The term gradually came to refer to someone with this musical taste, and now has almost nothing to do with graffiti (although certain "backpackers" may participate in graffiti "tagging.") The term also may have originated (or became popularized) through the association of "indie" hip hop listeners with underground rock movements such as "straight edge." The "straight edge" fashion style often involves backpacks, sometimes even if the backpack is not being used. As underground rap listeners co-mingled with "straight edge" rockers (or any punk rocker with the backpack style), the term may have become even more popular.

In the 1990s and 2000s, "backpacker" became a derogatory term to describe someone who listens only to independent hip-hop music, such as the nerdcore or "emo rap" sub-genre of hip-hop music. It is most often used in reference to (but not limited by) white suburbanite rap music listeners who tend to dislike mainstream rap music, specifically (but not limited to) gangsta rap and more recently southern rap.

Notes: Many Hip-Hop listeners from the 80s to early 90s agree that since the rise of the Internet has made it easier to acquire music that was once localized, Underground has died along with Backpackers and their three main principles, hence this modernized definition incorporating Independent rap/hip-hop music and locality of artists became less useful. Hip-Hop listeners with twenty or more years of experience will often disagree on the definition of Backpacker with the new era of listeners who never have experienced hip-hop without the Internet.