Rap investigation - Grade: A PDF

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Summary

An Investigation into rap music. Investigation: The Language of rap music.
Hypothesis: Female rappers are a lot more respectful and less obscene compared to male rappers and rap music has increased in obscenity compared to when it was first released.
2876 words....

Description

English Language Investigation

Introduction Investigation: The Language of rap music. Hypothesis: Female rappers are a lot more respectful and less obscene compared to male rappers and rap music has increased in obscenity compared to when it was first released. For my investigation I will be researching the language used in rap music. I hope to find the difference in language and themes between male and female rappers and a difference in language and themes between certain eras of release. My hypothesis states that female rappers are a lot more respectful and less obscene compared to male rappers. I will be researching this by analysing, comparing and contrasting different rap songs.

Methodology I have chosen 3 different rap songs for when analysing change; each with a gap of 20 years. The first is ‘Inner City Blues’ by ‘Marvin Gaye’ which was released in 1971. My second track is ‘Trapped’ by Tupac which was released in 1991. And lastly, the third track is ‘Wicked Games’ by ‘The Weeknd’ which was released in 2011. In addition to this, for gender comparison I have chosen 2 up-to-date rap songs; ‘King of The Fall’ by ‘The Weeknd’ and ‘Anaconda’ by ‘Nicki Minaj’ which were both released in 2014. I have chosen this sample whilst making sure that I had a representative, adequate and an unbiased sample so I carried out an inventory of the rap artists at HMV in the rap CD section. I chose the middle CD of every row and then chose the 3 that had a twenty-year gap for change. My sample was a little restricted however as I made sure that the artist had been in the music industry for at least 23 years as I felt this was enough time for them to have an established reputation. All of these tracks are projected towards similar demographic audiences with the exception of gender and I will analyse key features in the rap songs and discuss the themes within them such as drugs, sex, crime, money etc. These could be pragmatically included therefore I will have to decode these. I intend to carry out a content analysis of the use of taboo lexis/derogatory terms and compare whether this has increased or decreased during the years and also whether it is females who use more taboo lexis or if it is males. This will hopefully give me a clear representation of the language of rap songs and help me to find my hypothesis on change as well as gender. I am going to analyse various word choices within my data to try and prove or disprove my hypothesis. I will do further qualitative analysis of the lyrics and analyse the representation of feminine obscenity and masculine obscenity. I will look for default assumptions and gender scripts and how I can apply theorists such as Deborah Tannen. I will present my finding in various forms of visual representation such as tally charts and pie charts in order to illustrate my findings and allow me to analyse the data statistically. I have planned to print off the lyrics of the songs from the internet however I also intend to play each song on a verified Youtube channel such as vevo and follow the lyrics through whilst I listen to the song. This is to ensure that the lyrics are correct and to avoid any errors. By doing this, it confirms that my data is reliable as it will be checked.

English Language Investigation

Data – Taboo lexis The Weeknd - King Of The Fall

Taboo Lexis

No. of references

Bitch/bitches

|||

N*gga/n*ggas

|||| |||| |

Shit

|||| |

F*ck

||||

P*ssy

||

Motherf*cker

||

Hoes

|

Total = 29 uses of taboo lexis

Nicki Minaj - Anaconda

Taboo Lexis

No. of references

Bitch/Bitches

|||| ||

N*gga/n*ggas

|

Shit

||

F*ck/F*cking

|||| ||

P*ssy

|

Motherf*cker

|

Dick

|

Sex

||

Butt

|||| |||| |||| |

Ass

|||| ||||

Cocaine

|

English Language Investigation

Total 49 uses of taboo lexis.

Marvin Gaye- Inner City Blues No taboo lexis.

2Pac – Trapped

Taboo Lexis

No. of references

Bum

|

N*ggas

|

The Weeknd – Wicked Games

Taboo Lexis

No. of references

Bitch/bitches

|||

Drugs

|

Shit

|

F*cking

|||

Motherf*cking

||||

English Language Investigation

Gender Comparison regarding themes Recurring Themes/Lexical Fields featured in ‘King of the Fall’:

Recurring Themes/Lexical Fields

Drug Reference Alcohol Race Sex Money Crime Women

Recurring Themes/Lexical Fields featured in ‘Anaconda’:

Recurring Themes/Lexical Fields

Drug Reference Alcohol Race Sex Money Crime Women

English Language Investigation Has Obscenity increased over the years? 14 12 10 8 Inner City Blues Trapped Wicked Games

6 4 2 0 1971

1991

2011

Analysis

English Language Investigation Rap music emerged in the urban streets of New York City in the mid 1970s. Lynch and Kryzki claim, “Rap music is the voice of the streets”. Rap fans primarily were Black and Latino but the popularity increase has caused rap music to reach a diverse and international audience, making it globally successful. Rap has been a way for people to express themselves for decades and the lyrics of rap are essential in expressing certain emotions, ideologies and opinions. Rap music has conventional assumptions and themes of: violence, sex, guns, misogyny as well as racism, rebellion and resentment towards authority. The aim of my research was to investigate the language within rap music from a gender and language change perspective, so I carried out a content analysis on the lyrics in order to pick up on and compare prevalent themes. 5 songs in total are conveyed in this study; 2 for gender and 3 for language change and I managed to convert my qualitative date into quantitative date, which enabled me to analyse and compare. My content analysis allowed me to display my research in tally and pie charts as I had intended. By doing this, I noticed that within the space of twenty years, obscenity has indeed increased. Inner City Blues by Marvin Gaye focuses on the economic situation in the ghettos of America in 1971. There is not any taboo lexis in this song; Marvin Gaye is discussing real issues that he and some parts of America have been experiencing. Lexical themes in this rap are crime, war and tax troubles. He uses language in order to express his emotions and opinions. This track is a good representation of how rap music emerged and what is was first used for. He makes reference to the money that US government gave to NASA in the first verse. “Rockets, moon shots, spend it on the have-nots. Money we make it, before we see it, you take it” He is speaking as a group ‘we’ and is directly addressing the government with the pronoun ‘you’. Here, he is using language to promote his social bonds in the black community and is expressing the relatively strong beliefs, behaviours and identities of black people. Further on, he still continues to discuss the lack of economic opportunities a lot of people in the US were experiencing at the time. “Crime is increasing, trigger happy policing, panic is spreading, God knows where we’re heading” Each word at the end of this sentence rhymes which makes it phonologically interesting and better upon ears; a convention of rap music. These lyrics are also an example of the police brutality that black youth and black people were undergoing at the time. Similarly, Tupac’s 1991 ‘Trapped’ single discusses similar issues. He is speaking about himself and many other black males being trapped in the government system of the inner cities; the title also emphasises the way he is feeling. “I’m tryin to avoid physical contact I can’t hold back, it’s time to Jack attack” Tupac, like Marvin Gaye also uses language in order to express himself. There are two uses of taboo lexis in this song and the themes are of crime, oppression and racial injustice. Tupac predominantly discusses a famous theme among early rap songs: his resentment and hostility towards the police. “How can I feel guilty after all the things they did to me” Living and growing up in a white dominated society, rap music offered some escapism and distraction to black people as it worked as a way of preserving their black culture by promoting their beliefs, behaviours and identities in the urban settings where violence occurred. Lastly, I analysed The Weeknd’s 2011 single ‘Wicked Games’ I found 8 uses of taboo lexis in this song which is 8 times as much to Inner City Blues and 4 times as much compared to Trapped. The lexical fields of this song are: sex, drugs and money. “Let me see that ass, look at all this cash, and I’ve emptied out my cards too, now I’m fucking leaning on that, bring the drugs baby I can bring my pain” The lyrics in this song could be interpreted as quite misogynistic. Adams and Fuller argue that “Misogyny in rap is the promotion, glamorisation, and normalisation of oppressive ideas about

English Language Investigation women and that rap music demeans them; they are only useful as sexual objects.” Similarly, Lynxwiler, John and Gay claim that “there has been a collective effort to define rap as a type of audio porn that endorses sexist and violent ideas.” Wicked Games is a good example of how rap music has changed. It has increased in obscenity, proving my hypothesis to be true. As rappers’ lives have changed, they have become much more affluent therefore the lexical themes have moved from violence to drug use, misogyny and material gain. The other part of my hypothesis stated that women would be a lot more respectful and less obscene compared to male artists however I realised that this is not the case. ‘King of the fall’ contains 29 uses of taboo lexis whereas ‘Anaconda’ contained 49 uses of taboo lexis. This shows that the female rapper is a lot more provocative than the male rapper, which I found surprising, as I had hypothesized that females are a lot more respectful but the data rejects this proposition. An established convention of rap music is that men and only men use profane words, and this profanity is directed directly at women. Nicki Minaj challenges this convention as her profanity use is directed at her own gender. She uses taboo lexis such as ‘bitch’ which highlights a certain type of woman and the words ‘butt’ and ‘ass’ the most frequently. Throughout her rap song the most reoccurring themes are sex, drugs and crime. She uses language in order to express her sexual identity and superficial power. “And he telling me it’s real, that he love my sex appeal. Say he don’t like ‘em boney, he want something he can grab, So I pulled up in the Jag, and I hit him with the jab like Dun-d-d-dun-dun..” The language that she uses can be interpreted as body shaming as she is violently criticising the normative beauty ideals of todays society. There are many messages about the female body that are pragmatically included throughout the song that relate to this. “Little in the middle but she got much back” The title of the song ‘anaconda’ is also a euphemism for the male private parts and Nicki demonstrates this gender role reversal by dominating her man instead of sliding into the role that has been assigned to the female artists that are also in the music industry. She is however segregating herself from other women as well and forming her own group identity in the song “I said, where my fat ass big bitches in the club? Fuck the skinny bitches!” There are evident crime references throughout ‘Anaconda’ that are to do with guns, which yet again can symbolise power and control. “Gun in my purse, bitch, I came dressed to kill” which is similar to the crime references in KOTF. “he popping more bottles than us right now” this is followed by the sound of a gunshot which can be interpreted as “popping more bottles” which refers to “capping” someone. This is slang for killing someone; therefore with the addition of the background sound of a gun shot, this could be metaphorical for having to kill people and a life of crime. Similarly, ‘King of the fall’ by The Weeknd follows a similar discourse. There are also semantic fields of drugs, sex and crime throughout. Drugs are promoted in this song “Mix it in a potion like a science, That liquid G diet got a nigga so quiet, ‘cause the shit so strong, got me feeling like I’m dying, the shit so raw, nothing else can get me higher” he describes drugs like a professional science and as a magical heightened sense of enjoyment. His professionalism increases his power, as he describes himself as being very experienced in this department. This links in with some of the moral panics that we as a society have been experiencing. An example of this is Miley Cyrus. Her fame, popularity and media attention rose parallel to her excessive references to drug use and promiscuity therefore this could explain the constant sex and drug references throughout rap songs. “But ain’t shit funny, can’t nobody stop me, All my hoes are trained, I make all of them swallow, All of them swallow (x17)” Not only does this indicate his unstoppable sexual power and dominance, but when he indirectly refers to women, they are his ‘hoes’ which is derogative and boastful in comparison to when he directly addresses them, he behaves endearing “Baby girl, you know what I like, baby, you know just

English Language Investigation what I like” it is also just one girl when he addresses them straightforwardly but then this is pluralised when he is talking about them, yet again he is using language to endorse his power. Both songs contain racial slurs; “Real country-ass nigga” (Anaconda) and “Only time you see me is when I’m balling with my niggas” (KOTF) The word nigga is a taboo derogative term however when used in the context of rap by a black artist it is acceptable and no longer seen as taboo. “Black artists have never been told or heard of to be told that they cannot say nigga” says ‘Immortal Technique’ (Youtube artist) This statement is true to some extent as black rappers use this word as a way of differentiating themselves from society, representing their power and belonging “my niggas” and allowing themselves to appear superior by having this liberty. The word is also polysemic as the way that it is spelt, affects the meaning. According to Urban Dictionary “Nigga is a word which evolved from the derogative term “nigger” Tupac best defined the distinction between the two. A ‘Nigger’: a black man with a slavery chain around his neck. A ‘Nigga’: a black man with a gold chain on his neck.” This can explain why black rappers incorporate this word with this certain spelling so much in their music; it promotes their power, wealth and superiority. This can link to the gender difference theory proposed by Deborah Tannen in which she argues that males and females really do converse differently. She believes that the difference starts in childhood where parents use more verbs to their sons, and more words regarding feelings to their daughters. Deborah Tannen claims that there are 6 main differences between the way both genders use language; men see language as a means of asserting dominance as well as independence, they see language as problem solving, they are concerned with facts, they use imperatives and they argue a lot more whereas women see language as a way of confirming ideas and intimacy as they seek support, they see language as a means of empathy, they use hidden directives instead of orders and they will try to find a middle ground instead of arguing. After analysing both artists I would conclude that in the context of rap, both Nicki Minaj and the Weeknd use language as a means of asserting dominance and independence. Nicki Minaj does this by putting on a masculine persona. This is evident as both artists use imperatives “Nigga, back the fuck up” (The Weeknd) “Look at her butt” (Nicki Minaj) and also use language to argue “Fuck you if you skinny bitches!” (Nicki Minaj) “If you ain’t with me, motherfucker, you against me, if you ain’t complimenting you offending” (The Weeknd) This lyric is also an example of copula deletion as the auxiliary verb ‘are’ is absent. Non-standard grammar and slang are both consistent features throughout both songs and emphasise the multimodal ways of their speech. Another tendency of rap is the deletion of unstressed initial syllables. For example: ‘Bout’ and ‘cause’ this represents a carelessness towards proper English – it is mediocre, there are many more important things in life such as drugs and guns. Intertextuality such as ‘Quincy Jones’ and Alexander McQueen’ as well as slang such as ‘crib’ or ‘hoes’ are both methods rappers use in order to isolate or withdraw themselves from certain people. After my analysis, I can conclude that I proved as well as disproved my hypothesis of rap music. It is evident now that rap music has evolved and a language change has occurred in terms of obscenity increase. The rap industry has been and still is largely dominated by black performers and they are part of a larger culture therefore to indeed have a language in common. It is now also evident that women are more obscene and derogative than males in the context of rap. Language reflects the society in which the speaker lives in and as society has changed, so has rap music....