Hip Hop Nation Language
The Language of Hip Hop
Term paper for the PS
"The English Language in America"
SS 2006
handed in by
Sebastian Ludyga
Magdeburg, 25.09.2006
Table of contents
1. Introduction to hip hop 1
2. Hip Hop Nation Language 2
2.1 Features of the HHNL 3
2.2 The relationship of HHNL and AAL 5
3. Practical application 6
4. Conclusion 9
5. Attachment 11
5.1 Gin And Juice 11
5.2 Drop It Like It's hot …show more content…
Because of social and political changes the original idea of hip hop is sometimes misinterpreted. So many aspects have a certain influence on the language of hip hop, e.g. the social background is very important. Many artists that are very famous now were involved in crime and rap was their opportunity to express their feelings in an own community, e.g. 50cent is rapping about his past and why he had to deal with drugs. Furthermore many artists claim that hip hop develops in the streets and that this became the centre of hip hop cultural activity. Because of the media nearly everybody can get access to the hip hop community now. That means many people now use the special features of hip hop language. Therefore Alim claims that language would perhaps be "the most useful means with which to read the various cultural activities of the Hip Hop Nation (HHN)" (Rickford and Finegan 389). In fact language is one of the more constant elements of hip hop although it is also changing over the …show more content…
He belongs to the West Coast hip hop and one of his first songs played by the media was Gin And Juice. In the first verse he says: "With so much drama in the L-B-C/ It's kinda hard bein Snoop D-O-double-G" (Gin And Juice, line 5-6). "L-B-C" is a good example of using hip hop as a kind of code that can only be understood by its members. In this case it means Long Beach City (California). In the third verse he mentions "fat ass J, of some bubonic chronic" (Gin And Juice, 40), what simply means a great amount of Marihuana. Again it can hardly be understood by people who aren't part of the hip hop community. The way he arranges the words in the next line shows the connection between HHNL and AAL. "It's kinda hard bein Snoop [ ]" (Gin And Juice, 6) is a mixture of the typical use of the habitual "be" in AAL and the linkage of words meaning "kind of" is changed into "kinda". In the forth line he continues: "Keep comin up with funky ass shit like every single day". Whereas others would wonder about the meaning a member of the HHN understands it. So Snoop Dogg expresses that he will manage to produce or perform good songs "every single day" and therfore "funky ass shit" has the function of a synonym. In this way of combining some words it's formulated more explicitly. His next words are dedicated to his close friends, the "original gangsters": "May I, kick a little something for the G's"
Term paper for the PS
"The English Language in America"
SS 2006
handed in by
Sebastian Ludyga
Magdeburg, 25.09.2006
Table of contents
1. Introduction to hip hop 1
2. Hip Hop Nation Language 2
2.1 Features of the HHNL 3
2.2 The relationship of HHNL and AAL 5
3. Practical application 6
4. Conclusion 9
5. Attachment 11
5.1 Gin And Juice 11
5.2 Drop It Like It's hot …show more content…
Because of social and political changes the original idea of hip hop is sometimes misinterpreted. So many aspects have a certain influence on the language of hip hop, e.g. the social background is very important. Many artists that are very famous now were involved in crime and rap was their opportunity to express their feelings in an own community, e.g. 50cent is rapping about his past and why he had to deal with drugs. Furthermore many artists claim that hip hop develops in the streets and that this became the centre of hip hop cultural activity. Because of the media nearly everybody can get access to the hip hop community now. That means many people now use the special features of hip hop language. Therefore Alim claims that language would perhaps be "the most useful means with which to read the various cultural activities of the Hip Hop Nation (HHN)" (Rickford and Finegan 389). In fact language is one of the more constant elements of hip hop although it is also changing over the …show more content…
He belongs to the West Coast hip hop and one of his first songs played by the media was Gin And Juice. In the first verse he says: "With so much drama in the L-B-C/ It's kinda hard bein Snoop D-O-double-G" (Gin And Juice, line 5-6). "L-B-C" is a good example of using hip hop as a kind of code that can only be understood by its members. In this case it means Long Beach City (California). In the third verse he mentions "fat ass J, of some bubonic chronic" (Gin And Juice, 40), what simply means a great amount of Marihuana. Again it can hardly be understood by people who aren't part of the hip hop community. The way he arranges the words in the next line shows the connection between HHNL and AAL. "It's kinda hard bein Snoop [ ]" (Gin And Juice, 6) is a mixture of the typical use of the habitual "be" in AAL and the linkage of words meaning "kind of" is changed into "kinda". In the forth line he continues: "Keep comin up with funky ass shit like every single day". Whereas others would wonder about the meaning a member of the HHN understands it. So Snoop Dogg expresses that he will manage to produce or perform good songs "every single day" and therfore "funky ass shit" has the function of a synonym. In this way of combining some words it's formulated more explicitly. His next words are dedicated to his close friends, the "original gangsters": "May I, kick a little something for the G's"