Tupac Analysis
Rappers: Part of the community, part of the world
Edwards, W. F. (2004). AAVE Features in the lyrics of Tupac Shakur: The notion of "Realness". WORD, 55(2), 165-178. doi:10.1080/00437956.2004.11432544
Two researchers from the English department of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States, Walter F. Edwards and Leslie Ash, analyzed the registers used by Tupac Shakur, a prominent figure of American hip-hop culture, especially in rap culture. Using Tupac’s song lyrics, poems, and informal interview speech, Edward and Ash attempted to compare the way Tupac used African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Standard American English (SAE) in his works. They also tried to find Tupac’s ideology of “keeping it real” or simply “realness,” which is basically African American community’s principle of “realism and straightforwardness” (pg. 166). The study conducted by Edwards and Ash shows an intriguing results, which then contribute to the study of Sociolinguistics focusing on hip-hop culture, especially the register used by its members.
Edwards and Ash analyzed ten song lyrics of Tupac Shakur, which were chosen based on the “different themes one finds in Tupac’s rap” (pg. 168). As a comparison, they also analyzed the poems written by Tupac, which …show more content…
He mostly used AAVE in his rap songs to engage the African American poor inner-city youth (PIY) community, both on linguistics and psychological level (pg. 172). On the other hand, he “intentionally excluded all AAVE features from his poetry” (pg. 173) so that his poetry can reach a broader audience. In terms of “realness,” the study suggests that the PIY community could not accord Tupac’s “realness” in his poems, thus they did not greatly recognize these poems (pg. 176). However, it can still be seen that the principle motivated Tupac’s “choices of languages and style in his raps” (pg.
Edwards, W. F. (2004). AAVE Features in the lyrics of Tupac Shakur: The notion of "Realness". WORD, 55(2), 165-178. doi:10.1080/00437956.2004.11432544
Two researchers from the English department of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States, Walter F. Edwards and Leslie Ash, analyzed the registers used by Tupac Shakur, a prominent figure of American hip-hop culture, especially in rap culture. Using Tupac’s song lyrics, poems, and informal interview speech, Edward and Ash attempted to compare the way Tupac used African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Standard American English (SAE) in his works. They also tried to find Tupac’s ideology of “keeping it real” or simply “realness,” which is basically African American community’s principle of “realism and straightforwardness” (pg. 166). The study conducted by Edwards and Ash shows an intriguing results, which then contribute to the study of Sociolinguistics focusing on hip-hop culture, especially the register used by its members.
Edwards and Ash analyzed ten song lyrics of Tupac Shakur, which were chosen based on the “different themes one finds in Tupac’s rap” (pg. 168). As a comparison, they also analyzed the poems written by Tupac, which …show more content…
He mostly used AAVE in his rap songs to engage the African American poor inner-city youth (PIY) community, both on linguistics and psychological level (pg. 172). On the other hand, he “intentionally excluded all AAVE features from his poetry” (pg. 173) so that his poetry can reach a broader audience. In terms of “realness,” the study suggests that the PIY community could not accord Tupac’s “realness” in his poems, thus they did not greatly recognize these poems (pg. 176). However, it can still be seen that the principle motivated Tupac’s “choices of languages and style in his raps” (pg.