"Rape Me" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the fourth song on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero, released in September 1993.

Often interpreted as a commentary on fame, "Rape Me" was written shortly before the release of the band's breakthrough album Nevermind, and was intended to be a lyrically literal anti-rape song. However, the song's bridge was written several months later, and does contain lyrics that reference the struggles Cobain and his wife, Courtney Love, faced with the media following Nirvana's mainstream success. The song's title and lyrics led to MTV blocking Nirvana from performing it at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, before it had been released, and also contributed to In Utero initially not being sold by American big-box stores Walmart and Kmart.

"Rape Me" was released as the album's second single in December 1993, packaged as a double A-side with "All Apologies". It reached number 32 on the UK Singles Chart and also reached the Top 40 in Belgium and Ireland. It was the band's final single before Cobain's suicide in April 1994.

"Rape Me" was written by Cobain on an acoustic guitar in Los Angeles in May 1991, around the time the band's second album, Nevermind, was being mixed. It was first performed live on June 18, 1991, at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz. The earliest live versions of the song featured a guitar solo instead of a bridge.

The song's lyrics led to controversy even before it had been officially released. The band had wanted to play it during their appearance at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, but according to Nirvana manager Danny Goldberg in his 2019 Cobain biography Serving the Servant, MTV president Judy McGrath was worried that the song "would make it seem like MTV was normalizing rape." Goldberg recalled reminding McGrath on the phone of Cobain's "commitment to feminism" and assured her that "Rape Me" was an anti-rape song, like "Polly" on Nevermind, but said McGrath "wasn't having it" and wanted the band to play their latest single, "Lithium," instead. The band eventually agreed, but Cobain still played a few seconds of "Rape Me" at the start of the performance, which resulted in the live broadcast almost going to commercial. In Serving the Servant, Goldberg refuted common reports that the network threatened to fire Amy Finnerty, an MTV employee and friend of the band, or boycott other artists signed to Geffen Records, if Nirvana played "Rape Me", saying that "the MTV people were under a lot of pressure to get good ratings, but they weren't bullies, just noodges."

"Rape Me" was first recorded in the studio in October 1992, during a two-day demo session with Jack Endino at Word of Mouth in Seattle, Washington. Two takes of the song were recorded, one of which was instrumental, the other of which featured lead vocals by Cobain and backing vocals by drummer Dave Grohl. Cobain was holding his then-infant daughter Frances Bean Cobain on his lap when he recorded his vocals on the second take, and she can be heard crying on the recording. This version of the song was released on the Nirvana rarities box set, With the Lights Out, in November 2004, and on the compilation album Sliver: The Best of the Box in November 2005.

The final studio version of "Rape Me" was recorded in February 1993 by Steve Albini at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, for the band's third and final studio album, In Utero. The instruments for the song were recorded on February 15. The following day, Cobain completed his vocals for the album during a reported six-hour session.

According to Albini, Cobain's screaming during the song's ending was intentionally recorded so that it "just overwhelms the band and becomes this really uncomfortable presence." However, the album's more abrasive vocals in general were softened in the mastered version.