Abstract hip hop is a genre that differs from other hip hop music largely in the content of the lyrics. In stark contrast to gangsta rap, which deals with the negative aspects of living in poor urban neighborhoods, justified violence, glorified ignorance and real or fabricated aspects of gang life. Abstract hip hop deals with topics that usually have no association with the hardcore gangster rap genre or even the mainstream rap genre which is often a watered-down version of gangster rap. Because the lyrics are not bound by genre association they can range from a party anthem such as Vivarant Thang or Bonita Applebaum by Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest respectively, both are positive odes to the woman of his desire that have a cohesive core but "abstract" slang used/made up by the artist, unusual combinations of common words to explain certain aspects of a story which are only understood by the fully-initiated to the completely abstract with a non-cohesive core and each stanza can be a statement, a thought striking concept or.. just rhyming words with not much meaning at all, a practice which exists in all areas of rap music. Pleasure is found in listening to the creative aspects of arranging the words with the beat, not so much that every song needs a moral and maybe it does, that's why it's abstract. Some see it as more of an experiment in the rapping art form than an integral part of the mainstream hip hop scene, some see it as a full-fleged hip-hop genre worthy or it's own respect and yet others see it as the link between Nu Soul/Neo Soul and Rap. More intellectual people gravitate toward conscious rap because of the more positive image, challenging word associations and hidden messages. Many abstract artists/conscious rappers are also community activists to a certain degree and have messages in thier songs. It is not a genre for those who follow the crowd, not a genre for followers in general.

One might expect that abstract hip hop, being less associated with a particular subculture, would be more widely accessible to the general public. On the contrary, due to a lack of commercialization, abstract hip hop is largely unknown outside the alternative hip hop scene. However, critics outside the hip hop community often see abstract hip hop as an overwhelmingly positive influence, lacking the perceived misogyny and violence of gangsta rap.

A couple artist's who define the Abstract Hip Hop movement are Q-Tip (formerly of A Tribe Called Quest) and Common. An honorable mention should be made for the Mos Def. Though his lyrics are not as abstract as others in the genre, he still fits on the fringe of this genre. There is a definite association with the "Abstract" genre and the "Conscious" genre. They at times are one in the same and at times completely different. As a quick aside, the "conscious" hip-hop genre or "movement" is an effort to move away from the negative images and ideas which are prevalent in mainstream rap which consumers have developed a taste for. To get back to the "essence" of rap when it was fun with a beat and rhyming words. The ripple effect of the 1990's gansta rap explosion racheted up the "machismo" across the industry up a couple notches to almost a "prison-level" mentality partly driven by female consumer interest in bad boys. Even as an R&B crooner it is more profitable for the guy to have a thuggish image, anything less and he won't get much notiriety among the 15-25 demographic ex. Ja Rule, R. Kelly, Jaheim, Mario Winans. An artist can be a perfecly manicured gentleman who sings of love and heartbreak (and not of all night sexual trysts) and have his chest hair waxed but he will only recieve mediocre recognition from that demographic who buys majority of the CD's this this genre such as RL, Glenn Lewis, Eric Benet, Ruben Studdard, AZ Yet. They may have spikes of successful sales because of a well-marketed single but no lasting popularity.

Some abstract hip-hop labels well-known in the underground scene are Nervous Records, Definitive Jux and Anticon.