scholarly journals Lyric, Rhythm, and Non-alignment in the Second Verse of Kendrick Lamar’s “Momma”

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell M. Ohriner
Keyword(s):  
Hip Hop ◽  
Rap Music ◽  
Moral Rightness ◽  
Expressive Meaning ◽  
Rap Lyrics

After twenty years of published analyses on rap lyrics and flow, a divide between music-oriented and literature-oriented writing remains. It is only slightly hyperbolic to suggest that the former analyzes rap music as music without text while the latter analyzes it as text without music. This article begins bridging that divide by relating details of Kendrick Lamar’s rhythmic delivery to the meaning of his lyrics, focusing on the second verse of “Momma” from To Pimp a Butterfly (2015). In particular, I present methods for measuring and visualizing the alignment of syllable onsets (i.e., the flow) with events in the accompanying instrumental streams (i.e., the beat). Subsequently, in examining three lines of the verse, I document an analogy between flow-beat alignment and topics of vitality, moral rightness, and knowledge in the lyrics. In demonstrating one way in which rhythmic delivery can affirm the expressive meaning of lyrics, I hope to provide tools that enable hip hop scholars interested in rhythm, rhyme, and meaning to sometimes talk to each other rather than past each other.

scholarly journals Analyzing Collaborative Flow in Rap Music

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Komaniecki
Keyword(s):  
Hip Hop ◽  
Rap Music ◽  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Musical Identity ◽  
Rap Lyrics

This article is a study of the ways in which collaboration is signaled in the delivery of rap lyrics. I begin by describing the importance and prevalence of unified flow in music released by rap groups during the genre’s formative period in the 1980s and early 1990s. I follow this with a discussion of the continued importance of unified flow in tracks released by solo artists featuring guest rappers—a practice that has increased in frequency since rap’s inception, while rap groups have become less widespread. To illustrate this point, I analyze several songs that feature guest rappers, each exhibiting a level of flow cohesion that is exceptionally marked and uncommon when compared to most lead/guest rapper relationships. I conclude with some possible reasons for collaborative flow in rap music, as well as a discussion of unity as a theoretical concept. An understanding of the importance of unified flow in shared rap tracks enhances our understanding of the nature of collaboration and musical identity in rap music—a vital endeavor as music theorists strive to become increasingly conversant in the musical idioms and styles of hip-hop.

scholarly journals Class, Race, Credibility, and Authenticity within the Hip-Hop Music Genre

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Hodgman
Keyword(s):  
Hip Hop ◽  
Rap Music ◽  
Urban Poverty ◽  
Music Videos ◽  
Black Artists ◽  
Urban Image ◽  
Art Form ◽  
Hip Hop Music ◽  
Music Genre ◽  
Rap Lyrics

<p>After its advent in the 1970s, the rap music genre was represented almost exclusively by male black artists who honestly and realistically embodied a poor urban image. Images of black urban poverty in music videos and rap lyrics were consistently used by black artists to emphasize and authenticate who they were and where they came from. With the upsurge of white rap acts starting in the early 90s and continuing through the early 21<sup>st</sup> century, the means by which rap authenticity is measured have been permanently renegotiated. Before the emergence of white rappers, race was the primary signifier of rapper authenticity. After the success of white rappers such as Eminem new parameters of what constitute credibility and authenticity in the rap genre have been forged. This article discusses the significance of the continued presence of white rappers in hip-hop in terms of class and race in relation to artistic credibility within the rap genre. On a larger scale, this article considers questions related to cultural interloping upon a racially concentrated art form. It is concluded that class has generally emerged as the premier indicator or variable of authenticity throughout rap.    </p>

Flow

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell Ohriner
Keyword(s):  
Hip Hop ◽  
Rap Music ◽  
Music Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
South Bronx ◽  
The World ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Voice Flow ◽  
Computational Music Analysis

Originating in dance parties in the South Bronx in the late 1970s, hip hop and rap music have become a dominant style of popular music in the United States and a force for activism all over the world. So, too, has scholarship on this music grown, yet much of this scholarship, employing methods drawn from sociology and literature, leaves unaddressed the expressive musical choices made by hip-hop artists. This book addresses flow, the rhythm of the rapping voice. Flow presents theoretical and analytical challenges not encountered elsewhere. It is rhythmic as other music is rhythmic. But it is also rhythmic as speech and poetry are rhythmic. Key concepts related to rhythm, such as meter, periodicity, patterning, and accent, are treated independently in scholarship of music, poetry, and speech. This book reconciles those approaches, theorizing flow by integrating the methods of computational music analysis and humanistic close reading. Through the analysis of large collections of verses, it addresses questions in the theories of rhythm, meter, and groove in the unique ecology of rap music. Specifically, the work of Eminem clarifies how flow relates to text, the work of Black Thought clarifies how flow relates to other instrumental streams, and the work of Talib Kweli clarifies how flow relates to rap’s persistent meter. Although the focus throughout is rap music, the methods introduced are appropriate for other genres mix voices and more rigid metric frameworks and further extends the valuable work on hip hop from other perspectives in recent years.

Barrio Music, Spirituality, and Social Justice in Latino Hip-Hop

2018 ◽  
pp. 235-261
Author(s):  
Alejandro Nava
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Rap Music ◽  
Latino Youth ◽  
Social Concerns

This essay explores the spiritual and social concerns of US Latino and Latin American hip-hop. Beginning with a description of hip-hop’s influence on the author’s educational journey, the essay considers some of the key influences of Latino music on US rap music, as well as the growing dominance of hip-hop among Latino youth throughout the Americas. Besides documenting the influences of US rap on Latino music, it charts the distinct idioms, styles, and philosophies of Latino hip-hop, emphasizing the unique contributions of this subgenre to the broader culture of hip-hop.

“Something You Can Look Back On”: Teacher Candidates, Rap Music, and P-12 Social Studies

2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 1224-1250
Author(s):  
Tracey Kumar
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Rap Music ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Lesson Plans ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
Look Back

Although several studies highlight the integration of hip-hop-based education (HHBE) into teacher education workshops and coursework, little is known about the use of HHBE by the teachers and teacher candidates who take part in these learning experiences. Toward such a contribution, this study examines how teacher candidates proposed to integrate rap into lesson plans designed for middle and high school social studies classes in an urban intensive setting. The findings indicate that the teacher candidates’ proposed uses of rap not only privilege their own preferences and experiences but also position rap as subordinate to traditional classroom-based texts.

Mortality in American Hip-Hop and Rap Recording Artists, 1987–2014

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 211-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl J Lawson
Keyword(s):  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Rap Music ◽  
African American Men ◽  
Unintentional Injury ◽  
Distinct Group ◽  
Premature Mortality ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Music Recording ◽  
Media Reports

BACKGROUND: The deaths of American hip-hop and rap recording artists often receive considerable media attention. However, these artists’ deaths have not been examined as a distinct group like the deaths of rock, classical, jazz, and pop music artists. This is a seminal epidemiological analysis on the deaths of an understudied group, American hip-hop and rap music recording artists. METHODS: Media reports were analyzed of the deaths of American hip-hop and rap music recording artists that occurred from January 1, 1987 to December 31, 2014. The decedents’ age, sex, race, cause of death, stage names, and city and state of death were recorded for analysis. RESULTS: The most commonly reported cause of death was homicide. The 280 deaths were categorized as homicide (55%), unintentional injury (13%), cardiovascular (7%), undetermined/undisclosed (7%), cancer (6%), other (5%), suicide (4%), and infectious disease (3%). The mean reported age at death was 30 yrs (range 15–75) and the median was 29 yrs; 97% were male and 92% were black. All but one of the homicides were committed with firearms. CONCLUSIONS: Homicide was the most commonly reported cause of death. Public health focus and guidance for hip-hop and rap recording artists should mirror that for African-American men and adolescent males ages 15–54 yrs, for whom the leading causes of death are homicide, unintentional injury, and heart disease. Given the preponderance of homicide deaths in this analysis, premature mortality reduction efforts should focus on violence prevention and conflict mitigation.

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