Midwest hip-hop is a style of hip hop that refers specifically to hip hop music originated within the Midwestern United States.
The Midwest scene is very musically diverse, but shares some popular elements. One of the most prominent is a preference for fast, flow-heavy rapping represented mostly by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Twista, though artists such as Copywrite, Tech N9ne and Eminem have delved into the style to varying degrees. The sampling of House music is popular in Chicago, as is live instrumentation, which major Chicago artist Kanye West uses in his recording sessions. Acid rap is a style made by Detroit, popularized mainly by Esham, even though Detroit is influenced by Gangsta rap. By contrast, acts from Milwaukee and Minneapolis such as Black Elephant and Atmosphere tend towards a more abstract, neo-soul influenced sound that favors, underground, rather than mainstream audiences.