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Mafioso rap is a hip hop sub-genre which flourished in the mid-1990s. It is the pseudo-Mafia extension of East Coast hardcore rap.

Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is credited with popularizing Mafia and gangster movie motifs in Mafioso Rap

In contrast to West Coast and many other East Coast gangsta rappers, who tended to depict realistic urban life on the ghetto streets, Mafioso rappers' subject matter included self-indulgent and luxurious fantasies of rappers as Mobsters, or Mafiosi, while making numerous references towards notorious crime organizations of the Italian underworld, including the Gambino crime family and Cosa Nostra. Fantasized and fictional narratives told by Mafioso rappers are often adapted versions of classic crime thrillers, most notably Bonnie and Clyde, No Way Out, The Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino, King of New York, and Scarface. Another trademark feature of Mafioso rap is the idolizing of high profile organized crime figures. These crime kingpins range from legendary gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s such as Al Capone, Frank Costello, and Lucky Luciano, to the druglords of Latin America (including Pablo Escobar).

Alongside Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Doe Or Die is often considered as one of the prototypical albums of the Mafioso rap genre

On the cover and artwork of his album Reasonable Doubt, Jay-Z made several references to Italian mafiosi with his top hat, suit and cigar, as well as the lyrical content.

The Mafia has been a staple reference for hip-hop artists since the genre's earliest days. LL Cool J, for instance, was among the first rappers to do so in his song "I'm Bad": "Not the last Mafioso, I'm an MC cop.". Similiarily, Kool G Rap was one of the first rappers to make the Mafioso lifestyle a major theme in his lyrics. Kool G Rap's epic tales, chronicling the crime underworld of drug trafficking and the luxurious pleasures of the high-end illegal business, inspire the related Mafioso rap phenomenon of the mid-1990s, which later achieved some mainstream success and great critical acclaim with albums such as Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, AZ's Doe Or Die, and Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt. Although not as prevalent today, that lastest example of Mafioso Rap is Rick Ross', Push It. At the genre's zenith in the mainstream music industry, mafioso-inspired albums, including P.Diddy's No Way Out, Nas's It Was Written and Biggie's Life After Death, went on to become multi-platinum commercial successes.

Ironically, the act of taking the name of a famous mafioso character originated with Ghostface Killah, an influential innovator in hip-hop. Using the name "Tony Stark", he penned a number of lyrics that became widely known in the hip-hop genre. Other rappers taking cue assumed his namesake was an Italian character, and presumed it to be of mafia origins. In fact, the name "Tony Stark" was taken from none other than the alter-ego of the Marvel superhero Iron-Man, another of Ghostface's alias and mentioned as one of his favorite comics.

• Mac Dre
• Raekwon
• Kool G Rap
• Biggie Smalls - Also known as "Frank White" (an allusion to the film, King of New York)
• Jay-Z- Also known as "Iceberg Slim"
• Nas - Also known as Nas Escobar
• Mobb Deep
• Rick Ross
• Scarface
• AZ
• Cormega
• Capone-N-Noreaga
• Fat Joe
• Big Pun
• Cuban Link
• 3rd Degree

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