The word hip-hop was coined by

Keith 'Cowboy' Wiggins, a member of the hip-hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, is credited with coining the term 'hip-hop' in the late 1970s. He used it to mock a friend who had joined the Army, but the term caught on and became the name for the emerging cultural movement. The term later came to encompass the four elements: MCing, DJing, breakdancing, and graffiti art.