Black English Rap Music Analysis

Carlo Agustin
Julia Stein
English 2
February 25, 2010

Analyzing Sound One of the most interesting musical and literary developments of the 1980s was the emergence of rap, a form of popular music in which words is recited to a driving rhythmic beat. It differs from mainstream popular music in several ways, but, most interesting in literary terms, rap lyrics are spoken rather than sung. In that sense, rap is a form of popular poetry as well as popular music. In Black English, rap means “to talk,” and in most current rap songs, the lead performer talks or recites, usually at top speed, long rhythmic, four-stress lines that end in rhymes. Although most rappers today use electronic or sampled backgrounds, rap began on city streets in the battle of “signifying,” in which two rappers aim rhymed insults at each other, sometimes accompanying their tirades with a beat made by clapping or finger snapping. Run DMC, an early rap group, produced “Peter Piper,” a rap song that contains early rap attributes, which shows the group’s sophisticated understanding of the traditions of English popular poetry. Just like every rap song that was made, “Peter Piper” contains many rhymes in the end of many lines. Rhymes like “Jack B. Nimble what nimble and he was quick,
But Jam Master cut faster Jack's on Jay's dick,” is just one of the many consecutive rhyme lines on the song.
Not only do rhymes help the artists express the song in a better and more creative way, but also easily hooks the listeners to the song. While listening to the song numerous times, I caught myself bobbing my head on the rhyme lines. Another poetic device that was part of this song was alliteration. The line “Now Peter Piper picked peppers but Run rocked rhymes” is a great example of this poetic device. Alliteration is a great way to include in a rap song because it’s usually not something that is included in them. Just like rhymes, alliteration helps the rappers tell a more creative and unique
story In addition to rap, the music genre of rock has also made a connection to the popular English poetry. It’s astonishing how many songs have been made that are drawn from other resources, and “Richard Cory,” by Simon and Garfunkel is one of these works. I remember reading Robinson’s poem of the same name as a sophomore in high school and Simon takes that poem and works around it, writing a hard-edged song in the voice of a discontented factory worker disgusted by the elegant life his boss lives. The worker is astonished to discover that Richard Cory, in spite of his wealth and high standing, kills himself. “My mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read ‘Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head.’ While analyzing this song, I speculated that the presence of repetition of the chorus concluding in “I wish that I could be Richard Cory” indicates the depth of this worker’s despair. No longer does he mean, “I wish I was affluent like Richard Cory” instead, he means, “I wish I was dead like Richard Cory.” Just by using the poetic device of repetition, the song was able to give me the same line, but with different context. It’s an analysis that is intriguing and makes perfect sense to me. All in all, even though music and poetry are two different forms of art, the bridge that connects them will always be present. With the mere presence of these poetic devices in these two songs, we can clearly tell the relationship between the music world and English poetry is alive and well.