Hip-Hop
Hip-Hop… This genre, or poetic form really builds on last week’s topic, the Blues. Hip-Hop can be imagined as a more modern form of the blues. They both tell stories and can be similar as far as loving someone or feeling a pain. Hip-Hop however, does not have to be about something “blue” (sad). Hip-Hop may be overlooked sometimes, but after reading this, I think we can all have a better appreciation for it.
“The two main principles to keep in mind when listening to hip-hop are the patterns and intricacies of rhyme” (Morris 223). Hip-Hop truly is a difficult form to write as to the rhyme schemes are difficult to write because they also have to flow. Flow can be defined as the rhythms and rhymes of a hip-hop song’s lyrics and how they interact together. The early rhyme scheme patters of “raps” were usually in a abab or abcb form. Like most poetic forms, rap’s form evolves. A major shift was presented by Biggie Smalls a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. He was known for manipulating, “ the stresses or accentuation of words, thereby changing the scansion to create consistent patters in end rhyme or internal rhyme schema” (Morris 225). MC Rakim and Eric B. were artists who really put Hip-Hop on the map and popularized it. There, “classic end rhyme patterns, completely changed the environment and single handedly sophisticated the listening abilities of the audience” ( Morris 224). For example, the lines in this song are “Stop buggin’, a butha said, Dig ‘em/ I neva dug ’em, he couldn’t follow the leader long enough, so I drug em”(Morris 224). These lines create a certain flow and one can feel the rhythm just by reading it. It was rappers like the ones mentioned above that inspired todays rappers like Eminem, Kanye, Jay-z etc, Hip-Hop has evolved and changed a lot since its founding in the 1980s. It doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.
Morris, Tracie. “Hip-Hop Formations: Open Your Ears.” An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art. Edited by Anne Finch and Kathrine Varnes. U of Michigan P, 2002, pp. 223–227.
