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Table of Contents

A)  Introduction: Rap Music Is Becoming More and More  3

Popular   

B)  Historical and Social Background, the Different Kinds of  4

Rapping  and Language and Style of Raps  

1.  The Historical and Social Background of Rapping  4

2.  The Different Kinds of Rapping  5

a)  Boastful Talk  5

b)  Love Raps  7

c)  Church Raps  8

3.  Language and Style of Raps  9

a)  Exaggerated Language  9

b)  Proverbial Statement  10

c)  Spontaneity  10

d)  Images and Metaphors  10

e)  Braggadocio  11

f)  Indirection  12

  )C Conclusion  13

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A) Introduction: Rap Music Is Becoming More and More Popular

There is no denying that rap music has been taking the whole world by storm in the last couple of years. While almost everyone is familiar with rappers like Snoop Dogg and 1 or with LL Cool J’s famous rap song ”I’m bad,” 2 only few know that his album Doggystyle

rapping itself is a special kind of communication among African Americans. A number of questions come to mind: What is the historical and social background in which rapping came into being? Are there different kinds of rapping? What are the basic features concerning style and language of raps?

The present paper will try to answer these questions by also referring to some rap songs in order to demonstrate the authenticity of rapping as a verbal performance.

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B) Rapping - Historical and Social Background, The Different Kinds of

Rapping and Language and Style of Raps

1. The Historical and Social Background of Rapping

The historical and social background of rapping is very profound because of its origin in African culture. The African cultural set, which arrived in America with the slaves, contains the traditional African worldview that places great value on the spoken word -Africans believed in the word and its power called ”Nommo.” Every action had to be accompanied by words, even ”a newborn child is a mere thing until his father gives and ³ speaks his name.”

Despite the fact that African-Americans today regard English as their mother tongue, they have been holding on to this worldview and the belief in the power of the word for centuries. According to their African traditional belief, spoken words are precious and useful for teaching and learning. In the Black communication network, which is based on the African world view, verbal performances play a crucial role because of the fact that a spoken word can teach much more about life than a written one:

This is the difference between white Americans and African Americans: while white Americans stick to their print-oriented culture, which came to America with the Europeans, African Americans emphasize on their orally-oriented one. The European culture sets great store by literature, therefore - according to white Americansknowledge can be acquired by ”book learning.” In African Americans’ eyes, however, ”to ⁵ ‘talk like a book’ is to ‘talk like a white man.’”

They maintain their cultural set by practicing their oral tradition, which helps African Americans in ”gittin ovuh.” Their every day life is determined by this phrase. It represents two different meanings, dependent on the context. The first, religious meaning describes spiritual survival in a frightening world of sin whereas the second, secular meaning ⁶ represents material survival in a white world of oppression. Lessons about how to ”git ovuh” have been passed down orally from generation to generation. As a consequence, knowledge and wisdom can be acquired through spoken words, i. e. via verbal performances like the narration of myths, folk stories or proverbs.

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The oral tradition unifies all members of the African-American community: gospel singers, preachers, and hustlers. Barber shops, street corners or churches - every location can become a rap scene.

Persons performing verbal skills are admired and respected in the Black community because a skillful rap can bring about group approval and recognition. The rapping person can succeed in maintaining or even obtaining a higher position in his community. In fact, the rapper’s words develop the energy of Nommo, because, if his rap 7 is good enough, it enables him to earn a rep.

A rapper is expected to juggle with words and to have knowledge about the subject he is rapping about. He has to prove all the ”mother wit” he has acquired during his life. If the rap is to appeal to the audience and put the rapper into the focus of attention, the words have to be performed in an entertaining manner. Rappers are aware of the fact that a boring and unspectacular rap would prevent them from earning a rep. They have to make their raps as interesting and outstanding as possible - thus, while rappers ”are flamboyant, flashy and exaggerative,” their raps are ”stylized, dramatic, and spectacular.” A good rapper can convey his knowledge and by doing so he becomes a symbol of 8 how to ”git ovuh.”

2. The Different Kinds of Rapping

As we have seen, many raps convey social and cultural information. However, raps are also very often employed to conquer women or destroy enemies verbally. The opponent can be ”destroyed” by playing the dozens, which are ”ritualized or spontaneous ⁹ Another way of insults directed most often at another’s mother or an opponent.” defeating an opponent verbally is signification, an ”act of talking negatively about ¹⁰ somebody through stunning and clever verbal put downs.” Nevertheless, apart from these verbal games, there are also different kinds of rapping which help conquer ladies or defeat enemies.

a) Boastful talk

Raps which rappers use to brag about their skills, their wealth or their outward appearance, are called boasting raps whereas the action itself is known as boastful talk. A boasting rapper describes himself as the baddest, it seems as though there is no one and nothing that can stop him. Rappers tend to show off, to brag and to boast, convincing the listeners of the truth of their words simply by employing convincing raps. Such

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bragging is generally accepted in the African-American community, thus, rappers do not have to prove themselves or their statements if their rap is strong enough. Today, boasting raps are predominant among rap songs but the classic prototype of this category is The Sugar Hill Gang’s ”Rapper’s Delight.” The growth of r ap music went relatively unnoticed by mainstream America until the release of this rap song in ¹¹ In ”Rapper’s Delight,” two MCs, so-called Masters of Ceremony, represent 1979.

stereotyped roles. Master Gee is a ladies’ man:

It is obvious that Master Gee is boasting about his reputation as an excellent lover. Despite being at a disadvantage because he is ”not as tall as the rest of the gang”, he is very self-assured. His rap conveys an image that women throughout the world know him for his lovemanship and rapping skills. He proves his self-confidence by promising to break the ladies’ hearts with his hypnotizing brown eyes. Big Bank Hank, The Sugar Hill Gang’s second MC, flaunts his wealth:

First, this MC uses a comparison to convince the listener of his affluence. In the late seventies, Muhammad Ali was the number one boxer in the United States and probably the most strongly admired one in the whole world. Big Bank Hank makes use of this fact and conveys an image of how rich he is by stating that he is even richer than Ali because his wardrobe c ontains more clothes. In addition, he is boasting that he can afford not only one but two cars and that he has got a pool and a color TV. It does not matter if the rapper is credible or if he tells the truth. Thanks to his strong boastful talk, the audience is not likely to expect any kind of proof of his wealth.