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Don't Forget the Lyrics: A look at Lyrics vs. Literacy in Rap and Hip-Hop
by Nadya Vlassoff
Over the past three decades, no genre of music has impacted popular culture as dramatically as rap and the hip-hop lifestyle. From clothing lines, fast cars, diamond rings and cold cash money to sophisticated beats and gestures, rap and the hip-hop lifestyle has transcended race, age and social boundaries. The hip-hop lifestyle that many tweens and teens embrace today has come under fire in the same way as rap of the ‘80s and ‘90s. In fact, you could look at a similar parallel from the ‘80s and ‘90s with a backlash against Heavy Metal. Although not quite the same, many argue that the hip-hip lifestyle reflects a questionable way of life that’s glorified by large amounts of money, expensive cars, pimpin’, flashy jewelry and getting’ paid. And in some cases, by any means necessary. Sure rap is a form of creative expression and entertainment, but has it spawned a lifestyle that’s more harmful than helpful to today’s up and coming generation? And is the English language still intact as we know it?
 Despite big dreams of living the luxurious Crystal poppin’ lifestyle of a chart topping rapper, the reality is that for many rap is merely a form of escapism. However, with its growing popularity and love affair with mainstream media, there’s no denying that hip-hop has had a profound impact on the English language. Although you could look to the ‘80s and words like ‘chillin’, and the ‘90s with the “Dope” and “Dis”, in the last decade the pronunciation of words, even the creation of new ones, has spawned what many would say is a completely different dialect, with slang and idioms serving as the foundation of most conversations. English is a language that relies mostly on intonation to denote the difference in between expressing statements and questions. To put it simply, voice pitch allows many different meanings to be expressed, ranging from sarcasm to sympathy, all while using the same words or phrases.
Like any language, English is constantly evolving, adding many new words to the dictionary every year. According to the editors of Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, more than 25,000 words are added to the English language each year whether they’re official or not. English is still the most commonly spoken language around the world, so naturally the influence of other languages and dialects will lead to the creation of new words. How then, does rap music, which is neither a dialect nor a language in itself, have such an impact on English in our day and age?
 First of all, we have to examine the way rap has evolved and how hip-hop has expanded over the years. Like rock and roll in the 1950’s, with such artists as Bill Haley and the Comets and “The King” himself, Elvis Presley, to The Beach Boys and The Beatles in the 1960s, and the Stones and Led Zeppelin in the ‘70s, rap’s impact on pop culture had its own unique beginnings. The streets of New York City are widely credited as the roots of rap, with the emergence of MC Kool Keith, Kurtis Blow, The Sugar Hill Gang, and Grandmaster Flash. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t until the once underground CBGB mainstay Blondie recorded “Rapture” for their Autoamerican album, which featured a lengthy rap by the legendary Debbie Harry, that the actual genre of rap caught on with the mainstream masses. Although rap was viewed as nothing more than a passing fad at the time (just like rock and roll in the ‘50s), once rap was introduced to a larger audience, it was here to stay (again, just like rock and roll).
 When rap acts like Run DMC, Whodini, Doug E. Fresh, and many more, rose to the forefront of the rap scene of the ‘80s, a lifestyle emerged around the music and hip-hop was born, which also transcended the songs to become a broader genre. Since then, hip-hop has not only infiltrated and influenced other genres of music, such as rock and pop, it has also helped artists collaborate in new creative ways. In recent years, Eminem’s Encore album included his # 1 song “Like Toy Soldiers,” which used samples from the 1989 pop ballad “Toy Soldiers” by Martika. Curtis Mayfeild’s song “Move on Up” was sampled in Kanye West’s “Touch the Sky” while Jay-Z and Linkin Park released an entire album of collaborations, with tracks mixed together that took rock and hip-hop to even bigger heights, following in the footsteps of Run DMC and Aerosmith with “Walk This Way” in the ‘80s and Public Enemy and Anthrax with “Bring the Noise” in the ‘90s.
 Evolution aside, the next step is to look at how rap has evolved in itself. Many argue that the old-school style died and rap moved to a more neutral ground where genres have blended together, giving way to the “new school” of hip-hop. Nas, arguably one of the most influential MCs of all time, released ”Hip-Hop is Dead” in 2006. In an interview with MTV, Nas went on to say, “When I say 'hip-hop is dead,' basically America is dead. There is no political voice. Music is dead ... Our way of thinking is dead, our commerce is dead. Everything in this society has been done... I think hip-hop could help rebuild America, once hip-hoppers own hip-hop ... We are our own politicians, our own government, we have something to say.”
So what else of this new style? Has the intricate blend of poetry, spoken word, and beats evolved to fit a more mainstream idea? What about the lyrical style within the big business of rap? Is it style over substance, or doing what it takes to “get paid”. When looking at mainstream rap circles, lyrics don’t feel as potent as they once were. The chorus of a track often outweighs the verse while songs are produced with better beats but fewer lyrics. Is today’s rap too mainstream for its own good? Who knows for sure? But we have seen a lot of intentionally misspelled words in recent years, which reinforces that it’s cool to be different, and “different” sells a lot of records.
 Songs like Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” and Flo Rida’s “In the Ayer” intentionally step away from proper spelling. Perhaps, the fact that it is misspelled is more of a statement than a desire for a higher cool factor. Like I said, who knows? Words like “shorty”, “cheddar, “bling”, “grills” and so on have all been reintroduced into the English language but with different meanings. “Shorty” or “shawty” no longer refers to a short person but rather to a woman who is being referred to in a song. Words like “cheddar” and “paper” refer to cash money that has become an even bigger staple in hip-hop videos, as some artists constantly appear to be throwing it around like it grows on trees and spending it more lavishly than a king.
With the generation gap getting smaller and smaller, and hundreds of new words sprouting to life through hip-hop, even people five years apart might not be able to understand each other in the English language. In the not too distant future, many may argue that those from different countries will have difficulty (even if English is the common language) because dialects will be even more diverse given how not only hip-hop but also music at large is transforming how we speak and communicate. However, what about the people living in the same country, or even city? How is it that the influence of one musical genre has created an entirely different set of words that can only be understood by those who know the alternate meanings? The answer is difficult to find. While it may not be a problem yet, the social influence has been marked. Clearly, hip-hop is not dead, nor will its influence follow suit, but perhaps in the future the English language will have changed much more than anyone could have anticipated thanks in part to the evolution of rap and hip-hop. You know what I’m sayin’?
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