LANGUAGE AND
SUBCULTURE
By: Sjors Laurijsen
INTRODUCTION
- a subculture can be thought of as “ a cultural group
or class within a larger culture, esp. one having
beliefs, interests, customs etc.,
- Hip hop - started in South Bronx in the 70s,
includes break dancing, graffiti, DJs combining two
songs and rap music
The Main audience to this genre are
teenagers and also young adults
RAP MUSIC
 Rap music has got its own ‘Subculture’ over the years artists
have made this type of music almost as a lifestyle and that is
why we can refer to it as a Subculture.
 The Langauge that the artists use create that livestyle, It is
the ‘’language’’ of that particular sub culture
 The language that is being used makes other people want
to live they way they do and this is what creates the large
subculture.
LANGUAGE OF THE RAP MUSIC
Trends:
 Money
 Woman
 Richness
 Drugs
 Partying
 Pride
 Showing off/impressing
 Fashion; brands, jewelry, gold, Rich
 Power
 Aggressive nature
SLANG - IDENTITY
 Most rappers have their own language. Within that language,
words and phrases are made up and created.
 ‘’Slang’’ is another word for the made up words. Slang can
have a very large impact on language and also its culture.
 a few examples of slang words;
 YOLO
 Bounce
 Crib
 Chillen
IMPACT OF LANGUAGE
 Many of the songs that are made and sang by famous rap
artists are main base of the large sub culture that ‘rap’ has.
 An example of this is the Song Motto by Drake. This Song became very
popular for only 4 letters,Y-O-L-O (you only live once) The main
audience picked up this made up slang and decided to use it them,
selves. It then became a huge thing.
 This shows not only the impact of the song and rapper but the impact
of the language that they create.
SUBCULTURE – WOMAN
 In many rap songs woman are disrespected and looked at in a
different way.
 The language most rappers use to describe woman is very rude
and it gives a bad representation of woman within that subculture that they have created.
 Words like;
 Bitch
 Hoe
 Skank
The words that are used are describing woman
in a negative way. This can create tension
within a subculture and often make cultural
differences.
SONG ANALYSIS
 The motto – Drake ft. lil wayne
SONG ANALYSIS
- Now she want a photo, You already know though. You only
live once ‒ that’s the motto nigga YOLO
(drake is a famous artists, here for he is cocky and he is proud
of the city he loves which is Miami and You only live once and
so he wants to live his life in Miami.)
- Like we sittin’ on the bench, nigga we don’t really play
Every day, every day, f*** what anybody say
(Drake is to good for ‘playing around’ He is more laidback and
he doesn’t need all the attention of playing, hell just sit. He
also doesn’t care what anybody says because he lives his own
live.
SONG ANALYSIS
 Talk stupid? Of with your head! Nigga, money talks, and Mr. Ed
(Lil wayne has power, he shows this by saying that if you talk stupid
that he can make you stop. Lil wayne also refers to how rich he is
by saying that his money talks because he has so much.)
 I'm calling niggas out like the umpire
( This is another example of power, lil wayne calls other guys
out because he's not scared of them.)