Language And Hip-Hop Culture

For my entry this week, I am going to refer to the lyrics of a song in relation to verbal communication. Specifically, this entry is going to explore language used in Hip-Hop culture, what it represents and how it has affected (and is still affecting) mainstream communication, media and culture. Hip-Hop has always been regarded as a sub-culture, where external elements such as beat-boxing, hip-hop fashion and hip-hop slang have derived from. However, nowadays, Hip-Hip culture (which consists of music, movies, dance, fashion, DJ-ing, beat-boxing, break-dancing, graffiti art, rap and Hip-Hop lingo), is considered more of a mainstream phenomenon, as opposed to a mere underground movement.

One of the main reasons why I decided to focus on Hip-Hop culture this week (apart from being a fan of Hip-Hop and Rap music myself) was due to all the recent endorsements of Hip-Hop musicians by the fashion industry. Many big fashion labels and departmental stores have approached famous Hip-Hop artists such as, Missy Elliott, Lil’ Kim, 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake, to design their own clothing lines and thus, establish their own fashion labels. Adidas has been using Missy Elliott as their spokesperson for the past few years. Thus, the Hip-Hop genre presents a huge profitable market for companies and business organisations to tap into.

Plus, lately, local television programmes on Channel 5, Channel NewsAsia and even media texts such as, The Straits Times newspapers, and numerous local magazines have incorporated hip-hop lingo into their vernacular. It is common to hear reporters in the news use terms like “bling”, “phat”, “dis” and “crib”. This shows that hip-hop lingo is now very commercialised and is being used (in the context of Singapore) to appeal to a younger audience.

Language and words help to convey ideas, opinions, thoughts, emotions and influences the way we think. In terms of Hip-Hop, a lot of the influence on language has come from rapping, also known as the delivery of rhymes in rhythm. The quick repetition of repartee’ and speech resulted in people incorporating the style of rap, into verbal communication. Rap has got American Blues, Jazz, West-African and Caribbean-style DJ’ing roots. This can be seen in the Jamaican, reggae, and dancehall influences in today’s Hip-Hop music and lingo.

Historically, Hip-Hop emerged as a cultural movement in America in the 1960’s and 1970’s among the urban youth in New York (Bronx), Miami and California. As Rap was associated with gangs and crime, Hip-Hop emerged as a conscious alternative to violence. The White population had their Rock ‘N’ Roll, and the middle and upper class Black communities were into Jazz and Blues. Thus, Hip-Hop was embraced by the poorer Black and Hispanic communities and they used it to express their views about society, their social status and issues like race and gender. That is why Hip-Hop artists use expletives to express themselves in their music, as that is how they want to talk about their problems; without any restrictions and censorship, as that defines their reality and represents the “raw” aspect of their culture and socialisation. Thus, Hip-Hop lingo is viewed as a symbol of freedom and identity.

In terms of the properties of Hip-Hop, the language in the genre has a very unique and distinctive slang. Compared to other musical spheres, such as Rock, Pop, Alternative, Indie, Classical and Jazz, where the language used is predominantly mainstream vernacular, Hip-Hop has its own system of symbols. The phonemes or pronunciation of words are usually similar to mainstream English, but spelt differently. For example, “phat” is pronounced just like “fat”. Plus, the semantics or meaning of words used in Hip-Hop usually differ from mainstream English. “Hood” does not literally refer to a hood, but to a neighbourhood. “Holla” (sometimes spelt as “holler”), is used to say goodbye and end a conversation. In Lil’ Kim’s “Doing It Way Big”, she mentions “frontin”, which means pretend. The reason for this would be to establish their own way of communication and the difference in the meaning of words would also represent the different socialisation and experience of the African-Americans in the 1970’s and 1980’s, as hip-hop was emerging.

In terms of the impact of Hip-Hop, the language used tend to propagate a particular lifestyle and culture, filled with power, money, respect, sex and drugs. Thus, a lot of the terminology used in Hip-Hop culture is symbolic, in its affiliation to success and power. In reference to the lyrics indicated below, the title itself “Doing It Way Big”, reflects abundance. Plus, the song talks about taking shopping trips to Greece and Lil’ Kim (whose real name is Kimberly Jones) also professes to getting gold from her own mine in Africa. The whole song talks about living the high life, like a billionaire and being spoilt with extravagances (Hermes bag, Tiffany Silverware, Rolls Royce, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren and Versace). Many Hip-Hop artists rave about money and power, due to the fact that they grew up poor and on the streets. Thus, now that they finally have the recognition and means, they feel that they have the right to enjoy and flaunt it. Nevertheless, a lot of Hip-Hop artists portray a persona in their music and videos, but in reality live a much simpler and less glamorous life. The persona acts as a form of artistic freedom and expression. This can be seen in the use of nicknames, such as Lil’ Kim, Lil’ Jon, Lil’ Bow Wow, Jadakiss, Jay-Z, Lupe Fiasco and Ms. Dynamite in Hip-Hop music.

In terms of language-based barriers to communication, Hip-Hop jargon is still not understood by everyone, and only those who listen to the music and expose themselves to the culture, would be aware of the slang.