Are Hip Hop and Rap the same thing?

To put it plainly, yes, but then no. See, rap is an expression of music but more like words set to music; Its still a bit in it's young stages. Hip hop is also an expression of music and you may say came from rap but go further; Its also music but to many it is a way of life. Rap came first, then Hip Hop and to be honest you cannot have one without the other. I am going to add wikipedia's link, so you can understand further.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_music Now to a lot of America, many feel that rap is about the things you mentioned earlier; Sadly, that was not what it was all about. Rap and Hip Hop started as an expression of the inner city African American male or female put to song or music. If they had a good day, they talked about it, if it wasn't, they talked about it. The original rappers, they was just having some fun and hanging on the corner of the Bronx and starting a movement. They didn't know it then but now they do. I truly hoped I explained it well to you.