hype man

[ hahyp man ]

noun

1. (in rap music) a supporting performer who energizes and engages the audience and punctuates the rapper’s lyrics with shouted interjections:

   The show ran out of steam without a hype man to keep the crowd excited and the rapper on point.

2. an enthusiastic and vocal supporter or promoter of a person, group, or thing; booster:

   His antics from the bench have made this rookie college basketball’s most recognizable hype man.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hype man¹

First recorded in 2000–05

Example Sentences

Yet Walz was here playing hype man and encouraging folks to canvass their friends and family to vote for her husband and Harris in a few short weeks.

From Slate

This seemed far more dangerous than any hype man screaming about the evils of the secular world.

From Slate

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the former Democrat-turned-MAGA hype man, admitted he'd eaten a dog, which somehow is the least strange of his many animal encounters involving dead bears, dead whales, and a dead worm in his brain.

From Salon

The rapper was named the official hype man for the U.S. women’s water polo team at the Olympics after team captain Maggie Steffens posted on Instagram asking for support.

From Los Angeles Times

Stranger and equally as wonderful are Flavor Flav’s enthusiastic shout-outs to the USA women's water polo Olympic team, part of a five-year sponsorship deal casting him as its official hype man as well as the booster for the men’s national teams.

From Salon