The Grammar of Hip-hop - Essay Example

Topic: The Grammar of Hip-hop Introduction: Hip-hop music started from South Bronx, New York in 1979 when disc jockey DJ Kool Herc discussed about the songs being run by him in the mix in parties. Other musicians followed up the idea of talking over beats – a kind of music, which got identified as ‘East Coast rap’. The limitations of East Coast resulted in the beginning of a new style. Away from East Coast, musicians from the West Coast started with NWA (Niggers with Attitude), creating their own distinct rapping and musical style, known as West coast. Thus, West coast musicians were recognized as a different sub-genre of hip-hop by the quality of their disovery Kelley, 1996. On the other hand, musicians from the southern states, known in hip-hop scenario as ‘Dirty South’, are identified with African-American culture evoloved in the southern states before the Abolition Act Perkins, 1996; Chang, 1999. The Dirty South style takes its melodies from the Caribbean music like zydecco, ska and reggae. In lyrics, there is pun on fast-talking replacing it with accenting words and rhymes Krims, 2000, pp. 46–93. Background The hip-hop dance had become very famous among American boys and was making roots in the minds of European youngsters. The years 1983 and 1984 saw a change in the outlook of teen agers and pre-teenagers of European countries. The reason behind could be youngsters’ desire to show their masculinity, which was not coming out in the absence of traditional repertoires of western societies. It allowed them to show off their physical prowess and masculine attitude through hip-hop dance forms. Popping and break-dance became very popular at the end of 70s. It was an obsession with pre-teen and teen age children particularly boys , as “popping” and “breaking” provided a medium to exhibit their hidden energy, aggression and masculinity. Hip-hop spread from America to European countries, which was electric in itself in attaining all the paraphernalia like “right” music, clothes – was well supported by mass media and guest appearances from America. One can see the repetition of this hip-hop cultural identity in the body language of ethnic groups – their subjectivities and wants in semiological languages: dress code, body, architecture and photography. A research in an urban, French language high school based in southwestern Ontario, Canada glimpses the lives of a group of continental Francophone African youths along with their social identity. Not only their refugee status mattered to them but also their experiences on gender and race played an important part in how they identified with the society. The social imagery with which they identified, involved them in how they learned their language and culture. They learned Black Stylized English (BSE), acquired in Black popular culture – by reinstating the rap linguistic and musical genre. Television played no role in popularizing the “breakdancers”; it became popular because of commercialization. Of course, mass media played a positive part in popularizing hip-hop but it is beyond comprehension to find reasons of its extent. Boys in large numbers felt inspired to practice hip-hop dances in their puberty to express in their age and social context. School boys, otherwise disinterested in performing dance steps in music classes, started taking interest in learning difficult steps. Dance groups were formed; those who could perform hip-hop steps were welcome in-groups indicating social and psychological support while non-performers were out-grouped. In hip-hop cultural identity, BSE is Black English – a subcategory, called by Smitherman (1994) as “Black Talk” with its own grammar and syntax. BSE didn’t require mastery of the language; it was more nearer to ritual expressions like Whassup (what is happening), whadap (what is happening), and whassup my nigger, and yo, yo home boy (very cool and close friend). Language learning is not the issue; it is a type of saying: I, too, am Black” or “I, too, desire and identify with Blackness.” Outside America, not only local boys and girls but other ethnic groups were in forefront to hip-hop. Most of them belonged to pre-teen and teenage groups of immigrant boys who performed hip-hop with artistic perfection. Hip-hop became a medium to be accepted in social groups and appreciated. This point is well described in a film, ‘Tap Dancin’ (C. Blackwood, 1983). Honi Coles, the black American, an earlier tap dancer, remarks, “I think I would have made it big in film. I think I would have had the same opportunities as Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly or Lee Dickson or any other guy at that period. Opportunities just didn’t afford themselves, you know. But I think I would have, had I been white. I don’t know—I mean I might not even have been a dancer if I’d been a white.” One important aspect of pre-teens and teen-age groups of admirers was that it was boys’ field, as they were better dancers than girls; it was because they wanted to show, they were not just fighters but masters of hip-hop and besides, created an impression on girls of their own age. Teenagers wanted to identify with their sex and hip-hop became instrumental in their desire to show off virility and masculinity through dance movements. Origin of AAL The African-American language (AAL) -- the racialized grandiosity of rap music and hip-hop, is enveloped in the communicative practices of bigger Black speech community. Known as Black English, African-American vernacular English and ‘Ebonics’, (from “Ebony” for Black, and “phonics”) for sound, it (AAL) has been thoroughly studied. Developed from 17th century pidgin English, it was a lingua franca of the linguistically different slave communities of Britain’s North American colonies. The pidgins combined European American English with samples from Niger-Congo family of African languages. The lexicon of AAL can be distinguised with EAL but the nuanced meanings, the rhetorical and semantic strategies and linguistic rules are different. Take a sentence, for example, “The Brotha be lookin good; that’s what got the Sista nose open!” The word “Brotha” (AAL for African American man) “lookin good” means, he is looking attractive. The word “sista” is AAL for African American women; the phrase “nose open” conveys the intense love of the women. The use of “be” signifies the all-time relevancy of the compliments. The implied meaning of “be” is all-pervasive in hip-hop nation. Another verb pattern in grammatical and phonological forms in hip-hop is zero linking verb. “This bus on time today but most times, it be late.” There are some examples from Ice-T’s “I am Your Pusher,” and in Queen Latifah’s “Ladies First”: “Yeah, there gon be some changes over here.” The past participle means remote past when accented. In AAL, in future tense, “go,” a nasalized vowel sound is near to but not identical with EAL “gone.” Artistic beginners of rap, Public Enemy—throughout political—says: Black is back, all in, we gon win” (Bring the Noise,” 1988, becomes Noiz) In AAL, ‘they’ is used for the third singular plural possessive. All the girls had they turkish link/if it broke, they made errings to it, like they meant to do it (Back in the Day,” Ahmed, 1994) Postvocalic-r is mostly erased in AAL. In hip-hop, for instance in Snoop Doggy Dogg’s 1993 highest seller, “Gin and Juice.” In the Geto Boys: Hey, yeah, man…I’m tied tired…sell out. (Do It Like A G.O.,” Geto Boys, 1992) In AAL, /Ang/ and /Ank/ are used in words like think, sing, and drink. We read, “Sangin’ Sistas Brownstone Feelin’ in it Oaktown…” Although the grammatical character of AAL is well groomed in scholarly literature, its syntax in rap music is below that “standard English.” Deliberate use of it reinforces Black speech community syntax, symbolizing America’s 400-years rejection of Euro-American cultural, linguistic and racial supremacy. Works cited list: Geneva, Smitherman. “The Chain Remain the Same”: Communicative Practices in the Hip Hop Nation.” Journal of Black Studies, vol. 28, no. 1, (1997) pp 3-25, Accessed 19 Dec. 2006, . Ibrahim, Awad El Karim. “Becoming Black: Rap and Hip-Hop, Race, Gender, Identity, and the Politics of ESL Learning.” TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 3, Critical Approaches to TESOL, (Autumn, 1999), pp. 349-369, Accessed 19 Dec. 2006, . Matter, Yasser. “Virtual Communitives and hip-hop music consumers in Singapore: interplaying global, local and subcultural identities.” Leisure Studies 22, Routlege (2003), pp 283-300, Accessed 19 Dec. 2006, EBSCOHOST Database. Torp, Lisbet. “Hip-hop Dances: Their Adoption and Function among Boys in Denmark from 1983-84.” Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 18, (1986) pp 29-36, Accessed 19 Dec. 2006, . Read More