUR RISK. Understand Rap HAS NO CONTROL OVER AND ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER FOR SUCH MATERIALS.

Limitation of Liability:

IN NO EVENT WILL Understand Rap BE LIABLE FOR (I) ANY INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INDIRECT DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF PROGRAMS OR INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE, OR ANY INFORMATION, OR TRANSACTIONS PROVIDED ON THE SERVICE, OR DOWNLOADED FROM THE SERVICE, OR ANY DELAY OF SUCH INFORMATION OR SERVICE. EVEN IF Understand Rap OR ITS AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR (II) ANY CLAIM ATTRIBUTABLE TO ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR OTHER INACCURACIES IN THE SERVICE AND/OR MATERIALS OR INFORMATION DOWNLOADED THROUGH THE SERVICE. BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH STATES, Understand Rap LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
Understand Rap makes no representations whatsoever about any other web site which you may access through this one or which may link to this Site. When you access a non-Understand Rap web site, please understand that it is independent from Understand Rap, and that Understand Rap has no control over the content on that web site. In addition, a link to a Understand Rap web site page does not mean that Understand Rap endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content, or the use, of such web site.

6. INDEMNIFICATION:

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Understand Rap, its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, suppliers, administrator(s), and any third party information providers to the Service from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, resulting from any violation of this Agreement (including negligent or wrongful conduct) by you or any other person accessing the Service.

7. THIRD PARTY RIGHTS:

The provisions of paragraphs 2 ("TRADEMARKS"), 3 ("CONTENT"), 4 ("CONTESTS AND PROMOTIONS"), 5 ("USE", including section "Limitation of Liability"), and 6 ("INDEMNIFICATION") are for the benefit of Understand Rap and its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, suppliers, and any third party information providers to the Service. Each of these individuals or entities shall have the right to assert and enforce those provisions directly against you on its own behalf.

8. TERM; TERMINATION:

This Agreement may be terminated by either party without notice at any time for any reason. The provisions of paragraphs 1 ("COPYRIGHT, LICENSES, AND IDEA SUBMISSIONS"), 2 ("TRADEMARKS"), 3 ("CONTENT"), 4 ("CONTESTS AND PROMOTIONS"), 5 ("USE", including section "Limitation of Liability"), 6 ("INDEMNIFICATION"), 7 ("THIRD PARTY RIGHTS"), and 9 ("MISCELLANEOUS") shall survive any termination of this Agreement.

9. MISCELLANEOUS:

This Agreement shall all be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of The United States of America applicable to agreements made and to be performed in The United States of America. You agree that any legal action or proceeding between Understand Rap and you for any purpose concerning this Agreement or the parties' obligations hereunder shall be brought exclusively in a federal or state court of competent jurisdiction sitting in The State of Washington in The United States of America. Any cause of action or claim you may have with respect to the Service must be commenced within one (1) year after the claim or cause of action arises or such claim or cause of action is barred. Understand Rap's failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. Neither the course of conduct between the parties nor trade practice shall act to modify any provision of this Agreement. Understand Rap may assign its rights and duties under this Agreement to any party at any time without notice to you.

Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.

If you have any questions about the Understand Rap Terms of Use, please contact us and do not access Understand Rap.