"The Chain Remain the Same": Communicative Practices in the Hip

"The Chain Remain the Same": Communicative Practices in the Hip Hop Nation
Author(s): Geneva Smitherman
Source: Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Sep., 1997), pp. 3-25
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2784891 .
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"THE CHAIN
REMAIN THE SAME"1
Communicative
Practices
in theHip Hop Nation
GENEVASMITHERMAN
MichiganStateUniversity
thenature
ofsociety
istocreate,
itscitizens,
an
Itistruethat
among
illusionofsafety;
butit is also absolutely
truethatthesafety
is
anillusion.
Artists
areheretodisturb
thepeace.
alwaysnecessarily
Baldwin
(1992)
The termhip-hoprefersto urbanyouthculturein America.
in suchculturalproductions
as graffiti
Hip-hopis manifested
art,
Malcolm
breakdancing,
stylesofdress(e.g.,baggypants,sneakers,
X caps,appropriately
wornbackward),
loveofb-ball(basketball),
theHipHopNationis predominantly
andso forth.
Although
Black,
withinthisnation.Three
Latinoscomprisea significant
minority
different
NewYorkartists
havebeencredited
withcoiningtheterm
hip-hop(whichdatesback to the 1970s): Busy Bee Starski,DJ
Bambaataa(founder
oftheZuluNation
Hollywood,andDJAfrika
inNew York).Itis uncertain
whichofthethreeis theoriginator
of
but
theterm, according
toKoolDJHerc(January
24, 1994,personal
theacknowledged
father
ofhip-hop,
communication),
"onlythese
threecouldargueit."Fernando(1994) indicatesthatthetermwas
givenbroadpopularexposureby "Rapper'sDelight,"the first
successful
commercially
rapsong,whichwasreleasedbytheSugar
AUTHOR'S NOTE: An earlierversionof thisarticlewas presentedat the
SouthAfrica,September
"EnglishinAfrica"Conference,
Grahamstown,
1995.
1997 3-25
JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES, Vol.28 No. 1,September
Inc.
C 1997Sage Publications,
3
4
JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES /SEPTEMBER 1997
thelyrics:"Witha hip,hop,
Hill Gangin 1979.2The songfeatured
thehipit,thehipidipit,
hip,hip,hopit,youdon'tstop"(p. 13).
byNature,
Rap musicandrappers-suchas TreachofNaughty
P.E.
Ice Cube(aka Cube),formerly
ofNWA[NiggasWitAttitude],
[PublicEnemy],Ice-T,Queen Latifah,Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr.
aretheartistic
representatives
Dre,Yo-Yo,Kam,2 Pac-and others
of theHip Hop Nation.Throughtheirbold and talentedproductions,theyare fulfilling
the missionof the artist:"disturbthe
peace." Of course,theUnitedStatesGhetto(USG) is a hotbedof
andpowerlessness;
unrest,
dispossession,
so, forAfricanAmericans livingon the margins,forthis "underclass,"thereis no
is thepeaceofmiddle-class
White
"peace."Whatis beingdisturbed
andBlackAmerica.
used in the
Interestingly
enough,thetermrap was originally
African
Americanspeechcommunity
torefer
sexualtoromantic,
ized interaction,
usuallyoriginatedby a man forpurposesof
and sexual favorsof a woman(see, e.g.,
winningthe affection
Kochman,1972).By thelate 1960s,whenthetermcrossedover
ithadlostitssexualinnuendo
and
intomainstream
publiclanguage,
powcameto meananykindofstrong,
aggressive,
highlyfluent,
erfultalk.One findsbothusesofthetermintoday'sBlack speech
bothmeanings
intheir
andofcourse,rappers
community,
represent
artistic
productions.
oftonalsemantics,
RapmusicisrootedintheBlackoraltradition
thedozens/playin
thedozens,
narrativizing,
signification/signifyin,
and othercommunicative
Africanized
syntax,
practices.The oral
traditionitselfis rootedin the survivingAfricantraditionof
"Nommo"and thepowerof the wordin humanlife (see, e.g.,
Dance, 1978; Dundes, 1973; Gwaltney,1980). The rapperis a
and culAfricangriot,theverballygiftedstoryteller
postmodern
intraditional
African
As African
America's
turalhistorian
society.
he orshe
therappermustbe lyrically/linguistically
fluent;
"griot,"
to come wit it in no
to speak the truth,
is expectedto testify,
in theearlyformation
ofrapmusic,the
terms.Further,
uncertain
rapperwas expectedto speakwitha quickness.
Smitherman
/COMMUNICATIVE
PRACTICES 5
Therateofspeechinrapmustbe constant
inorder
tocorrelate
it
onehundred
withthebeatofthemusic.... A rapsongaverages
beatsperminute
... eachbeatofthemusiccanbecorreforty-four
Ifthenumber
ofunstressed
latedtoa stressed
syllable.
syllables
is
ofstressed
ina rapsong,therapper
equaltothenumber
syllables
a minimum
of twohundred
utters
andfifty
eightsyllables
per
minute.
(Yasim,1995,p. 38)
A blendof realityand fiction,rap musicis a contemporary
ofjoblessness,poverty,
and disempowerresponseto conditions
ment(Smitherman,
which
continue
to
be
thenormforthe
1994),
Black UN workingclass. A culturalcritic,describing
himselfas
linesoftheWhiteStruggle,"
fromthe"front
providesthisdescription of rap music: "[It is a rebellionagainst]whiteAmerica's
economicand psychologicalterrorism
againstBlack people"
(Upski,1993).Morgan(in press)expressesitthisway:"Petulant,
withvibrant
raw,andscreaming
andviolentimages... [rapmusic]
represents
peoplewhoareangrythatthepowerapparatus
triedto
it
bury alive."
Givenitsmission "disturb
thepeace"-much ofrapmusichas
a moraledge.As PoorRighteous
Teachers(a FivePercentNation
rapgroup3)says,"The gods are rulingup in hiphop" (quotedin
Ahearn,1991).Thismusichasbecomea-or, perhapsthe-principalmediumforBlackyouthto"expresstheirviewsoftheworld"
and to seekto "createa senseof order"(Allen,1996) outof the
and chaos of their,and our,lives.Despitethe 1990s'
turbulence
of guns,violence,misogyny,
and overusedtaboolanemergence
missionofrapremains
guageinrapmusic,thefounding
thatclearly
reflected
inRapperGrandmaster
FlashandtheFuriousFive's 1982
hitsong,"TheMessage."Heretheydecry,
forall theworldtohear,
thedeplorableconditions
ofthehood:
Broken
glasseverywhere,
Peoplepissinonthestair,
Youknowthey
justdon'tcare.
I can'ttakethesmell,
I can'ttakethenoise...
Don'tpushmecauseI'mclosetotheedge,
6
JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES /SEPTEMBER 1997
I'mtrying
nottolosemyhead.
It'slikea junglesometimes
Itmakesmewonder
HowI keepfrom
goingunder.
(usedbypermission,
Sugarhill
PublishingCompany)
For contemporary
Blacks,then,as Naughtyby Natureraps,the
chainremainsthesameas inenslavement.
I think
[Introduction]:
it'sabouttimeyouexplained
toeverybody
the
realreasonyouwearthischain
around
yourneck...
[Treach]:
Toomany
ofmypeoplegottime
Itshowsas crime
unfolds
... theirgoalslockedin a facility
wheretimeis froze
Godknowstheheart
hurts
Toseenosky,
justdirt
Theygivea mana cellquickbefore
theygivea manwork...
Barsandcement
ofhelpforourpeople
instead
Jailsainnothin
buttheslave-day
sequel
tofleethetrapofthisnation
Tryin
theplantoplantthenewplantation
Seeinpenitentiary's
...
Who'slockedup,who'sshotup,who'sstrung
out,who's
readin
bleedin-keep
I needto explain:thechainremainthesame("ChainsRemain,"
? 1995WBMusic
Naughty
byNature,
1995;usedbypermission,
Corp.[ASCAP]& Naughty
Music[ASCAP])
Thereis currently
afoota concerted
campaignagainstrapmusic
despiteitspoliticalandmoralmessagesanditscelebration
ofthe
Black oraltradition.
On June5, 1993,AfricanAmericanminister
ReverendCalvinButtshelda "rapin" in Harlem,New York,to
whichhe hadinvited
tobringoffensive
participants
tapesandCDs
tobe runoverwitha steamroller.
wasfoiled
effort
(The steamroller
of theHip Hop Nationwhoblocked
by membersand supporters
thesteamroller.
ReverendButtsand supporters
thustookthepile
ofCDs andtapestotheManhattan
officeofSonyanddumpedthem
headoftheNationalPolitical
there.)In 1994,Dr.C. DeloresTucker,
/COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICES
Smitherinan
7
Congressof Black Women,was successfulin gettingthe U.S.
Congresstoholdhearings
againstrapmusic.Shejoinedforceswith
former
ofEducationWilliam
a Whitemaleconservative,
Secretary
to mountan all-outcampaignagainstrapmusic.By late
Bennett,
September1995,Tuckerand Bennetthad succeededin forcing
in Interscope,
TimeWarnerto sell offtheirinterest
therecording
ofthe"gangsta"rappers.
companyforthemostprominent
Admittedly,
raphas itsviolence,itsrawlanguage,and itsmisogynistic
lyrics.However,itis an artformthataccurately
reports
andmostimportantly,
"thenuances,pathology
resilenceofAmerica's best kept secret. .. the black ghetto"(Dawsey, 1994). Hip-
cultureis a resistance
culture.
hop/rap
Thus,rapmusicis notonly
cultural
itis, atthesametime,a
a Black expressive
phenomenon;
a setofcommunicative
resisting
discourse,
practices
thatconstitute
a textofresistance
againstWhiteAmerica'sracismanditsEurocultural
dominance.
centric
AFRICANAMERICAN
LANGUAGEIU.S.
EBONICS ANDHIP-HOP
It is criticalto keepin mindthattheracializedrhetoric
of rap
musicandtheHip Hop Nationis embodiedinthecommunicative
The languageof
practicesofthelargerBlack speechcommunity.
American
hip-hop
isAfrican
language(hereafterAAL),
alsoknown
as Black English,AfricanAmericanvernacularEnglish,and
Ebonics(from"ebony,"forBlack,and "phonics,"forsound;see
thepast
Williams,1975).AAL hasbeenstudiedextensively
during
threedecades(see, e.g.,Baugh,1983; Costello& Wallace,1990;
Dandy,1991;Dillard,1972;Fasold& Shuy,1970;Garofalo,1992;
Ice-T,1994;Jones,1994;Kochman,
1972,1981;Labov,1972;Major,
&
1970,1994;Nelson& Gonzales,1991;Rickford,
1992;Rickford
Rickford,1976; Scott,1986; Smitherman,
1977, 1994; Stewart,
1967;Wolfram,
1970).
AAL is a productof freeAfricanslave labor,havingevolved
froma 17th-century
pidginEnglishthatwas a linguafrancainthe
8
JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES /SEPTEMBER 1997
Bricommunities
throughout
linguistically
diverseenslavement
tian'sNorthAmericancoloniesthatbecametheUnitedStatesof
America.ThepidginblendedEuropeanAmerican
English(hereaffromtheNiger-Congo
familyof African
terEAL) withpatterns
languages(e.g.,Yoruba,Wolof,Efik,Twi-see, e.g.,Asante,1990;
system
Turner,
1949).Theresultofthisblendwasa communication
as botha resistance
bond
languageanda linguistic
thatfunctioned
forthosebornunderthelash.
ofculturalandracialsolidarity
thelexiconofAAL canreadilybe identified
as EAL,
Although
thelinguistic
and
rules,therhetorical
itis thenuancedmeanings,
thewaysin whichtheEAL wordsare strung
semanticstrategies,
thatdistinguish
AAL
toforma setofdiscursive
practices
together
"The Brothabe lookingood;
fromEAL. Considerthestatement,
that'swhatgot the Sista nose open!" (Froma 30-ishAfrican
Americanwomanata hair-braiding
shoponChicago'sSouthSide,
1992). "Brotha"is AAL foran AfricanAmericanman,"lookin
appearance,"Sista" is AAL foran
good" refersto his attractive
AfricanAmericanwoman,andherpassionatelovefortheBrotha
is conveyedbythephrase"noseopen."Theuse of"be" meansthat
thequalityof "lookingood"is notlimitedto thepresentmoment
andfuture
essence.
theBrotha'spast,present,
butreflects
considered
illustrative
of
an
be
Althoughsuch examplemay
impliedracialresistance-thatis, in thecontinueduse of these
disapkindsof verbalformsdespiteWhiteAmerica'slinguistic
of
proval-otherformsof AAL suggesta moreexplicitrhetoric
inDark
In LonneElder'slate1960s'play,Ceremonies
resistance.
thecentral
inwhich
protagonists
OldMen,thereis a debatebetween
a keythemeinthedrama,saystoanother,
oneBrotha,articulating
to no niggathatain't crazy!"
"Don't nobodypay no attention
AAL goes
theuse ofdoublenegatives,
Because EAL stigmatizes
featureof
one betterand uses multiplenegation(a characteristic
Because "nigger"is a racializedepithetin EAL,
AAL grammar).
AAL embracesits usage, encodinga varietyof unique Black
meanings.And"crazyniggas"aretherebelliousones,whoresist
and drawattention
to theircause
domination
racial supremacist
roleforAfricans
totheinscribed
becausetheyactinwayscontrary
inAmerica.
Smitherman
/COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICES
9
it is clearthatAfrican
As we movetowardthe21stcentury,
speechcommutoconstitute
itselfas a distinct
Americacontinues
normsof
nity,withits own linguisticrulesand sociolinguistic
interaction.
COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICES AND
LINGUISTIC PATTERNS IN RAP AND HIP-HOP
GRAMMATICAL AND PHONOLOGICAL FORMS
feaand widelycitedgrammatical
One ofthemostdistinctive
that
turesofAAL is theuse ofaspectualbe to indicateiterativity;
orongoing,
intermittent,
thatarecontinuous,
is,actionsorattributes
citedabove.Also
as in "The Brothabe lookinggood" statement
as "habitualbe," this
to in theAAL researchliterature
referred
feature
is pervasivein theHip Hop Nation.In hisbig seller,"Big
And
Poppa,"thelateNotoriousB.I.G. usedthisformextensively.
fromtheGetoBoys:
I swungandhit
He be in fora squabbleno doubt/So
was goindown,we fig'ged,
theniggainhismouth/He
stoodaboutsix
nigga/He
butthiswasn'tno ordinary
thasstheniggaI be seeinin mysleep.("My Mind
or sevenfeet/Now
with
is PlayingTrickson Me," GetoBoys, 1992; lyricsreprinted
Inc.)
C N-TheWaterPublishing,
permission
commonin AAL is zero copula. This
Anothercopulapattern
or
wherethemeaningis noniterative
formoccursinenvironments
characterizes
the
moment
present
static.The senseoftheutterance
only,as in "Thisbus on timetoday,butmosttimes,itbe late";or
as in "This my
has theforceof an all-timetruth,
theutterance
brother."
Some examplesfromhip-hopcan be foundin Ice-T's
(1988) "I'm YourPusher"andin QueenLatifah's"Ladies First":
"Yeah,theregonbe somechangesoverhere"(LatifahwithMonie
T-BoyMusicL.L.C., ? WarnerLove, 1989;usedbypermission,
10
JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES /SEPTEMBER 1997
Corp. [BMI], Now & ThenMusic [BMI],
TamerlanePublishing
QueenLatifahMusic[BMI],& FortyFiveKingMusic[ASCAP]).
is used to denotethe
been,whenstressed,
The pastparticiple
inthefollowing
excerpt
from
form
remote
past.Itappearsinwritten
in TheSource(a widelyreadhiphopmagazine):
an interview
Source:TellmeaboutthebeefyouhadwithThreeTimesDope.
RapperSteadyB, aka MC Boob: That'sa old story.... Cometo find
andthey
wasright
...
outthetablesturned
that
out?Areyoudownwith
E-Sandthem
now?
Source:Y'all worked
thatout.
CoolC: Webeenworked
withgo,a nasalizedvowel
InAAL,future
indicated
tenseis often
soundclose to,butnotidenticalwith,EAL's "gone,"andnotthe
sameas colloquialEAL's "gonna."Artistic
pioneersofrap,Public
political-giveus: "Black
Enemy(knownas "P.E.")-consistently
is back,all in, we gon win" ("BringtheNoise," 1988; used by
courtesyBringtheNoiz, Inc.). (See also theQueen
permission,
Love lineabove.)
Latifah-Monie
AAL speakersuse theyforthethirdsingular
pluralpossessive.
In hip-hop,
we hear:
link/If
itbroke,
turkish
Allthegirlshadthey
they
meant
todoit.("BackintheDay,"Ahmad,
toit,likethey
madeerrings
Records)
Interscope
1994,usedbypermission,
AndfromNationofIslamRapperKam:
wealllooking
outforNumber
One
Youknow,
selldopeandgirlsgettheynailsdone.("Trust
That'swhyBrothas
andKam,usedbypermission,
1995,byDJBattlecat
Nobody,"
? FamousMusicCorporation,
VentNoirMusicPublishing,
and
I-SlamMusic)
is widespread
Postvocalic-rdeletion
And,
amongAAL speakers.
as forexampleinSnoopDoggyDogg's 1993
ofcourse,inhip-hop,
topseller,"GinandJuice."AndfromtheGetoBoys
Smithermnan
/COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICES
11
Hey,yeah,man,I gotWillieD. on theotherend
Say,fellas,I beenkickina fewlyricsintheback
ofmymind... I'm tied[tired]ofmuthafuckas
disrespectinus becausewe're Black-ownand won'tsell out.("Do It Like A
? N-The
G.O.,"GetoBoys,1992;lyricsreprinted
withpermission
WaterPublishing,
Inc.)
AmongAAL speakers,
lAng/andlank!areusedin wordssuch
as think,
Thisis howwe getthepopularexpression,
sing,anddrink.
"It's a Black Thang"[not"thing"].FromThe Source,we read:
feelin'it in Oaktown. . ." (photo
"Sangin'sistahsBrownstone
caption,July1995). Giventhattherapperhas to meettheartistic
use ofthissystematic
AAL pronunciation
demandforrhyme,
rule
can generate
a uniquerhythmic
line,as inthefollowing:
Hittinall thespotsbutI'm cominup blank
I'm headedtotheliquorstowe[store]to
gitmyselfsomedrank.("Big Pimpin',"Tha Dogg Pound,1994,used
bypermission,
C 1994WB MusicCorp.[ASCAP] & SugePublishing [ASCAP]; also on themotionpicturesoundtrack,
Abovethe
Rim)
thegrammatical
ofAAL,bynowwell
Notwithstanding
integrity
establishedin thescholarlyliterature,
thesyntaxof rapmusicis
foritsdepartures
oftenattacked
from"standard
English."Because
manyrapartistsarecollegeeducated,andmostareadeptat code
couldemploy"standard
switching,
theyobviously
English"intheir
rap lyrics.However,in theirquestto "disturbthepeace," they
and consciouslyemploythe "antilanguage"
deliberately
of the
Black speech community,
thussociolinguistically
constructing
themselves
as members
ofthedispossessed.Even whenthemessageinthemusicdoesnotovertly
speaktoracialresistance,
theuse
oftheBlackspeechcommunity's
syntaxcovertly
reinforces
Black
America's400-yearrejection
ofEuro-American
racialcultural,
andlinguistic-domination.
12
JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES /SEPTEMBER 1997
RHETORICAL AND SEMANTIC
MODES
STRATEGIES/DISOURSE
Giventhattherapperrecallsthegriotofold,raplyricsareoften
forms
thereareritualized
Indeed,although
wovenintoa narrative.
in AAL-such as theToasts(see, e.g., Jackson,
of storytelling
featureof generalBlack
is a characteristic
1974)-Narrativizing
talkmaybe rendered
conversational
Everyday
discursive
practices.
is a Blackrhetorical
toexplain
strategy
Narrativizing
as a "story."
a point,topersuadeholdersofopposingviewstoone's ownpoint
aboutgeneral,abstract
obserofview,andtocreateword-pictures
RapperIce Cuberules[reigns
vationsaboutlife,love,andsurvival.
of thisBlack communicative
deployment
supreme]in his artistic
for instance,how it
racialized
oppression,
practiceto explain
ofAfricanAmericanmenarein
happensthatsuchhugenumbers
prison:
but
is where
sendsitsfailures,
society
prison
[Voice]:In anycountry,
itselfis failing.
inthiscountry,
society
[IceCube]:Howyoulikemenow?I'm inthemix,it's1986,andI got
shorter
thana
outthe12thcausemywelfare's
thefix... /Dropped
onhisknees... ./Fucked
upinthepen,nowit's'94,backin
midget
knowI gottostart
from
inthedoor/Everybody
L.A.andI'mfallin
bouteducation
tobattle
... /Noskillstopaythebills/Talkin
scratch
G . . / gota babyon
justa dumb-ass
collegedegree,
inflation/No
of a
it's a mess/Have
youeverbeenconvicted
theway/Damn,
alldressed
someadvicefrom
myUncleFester,
felony?-Yes!/Took
to McDonald's.May I pleasehelp
up in polyester/"Welcome
CanI Do?"IceCube,1993;used
whatcanI do?("What
you?"/Shit,
Music(ASCAP)])
Knowledge
[Street
bypermission
AAL conintotheeveryday
Braggadociois richlyinterwoven
in
the
anditis ritualized
toasts,long-standing
versational
context,
"Shine,""Stag-o-Lee,"
narrativeepics fromthe oral tradition.
andotherwell-known
toasts
Monkey,"
"Dolemite,""theSignifyin
tonedexpewithcleverrhymes,
arerendered
puns,andculturally
The
froma freshand new perspective.
riencesand references
butusuallyhimself)as a
toast-teller
projectshimself(or herself,
Smitherman
/COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICES
13
all odds.
omnipotent
hero,abletoovercome
powerful,
all-knowing,
dreamsof his
theself-empowerment
In thisway,he personifies
andaccomplishforthemtriumph
Blackaudienceandsymbolizes
thebraggageneration,
mentagainsttheodds.In thehip-hop/rap
or verbal
abouttherapper'slovemaking
dociothemeis generally
B.I.G. boastsabouthisrapping
prowessin
skills.WhileNotorious
(see,e.g.,his"Big Poppa"),giftedpromale-female
relationships
ducerDr.Dre bragsabouthisabilityto "flow"[verbalskills]:
... ./Now
it's
anduhmfreakin
Well,uhmbeepinanduhmcreepin
sitback,relax,
andstrap
timeformetomakemyimpression
felt/So
neverbeenon a ridelikethisbefo/With
a
on yo seatbelt/You
thesametime
whocanrapandcanthrow
themaestro/At
producer
I kick/You
knowandI knowI throw
some
witthedoperhymes
that
thisselection
ol funky
shit/To
addtomycollection,
symbolizes/
youdo,you'llhavenoclueofwhat
Takea toke,butdon'tchoke/If
buta 'G'
meandmyhomey
SnoopDoggcametodo. ("Nuthin'
Records)
Interscope
Thang,"
Dr.Dre,1992,usedbypermission,
The artof verbalinsultis displayedin AAL's communicative
thedozens(traditional
terms)orsnappin
ritual,thedozens/playin
1995a).It has anaterm;see,e.g.,Smitherman,
(newlyemerging
loguesamongsomeethnicgroupsinWestAfrica,suchas theEfik
inNigeria(see,e.g.,Dalby,1972;Simmons,1963).ThislinguisticculturalpracticeinvolveswhatBlack womanwriterZora Neale
to as "low-rating
theancestorsof your
Hurston(1942) referred
ofa snap,the
anyrelativemaybe thetarget
opponent."
Although
thepreferred
subject.Givenitsritualnature,
motheris generally
forlaunchingthe verbal
thereare stocklinguisticconventions
insult,themostcommonbeing"yomomma."Andtherearesome
theinsultmustbe funny
andoriginal
criticalrules.Forone thing,
itmustnotbe
(ora newtwiston an oldline).And,mostimportant,
truebecause,then,itis no longera game.
literally
I wasabout
Yallremember
waybackthen... ./Ithink
ofthosehappy
little
ten/One
tryin
niggas... /Always
"Hismomma
"Yomomma
torag... ./Sayin,
this,"
black,"
that."
"Hismomma
1994)
("BackintheDay,"Ahmad,
14
JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES /SEPTEMBER 1997
Yo momma
so fat,shefellover,herlegbrokeoff,
andsomegravy
poured
out.
I sawyomomma
kickin
a candownthestreet
I askedherwhatshewasdoin,andshesaidmovin.
(WhiteMen Can't
Jump,
1992film)
Yourmother
is so old,shewenttotheVirgin
Mary'sbabyshower.
I calledheronthe
Yoursister
is so nasty,
phoneandgotanearinfection.
(DoubleSnaps,byPercelay,
Dweck,&
from
Ivey,1995;collected
hip-hoppers,
oldermusicians,
andothers
from
acrosstheUnited
States).
is a typeofverbalinsultthatis leveledat
Signification/signifyin
thanathisorhermother
orrelatives.
Whereasthe
a person,rather
is
dozensis fairly
bluntandpointed,
and
signifyin subtle,indirect,
circumlocutory
(see e.g.,Asante,1972;Lee, 1993;Mitchell-Kernan,
1969; Morgan,1989; Smitherman,
1995b; Watkins,1994). Althoughit maybe employedforjust plainfun,it is oftenused to
makea point,toissuea corrective,
ortocritique
indirection
through
Forinstance,
MalcolmX oncebegana speechtoa Black
andhumor.
to lethis audienceknowthathe
audiencewitha bitof signifyin
Lomax [the
knewhe hadenemiesamongthem.He said,"Brother
friends
andenemies."Inrapand
ladiesandgentlemen,
moderator],
AfricanAmericanliterature,
women
hip-hop,as in contemporary
Femalerappersuse thisage-old
rulewhenit comesto signifyin.
to launchcriticaloffensives
rhetorical
strategy
againstthesexual
ofwomenpracticed
objectification
bysomemalerappers.
In "FlyGirl,"theever-inventive
backat
QueenLatifahstrikes
whatmanywomenconsidera disrespectful
formof address:Yo,
torap'ssexismbycominghard
baby!Otherfemalerappers
respond
Smoothprovidessuchanexampleinher1993hit,"Ya
themselves.
Been Played":
Ya beenplayedandI think
youknowit
Youtoolargetoeventrytoshowit...
I usedyouas a steppingstone
I sentyosorry
ThenwhenI wasthrough,
butthome...
Smitherman
/COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICES
15
You knowthatya beenplayed,gitoutmyface.(usedbypermission,
? 1993ZombaEnterprises,
Inc.[ASCAP],TeaspoonMusic[BMI])
In their1993hit,"Shoop,"SaltN Pepa notonlycreatean entire
rap (and musicvideo) fullof sexual hyperboleand the sexual
ofa Blackmale,theyalsoweaveina bitofsignifyin
objectification
on rapperBig DaddyKane.In his"VerySpecial"jam,Big Daddy
to
Kanecelebrates
thesexualbeautyofa womanandgivestribute
havemercy,
I
"Forgivingme something
thisbeautiful,
herfather:
themother
So in"Shoop,"SaltN Pepacredit
wanttokissyofather."
forthesexualbeautyofthemaletheyrapabout.
...
Like Princesaid,you'rea sexymother
Makesme wannado trickson him
Lickhimlikea lolypop shouldbe licked...
Don't knowhowyoudo thevoodoothatyoudo
So well,it'sa spell,hell
Makesme wannashoopshoopshoop
You'repackedandyou'restacked
Especiallyintheback
fora buttlikethat...
Brother
wannathankyourmother
You'rea shotgunbang!What'sup withthatthang!
? 1993Bed
I wannaknow,howdoesithang.... (usedbypermission,
ofNailsMusic,Inc.,TyranMusic,UniChappell
Inc.,NextPlateau
Music,IZA MusicCorp.,andSons ofK'Oss Music,Inc.)
theBlackmusicaltradition
is whatrap'ssamplingis
Revisiting
all about.Some criticsof rapmusichave arguedthattheuse of
lyricsandmelodiesfromolderworkintheBlackmusicaltradition
thatrapisnotinnovative,
demonstrates
thatitmerely
imitates
rather
thancreates.Yet,whatrappersare doingwhentheysampleis
andrevisingearliermusicalwork.As a rhetorical
stratrevisiting
is a kindofstructural
similar
towhatHenry
signifyin,
egy,sampling
Louis Gates (1988) and othershave shownthatcontemporary
AliceWalker,
andothersare
suchas ToniMorrison,
Blackwriters,
ontheworkofearlierBlack
commenting
doing:Theyareindirectly
writers
withinthenarrative
structure
oftheirownliterary
producof
The
thus
a
conscious
tions.
preocsampling rappers represents
16
JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES /SEPTEMBER 1997
andconnection
to Black cultural
cupationwithartistic
continuity
itselfsquarely
roots.Inthissense,theHipHopNationis grounding
in theBlack musical-cultural
evenas
tradition,
and unabashedly
andputtheirownimprint
on thegame.
theyextendthattradition
In fact,thereare clearaestheticdistinctions
betweenthiskindof
theculturalmemoryassociatedwitha
sampling,whichtriggers
givenmusicalwork,and sampling,
whichsimplyduplicatesthat
work.An exampleof thelatteris "Bop Gun,"fromIce Cube's
LethalInjectionalbum,whichmerelyreplaysGeorgeClinton's
1970s' hit,"One NationUndera Groove,"withno modification,
theentiresong.(However,thispurelyimitative
samthroughout
plingis rareforCube,whois one ofthemostverballycleverand
innovative
rapartists.)
reflects
thewayin
As withotherdiscursive
practices,
sampling
which rap music capitalizes on Black culturalexpression as a
scaffoldforresistancerhetoric.P.E.'s "By the Time I Get to
Arizona"was releasedin 1991,whenArizonawas theonlystate
thatdidnothonorthenationalholidayforDr.MartinLutherKing,
P.E. sampleswhatwas a populartalkJr.Withappropriate
irony,
singinglovejam, "By The TimeI Get to Phoenix,"recordedby
effect
is a textof
musicalgiantIsaac Hayesin 1969.Therhetorical
racialprotestthatbecamea popular1990s' rallyingcryagainst
racism,Arizona-style.
whatifI celebrateit
Whywanta holiday?Fuckit,causeI wanna/So
ain'tdrinkin
no 40
standinon a corner/I
I be thinkin
timewitha nine/Until
we getsomeland
man... ./They
Call methetrigger
can'tunderstand
whyhe
don'tlikeitWhenI
theman/I'msinginbouta king/They
decideto mikeit... ./I'mon theonemissionTo geta
thetimeI getto
honororhe's a goner/By
politician/To
Arizona.(usedbypermission,
courtesy
BringtheNoiz,Inc.)
was a member
of
The late2 Pac [TupacShakur],whosemother
the 1960s'-1970s'revolutionary
pays
group,theBlack Panthers,
in "Dear Mama."The songrecalls"Sadie,"
to his mother
tribute
N
recordedin the 1970sby theSpinners,a male ballad/Rhythm
Blues group.In "Sadie,"theycelebratethedevotionand love so
/COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICES
Smitherman
17
ofone oftheSpinners.Simiunselfishly
displayedbythemother
larly,in 1995,2 Pac raps:
WhenI was young,meandmymommahadbeefs
...
Seventeenyearsold,kickedouton thestreets
I'd see a face
Back atthetimeI neverthought
Aina womanalivethatcouldtakemymomma'splace ...
I reminisce
was hellhuggin
on thestressI caused/It
from
on mymommafrommyjail cell ... /Oneday,runnin
tomy
thepo-lice,mommacatchme,puta whuppin
backside... ./Evenas a crackfiend,momma,youalways
fora
understand
was a BlackQueen,momma/I
finally
toraisea man/You
womanitaineasytryin
alwayswas
on welfare-tellmehow
committed/A
poorsinglemother
no wayI canpayyouback,butmy
youdidit/There's
areappreciated
planis to showyouthatI understand/You
[Chorus]:Lady,don'tyouknowwe loveyou,sweetlady/
Interscope
Place no one aboveyou,sweetlady.(usedbypermission,
Records)
communicative
inAAL is
One oftheleastunderstood
practices
Ofteninapproprithemanipulation
of EAL's semanticstructure.
ately dismissedas "Black slang,"thisrhetoricalmaneuvering
whatlatelinguistGraceHolt
amountsto linguistic
appropriation,
inversion."
call itflip(1972) called"semantic
Todayhip-hoppers
AAL speakers
takewordsand
pinthescript.Itis a processwhereby
conceptsfromtheEAL lexiconandeitherreversetheirmeanings
different
In thehip-hopworld,New
orimposeentirely
meanings.
YorkandLos Angeles,giganticsitesofBlackoppression,
become
"Zoo York"and"Los Scandalous."Semanticinversion/flippin
the
wasanactoflinguistic
as Africans
inAmerica
script
empowerment
took an alien tongueand made it theirs;simultaneously,
they
createda communication
uninsystemthatbecamelinguistically
eventhoughitwas hislanguage.
telligibletotheoppressor,
Giventhisoriginas an antilanguage,
whenanAAL termcrosses
overandgainslinguistic
intheEAL world,AAL speakers
currency
a newtermtotakeitsplace.Ofcourse,manywordsinthe
generate
MissAnndidnot
scriptdo notcrossover.Forexample,historically,
18
JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES /SEPTEMBER 1997
to theWhite
referto anywomannamed"Ann"but,derogatorily,
mistress
oftheslaveplantation.
Today,thetermstillrefersto the
to anyBlack woman,who acts
Whitewoman,andby extension,
theMan was notany manbut,
uppity,or "White."Historically,
theWhiteman.In the 1960s and 1970s,the
again,derogatorily,
termcametobe appliednotonlytotheWhitemanbutalso tothe
thisscripthasbeenflippedagain,
policeman.Amonghip-hoppers,
as theMan has cometo meana personwithgreatpower,knowledge,skill,andso forth.
(Thissenseofthetermis intheprocessof
crossingover.)
Semanticinversion:
in thehip-hoplexicon,tobe downis to be
thatis, enthusiastic
and supportive,
like Ice
"up forsomething,"
Cube whois "downforwhatever,"
andlikeBrandywhocroonsto
herwould-beman:"I wannabe downwithyou."Kam playswith
semanticinversionwhenhe raps "People make the worldgo
ask me, What'sup?/Itell 'em what'sgoin down"
round/They
("TrustNobody,"1995,byDJBattlecatandKam,usedbypermisVentNoir Music
sion, ? 1994 by FamousMusic Corporation,
andI-SlamMusic).
Publishing,
a "spokenwordartist,"
D-Knowledge[i.e.,THEE Knowledge],
hip-hop/AAL
meanings
flipsthescripttocreatea textcontrasting
subtext
withthosefromtheEAL culturalcontext.The resulting
tothedominant
resistance
culture'slexicon:
symbolizes
linguistic
Like whena brotha'stalkin''bouta beautiful
sistah
An' he saysthatthissistahis phat
orobese
Butnot"fat"likeoverweight
'Cuz thissistah'sfresh
An' notfreshlikeshe'sgotattitude
orfreshlike
she'sinexperienced
'Cuz thisgirl'stight
orstiff
Butnottightlikeuptight
'Cuz thisgirl'sdope
An' notdopelikethestuff
someofus smoke
'Cuz thisgirl'sfine
orfinelike"that'lldo" . . .
Butnotfinelike"justawright"
'Cuz thishoney'stheshit
An' notandnotlikethereal,stanky
shit
Smiitherman
/COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICES
19
'Cuz thishoney'sfly
Butnotlikethebuzz,buzzflyin'flythathangsaround
theshit... ("All ThatAndA Bag ofWords,"D-Knowledge/Derrick
I.
M. Gilbert[9/28/93;recorded,1995], wordsby D-Knowledge,
musicby Mark Shelby,? 1995 D-KnowledgeMusic/Chrysalis
Songs/Mark
ShelbyMusic.AllRights
Reserved.
Usedbypermission)
The inversion/script
flippinthathas takenplace with"nigger"
is oftenmisunderstood
byEuropeanAmericansandcastigated
by
WhenusedbyAAL speakers,"nigger"
someAfricanAmericans.
has a different
because of AAL's postvocalic-r
pronunciation,
deletionrule,and in today'ship-hopworld,a different
spelling:
of
nigga,andfortheplural,niggaz.In AAL, thetermhasa variety
is yournigga;so,
Yourbestfriend,
positivemeanings.
yourhomey,
2 Pac dedicateda rap to his "homiez,"titled"Strictly
forMy
and
Niggaz."Black womenuse niggato referto theirboyfriends
lovers;so, femalerapperYo Yo celebratesthefactthatshe has a
"down-assniggaon myteam"in "theBonnieandClydeTheme"
withIce Cube.Further,
eventhenegativemeanduetsherecorded
nuancefromtheracialepithetof
ing of "nigger"has a different
association
WhiteAmericansin thatthegenetic/racial/bloodline
inAAL,negative
doesnotapply.Rather,
refers
tonegative
"nigger"
andthus,anybody-including
Whitefolk!-who
socialbehavior,
is "actingout"maybe called"nigger."
therhetoric
ofracialresistance,
Encodedwithin
niggais usedto
demarcate(Black) culturally
rootedfrom(White)culturally
assimilatedAfricanAmericans.Niggazare thoseBloods (Blacks)
whoaredownforBlacknessandidentify
withthetrialsas wellas
thetriumphs
the
Black
in
of
experience theU.S.G. N.W.A.provides: "EFIL4ZAGGIN" [NIGGAZ 4 LIFE represented
backof culturalpride
ward],titleof their1991 album,a reaffirmation
andlifeinthehood.
In yetanotherflippinof theniggascript,rap groupArrested
Development
playson thenegativemeaningofnigga,thatis, the
negativemeaningin AAL, to illustrate
the difference
between
Black,Nigga,and African.In their1992hit,"PeopleEveryday,"
theyuse "Black" as a genericracialtermto referto anybodyof
20
JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES /SEPTEMBER 1997
Africandescent."Nigga" refersto thenegativeantisocialbehavior
of a Black person who lacks a sense of kinshipand brotherhood.
"African"is the positive "Black" person,who doesn't "act out,"
and respectforotherBlacks.
and who practiceslove, brotherhood,
I was pleased,mydaywas goinggreat,andmysoul
was atease/Until
a groupofBrothasstarted
buggin
the40 oz., goingtheniggaroute,disout,drinking
respecting
myBlackQueen,holdintheircrotches
and
I ignored'em cause,see,I
first
beinobscene/At
knowthetype/They
gotdrunk,
theygotguns,andthey
wantto fight/And
theysee a youngcouplehavina time
that'sgood,theiregoswanttotesta Brotha'smanhood/Istayedcalmandprayedtheniggaspleaseleave
mebe/Buttheysqueezeda partofmydate'sanatomy...
I toldtheniggaspleaseletus pass/Isaid,please,
he wouldn'tstop
causeI don'tlikekillinAfricans/But
And... I was madbythen/It
tookthreeorfourcopsto
thestory,
pullmeoffofhim/That's
yall,ofa Black
manactinlikea niggagetstompedbyan African.... The
lookveryhardat
moralofthestoryis thatyoubetter
whoyousteppinto/Youmightgetkilledorshotat,and
it'snotworthit.Africans
supposedtobe lovinone
another.
(usedbypermission,
Speech/Arrested
Development)
CONCLUSION
The communicative
practicesoftheHip Hop Nationarefirmly
rootedin the AfricanAmericanspeechcommunity.
Hip-hop's
arebothinandofthiscommunity,
rappers
sounding
theclarioncall,
arousingthedeadcitizensofAmerica[thoselackinginconsciousness],showcasingthecultureof theU.S.G. and representing
the
case ofAmerica'sstilldispossessedslavedescendants.
ChuckD.,
ofPublicEnemy,
summed
itupthisway:"Rapmusicis Blackfolks'
CNN" (quotedin Chambers& Morgan,1992,p. 83).
/COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICES
Smiitherman
21
Rappingabouttheirpain and theviolencetheylive withhas
from"thuglife"andgiventhemlegitimate,
rescuedseveralrappers
productivecareers-such as Ice Cube and Ice-T, bothformer
Californiagang members,and NotoriousB.I.G., formerdrug
ofhip-hophascreated
dealer.In fact,itis no secretthattheculture
Whatis a secret,
a multi-billion-dollar
is thatthe
industry.
however,
bigpaper[lotsofmoney]inthismulti-billion-dollar
industry
goes
outofeveryalbum,CD, ortapesold,
tobigbusiness.Forinstance,
theartist
getsonly5.7%,thesongwriter,
only3%,buttherecording
companygets43.4%,andtherecordstore,31.7% (Vibe,1995).
to providea cohesive
In theabsenceof a nationalmovement
suchas thatwhichemerged
the1960spoliticalframework,
during
with
it
1970s,theHipHopNationgrapples contradictionslacksthe
to resolve.Moreover,
thereis littlehelpfrom
politicalexperience
theirelders,as fewof theseAfricanAmericans,
thosewhohave
"madeit,"areoffering
guidancetorappers.
Legendary
singerand
artist
entertainment
StevieWonder
thisvoidwhen
(1995) addressed
on rapmusic:
he was askedtocomment
I learnfromrap.... Listenhard,andyou'llhearthe
pain.Without
feelingthepainyourself,
you'll
we
neverunderstand.
Andwhatwe don'tunderstand,
can'tchange,can'theal.I hateitwhenthevery
torapareattacking
folkswhoshouldbe listening
it
so hardtheymissthepoint.Thepointis thatchildren
andtheneighborhoods-the
wholecountry
... is drowning
in violence.
TheHipHopNationemploys
African
American
communicative
traditions
anddiscursive
toconveytheBlackstruggle
practices
for
survivalinthefaceofAmerica'sabandonment
ofthedescendants
ofenslavedAfricans.
TherapmusicoftheHip Hop Nationsimulthecultural
oftheBlackoraltradition
reflects
evolution
taneously
of a contemporary
and the construction
resistancerhetoric.
Of
on Maya Angelou's(1981,
course,one mightbe movedtoreflect
p. 22) words:"My people had used musicto sootheslavery's
torment
orto propitiate
God,orto describethesweetnessoflove
22
JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES /SEPTEMBER 1997
butI knewno racecouldsingand
andthedistressoflovelessness,
therapartists
ofhip-hop
danceitswayto freedom."
Nonetheless,
to
have
heeded
appear
poet MargaretWalker'sadmonition
to
tothepeople,"andtheyaredoingitina language
"speakthetruth
As a womanist
thatthepeopleknowandunderstand.
activistfrom
backintheday,I applaudtheHipHopNationforseekingtodisturb
thepeace lestthechainremainthesame.
NOTES
1. FromNaughtyBy Nature.(1995). Chainsremain.Poverty's
Paradise.TommyBoy
Records.
2. Although
"Rapper'sDelight"was thefirst
bigraphit,sellingover2 millioncopiesin
theUnitedStates(Rose, 1994,p. 196),itwas notthefirst
raprecord.That"first'occurred
earlierin 1979: "King Tim III (The Personality
Jock),"recordedby theFatbackBand
(George,1992,p. 16).
3. Theirnamederivesfroma centraltenetoftheFive PercentNation.Thepeoplewho
This5% are
areall wiseandknowwhothetruelivingGodis areonly5% ofthepopulation.
teachers."
ThePoorRighteous
Teachersrapgroupcomesfroma
calledthe"poorrighteous
New Jersey,
dubbed"Divineland"(Ahearn,1991).
ghettoprojectin Trenton,
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Smitherman
/COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICES
25
GenevaSmitherman
(aka "Dr.G."), Ph.D.,is an internationally
recognized
authorityonEbonicswhohasbeenat theforefront
Blacklanguagerights
ofthestrugglefor
she is University
for morethan20 years.Currently,
Distinguished
Professorof
AmericanLanguageand LiteracyProgramat
Englishand DirectoroftheAfrican
From1977to1979,shewasthechiefadvocateandexpert
MichiganStateUniversity.
witness
inKing(the"BlackEnglish"federal
courtcase). She is the
forthechildren
morethan100articlesandpapers
authorof
eightbooksand
onthelanguage,culture,
and educationofAfricanAmericans,
mostnotablytheclassic work,Talkinand
Testifyin:
The Languageof Black America(1977, revised1986), and Black Talk:
WordsandPhrasesFromtheHoodtotheAmenComer(1994).ApioneerintheBlack
Studiesmovement
and an educationalactivist,
she is thedaughterofruralshareBlackChurch.
croppers,
withrootsin thetraditional