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Faculteit)Letteren)&)Wijsbegeerte)
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‘Killin’'Niggas’'
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Authenticity,'Competition'and'Braggadocio'
in'Contemporary'Rap'Texts'
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Master’s)dissertation)submitted)in)partial)fulfilment)of)the)requirements)for)
the)degree)of)Master)in)de)Taal=)en)Letterkunde:)Nederlands)–)Engels)
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by)Edouard)De)Prez)
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Supervisor:)prof.)dr.)Gert)Buelens)
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2014)
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‘Killin’'Niggas’'
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Authenticity,'Competition'and'Braggadocio'
in'Contemporary'Rap'Texts'
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by)Edouard)De)Prez)
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2014)
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Acknowledgements.
I!want!to!thank!Eminem!for!introducing!me!to!hip!hop!with!The$Marshall$Mathers$
LP!and!making!me!fall!in!love!with!the!artform!with!The$Eminem$Show.!I!want!to!
thank! 50! Cent! for! Get$ Rich$ Or$ Die$ Tryin’,! Jay=Z! for! The$ Black$ Album$ and! Kanye!
West! for! College$ Dropout.$ These! albums! helped! form! my! understanding! of! hip!
hop!culture!and!my!appreciation!for!rap!music.!
I!want!to!thank!prof.!dr.!Gert!Buelens!for!giving!me!the!confidence!to!write!my!
dissertation!about!rap!music!and!guiding!me!through!the!process.!I!also!want!to!
thank!Arno!Van!Vlierberghe!for!his!useful!feedback!and!suggestions.!
Finally!I!want!to!thank!my!parents,!my!friends!and!my!girlfriend!Roos!for!their!
love!and!support.!
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v!
Introduction.
Now!it's!hard!not!to!kill!niggas!
It's!like!a!full!time!job!not!to!kill!niggas!
(Jay=Z!1997,!‘Streets!Is!Watching’).!
!
I! have! always! been! fascinated! by! the! complex! meanings! rap! artists! are! able! to!
invoke!in!sometimes!incredibly!concise!statements.!Not!only!to!poetic!effect!but!
maybe!even!more!importantly!to!comedic!effect.!That!being!said,!I!am!not!one!to!
argue! that! rap! is! a! form! of! poetry! or! literature.! It! is! neither.! It! is! rap.! It! is! a!
vibrant! artform! that! lives! through! its! words,! its! music,! its! ‘flows’! and! its!
performance.!It!is!strengthened!by!hip!hop!attitude,!vernacular!and!tradition.!!
Before! I! start! my! discussion! of! authenticity,! competition! and! braggadocio! in!
contemporary! rap! texts,! some! notes! about! the! form! of! my! dissertation! are!
needed.! When! I! quote! rap! texts,! I! refer! to! the! album! on! which! the! song! can! be!
found.!I!have!opted!to!use!a!form!of!citing!sources!that!slightly!differs!from!the!
traditional! MLA! standard.! Because! I! quote! from! several! albums! of! the! same!
rapper!and!because!rap!artists!sometimes!have!a!tendency!to!give!their!albums!
long! names! (for! example,! Kanye! West’s! My$ Beautiful$ Dark$ Twisted$ Fantasy),! it!
contributes!to!the!clarity!of!the!text!if!I!refer!to!the!production!year!of!the!album!
instead!of!the!title,!like!so:!(Wayne!2008),!(Wayne!2011).!!
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vi!
It! is! not! uncommon! for! rap! artists! to! cooperate! on! songs,! this! is! why! I!
sometimes! have! to! credit! a! song! to! a! different! rap! artist! from! the! one! I! am!
quoting.!For!instance,!when!I!quote!Fabolous’!verse!on!‘You!Ain’t!got!Nuthin’’,!the!
source! is! (Wayne! 2008),! because! the! song! can! be! found! on! Lil! Wayne’s! album!
Tha$Carter$III.$!
To! illustrate! my! discussions! of! authenticity,! competition! and! braggadocio! in!
contemporary!rap!texts,!I!draw!on!the!rap!texts!of!contemporary!rappers.!I!have!
not! defined! a! database! of! rap! texts! beforehand! as! to! not! limit! the! potential!
sources!I!can!draw!from.!I!have!selected!these!quotes!based!on!the!revelancy!for!
the! topic! and! I! have! made! sure! to! only! use! rappers! who! I! find! to! be!
representative!for!rap!music!and!hip!hop!culture!in!general.!!
Because! rap! texts! usually! are! not! read,! but! performed,! reading! rap! texts! as!
texts!has!the!inevitable!side!effect!removing!the!context!of!the!music!and!the!oral!
performance,!which!leaves!out!an!important!aspect!of!its!meaning!and!message.!
This!is!a!necessary!evil!and!to!limit!the!negative!effects!of!this!problem,!I!try!to!
quote! texts! that! do! not! need! necessarily! need! to! be! performed! to! be! fully!
understood.!Because!I!read!these!performances!as!rap!texts,!I!have!not!made!an!
distinction! between! a! discography! and! a! bibliography.! Instead,! all! sources! are!
present!in!the!bibliography.!
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vii!
!
Table.of.Contents.
1! Thesis.statement...........................................................................................................4!
2! Theoretical.framework..............................................................................................7!
2.1! Authenticity.........................................................................................................................7!
2.2! Signifying..............................................................................................................................8!
3! Introduction.to.hip.hop.and.rap...........................................................................12!
3.1! Key.concepts:.hip.hop.culture.and.rap.music.......................................................13!
3.2! History.of.rap.music......................................................................................................15!
3.3! Formal.aspects.of.rap....................................................................................................18!
3.3.1! Beats,!bars,!flow,!rhyme!schemes!and!delivery!.......................................................!18!
3.3.2! Wordplay,!references!to!popular!culture,!punch!lines,!simile,!hashtag!rap!
and!non!sequitur!...................................................................................................................................!21!
3.3.3! Freestyle!rap,!battle!rap!and!braggadocio!.................................................................!23!
3.3.4! Rap!Genius!and!rap’s!complexity!...................................................................................!24!
4! Authenticity.and.hip.hop.........................................................................................27!
4.1! Hip.hop.authenticity.and.‘keepin’.it.real’...............................................................27!
4.2! Authenticity.claims.in.hip.hop...................................................................................30!
4.2.1! Social=psychological!dimension!(staying!true!to!yourself!as!opposed!to!
following!mass!trends)!.......................................................................................................................!31!
4.2.2! Racial!(black!as!opposed!to!white)!................................................................................!32!
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4.2.3! Political=economic!(the!underground!as!opposed!to!commercial)!.................!37!
4.2.4! Gender=sexual!(hard!as!opposed!to!soft)!....................................................................!40!
4.2.5! Social=locational!(the!street!as!opposed!to!the!suburbs)!....................................!41!
4.2.6! Cultural!(the!old!school!as!opposed!to!the!mainstream)!.....................................!44!
4.3! Conclusion.........................................................................................................................45!
5! Competition.and.braggadocio.in.rap.texts........................................................47!
5.1! Competition.in.the.four.elements.of.hip.hop.culture.........................................48!
5.2! Competition.in.rap.texts:.from.the.dozens.to.braggadocio..............................49!
5.2.1! The!dozens!and!toasting!....................................................................................................!49!
5.2.2! The!cypher!...............................................................................................................................!50!
5.2.3! Rap!battles!and!beef!.............................................................................................................!51!
5.2.4! Braggadocio!.............................................................................................................................!53!
5.3! Braggadocio.raps.as.a.form.of.signifying................................................................54!
5.3.1! Signifiers!in!braggadocio!raps!.........................................................................................!57!
5.4! Different.forms.of.braggadocio.raps........................................................................58!
5.4.1! Coolness!braggadocio!..........................................................................................................!59!
5.4.2! Authenticity!braggadocio!..................................................................................................!61!
5.4.3! Violence!braggadocio!..........................................................................................................!62!
5.4.4! Meta=braggadocio!.................................................................................................................!64!
5.5! Authenticity.and.braggadocio:.Eminem.................................................................65!
5.6! Competition.and.authenticity....................................................................................67!
5.6.1! Jay=Z!vs!Nas:!‘Ether’!vs!‘Takeover’!.................................................................................!68!
5.7! Conclusion.........................................................................................................................70!
6! Conclusion....................................................................................................................72!
7! Bibliography................................................................................................................75!
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3!
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1 Thesis.statement.
Motherfuckers!say!that!I'm!foolish,!I!only!talk!about!jewels!
Do!you!fools!listen!to!music!or!do!you!just!skim!through!it?!
See,!I'm!influenced!by!the!ghetto!you!ruined!
That!same!dude!you!gave!nothing,!I!made!something!doing!
What!I!do,!through!and!through!and!
I!give!you!the!news!with!a!twist,!it's!just!his!ghetto!point=of=view!
(Jay=Z!2001,!‘Renegade’)!
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Rap!critics!that!say!he's!money,!cash,!ho’s!
I'm!from!the!hood!stupid,!what!type!of!facts!are!those!
If!you!grew!up!with!holes!in!your!Zapatos!
You'd!celebrate!the!minute!you!was!having!dough!
(Jay=Z!2003,!’99!Problems)!
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In!the!first!quote,!taken!from!one!of!his!most!memorable!verses,!Jay=Z!responds!
to!critics!who!accuse!him!of!making!one=dimensional!music!only!concerned!with!
jewelry! and! dollars.! He! scathingly! asks! whether! his! detractors! have! ever! even!
taken!the!time!to!at!least!attempt!to!understand!his!music:!‘Do!you!fools!listen!to!
music! or! do! you! just! skim! through! it?’! Do! these! critics! willingy! misunderstand!
his!‘ghetto!point=of=view’?!This!representation!of!a!rap!artist!as!a!journalist!of!the!
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ghetto! is! a! popular! defence! to! counter! critics! who! view! rap! texts! as! violent,!
misogynistic! and! materialistic.! It! positions! the! rap! artist! as! an! authentic!
particpator!in!hip!hop!culture,!who!is!‘keeping!it!real’.!
The!second!quote!takes!another!approach!to!the!same!critics.!Jay=Z!claims!it!is!
only!natural!that!he!‘celebrates’!his!wealth,!because!he!grew!up!in!the!hood!with!
holes!in!his!shoes.!Here,!he!positions!his!raps!about!‘money,!cash,!ho’s’!as!playful!
and!innocent.!
The!contrast!between!these!two!quotes!invokes!several!questions.!Do!Jay=Z’s!
claims! have! any! merit?! Is! he! indeed! just! misunderstood?! Are! critics! of! rap!
overlooking!something?!Are!they!missing!the!real!intent!and!meaning!of!the!rap!
texts! they! criticize?! Should! ‘materialistic’! raps! about! cars! and! jewelry! be!
interpreted!in!the!same!way!as!the!‘journalistic’!texts!Jay=Z!is!talking!about?!Do!
they! even! operate! in! the! same! mode! of! communication?! If! so,! how! do! these!
modes!of!communication!manifest!themselves!in!rap!texts!and!how!can!they!be!
effectively!recognized!and!interpreted?!
These!I!are!the!question!I!attempt!to!answer!in!my!dissertation.!I!do!this!by!
exploring!two!important!concepts!that!have!contributed!to!hip!hop!culture!and!
rap!music:!authenticity!and!competition.!I!argue!that!the!journalistic!texts!Jay=Z!
is! talking! about! are! a! reflection! of! hip! hop’s! obsession! with! authenticity! and!
should!be!understood!in!the!context!of!authenticity!claims!and!constructions!of!
authenticity!every!rap!artist!engages!in.!I!also!argue!that!the!‘materialistic’!raps!
Jay=Z! is! criticized! for! are! a! form! of! ‘braggadocio! raps’! which! operates! in! a!
separate! mode! of! communication! called! ‘signifying’.! These! braggadocio! raps!
should!be!understood!in!this!cultural!tradition!of!signifying!and!therefore!should!
not! be! taken! literally.! I! also! show! how! the! dynamics! of! signifying! and!
braggadocio! raps! make! the! aforementioned! criticism! inevitable.! In! fact,! the!
criticism! only! strengthens! the! practice! of! signifying! as! a! separate! mode! of!
communication.!
I! have! divided! my! dissertation! in! four! major! parts.! In! chapter! 2! I! define! the!
theoretical! framework! of! my! research! (2).! I! define! and! discuss! the! concepts! of!
authenticity!(2.1)!and!signifying!(2.2).!Chapter!3!is!a!general!introduction!to!hip!
hop! culture! and! rap! music! (3).! First! I! discuss! key! concepts! of! hip! hop! and! rap!
(3.1),!then!I!explore!the!cultural!history!of!hip!hop!and!rap!(3.2).!I!conclude!the!
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chapter! with! a! discussion! of! the! formal! aspects! of! rap! (3.3).! I! utilize! a! loose!
framework!to!define!a!series!of!relevant!concepts.!This!section!is!meant!to!work!
as! a! beginner’s! guide! to! rap! texts! and! is! essential! to! facilitate! a! basic!
understanding!of!the!rap!texts!I!have!quoted!in!this!dissertation.!Chapter!4!is!a!
discussion! on! authenticity! and! hip! hop! (4).! I! introduce! hip! hop! authenticity! by!
discussing!proposed!definitions!of!hip!hop!authenticity!and!‘keeping!it!real’!(4.1).!
Then,! I! investigate! authenticity! claims! in! hip! hop! discourse! using! Kembrew!
McLeod’s!framework!of!semantic!dimensions!(4.2).!This!section!works!to!further!
deeping!our!understanding!of!what!is!considered!authentic!in!hip!hop!and!what!
is! not.! It! also! demonstrates! the! importance! of! authenticity! in! rap! texts! and! the!
ways!in!which!rap!artists!invoke!authenticity!to!different!ends.!!Chapter!6!deals!
with! competition! and! braggadocio! in! rap! texts! (5).! The! chapter! opens! with! a!
discussion!of!competition!in!the!four!elements!of!hip!hop!(graffiti,!b=boying,!DJ=
ing!and!rap)!(5.1)!and!continues!with!a!discussion!of!how!competitiveness!in!rap!
evolved!from!‘the!dozens’!and!‘toasting’,!to!the!cypher,!to!rap!battles!and!beef,!to!
braggadocio!(5.2).!Next,!I!focus!on!braggadocio!raps!and!explore!them!as!a!form!
of! signifying! (5.3).! To! expand! on! braggadocio! rap,! I! develop! a! framework! in!
which! braggadocio! raps! can! be! categorized! (5.4).! I! propose! four! forms! of!
braggadocio:! coolness! braggadocio! (5.4.1),! authenticity! braggadocio! (5.4.2),!
violence! authenticity! (5.4.3)! and! meta=braggadocio! (5.4.4).! I! conclude! the!
chapter! with! a! discussion! of! two! cases! that! deal! with! authenticity,! competition!
and!braggadocio.!The!first!deals!with!authenticity!and!braggadocio!and!the!case!
of!Eminem!(5.5).!The!second!deals!with!competition!and!authenticity!(5.6)!and!
discusses!the!famous!‘beef’!between!Jay=Z!and!Nas!(5.6.1).!At!the!end!of!chapters!
4! and! 5,! I! sum! up! my! findings! in! a! conclusion! (4.3;! 5.7).! I! conclude! my!
dissertation! with! a! discussion! of! the! results! of! my! dissertation! and! some!
suggestions!for!further!research!(6).!
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2 Theoretical.framework.
To! frame! my! discussion! of! authenticity,! competition! and! braggadocio! in!
contemporary!rap!texts,!I!expand!on!two!vital!concepts.!The!first!is!authenticity.!I!
use! Dennis! Dutton’s! discussion! of! authenticity! to! inform! my! understanding! of!
authenticity.!The!second!is!the!concept!of!signifying.!A!thorough!understanding!
of! the! dynamics! of! this! mode! communication! is! required! to! effectively! analyse!
rap!texts.!Signifying!is!also!essential!to!my!discussion!of!braggadocio!raps.!!
2.1 Authenticity.
To!define!the!concept!of!authenticity,!I!use!Dennis!Dutton’s!article!‘Authenticity!
In! Art’.! (Dutton)! Dutton! differentiates! between! ‘nominal! authenticity’! and!
‘expressive! authenticity’.! Nominal! authenticity! ‘defined! simply! as! the! correct!
identification!of!the!origins,!authorship,!or!provenance!of!an!object,!ensuring,!as!
the! term! implies,! that! an! object! of! aesthetic! experience! is! properly! named’! and!
expressive! authenticity! ‘[has]! to! do! with! an! object’s! character! as! a! true!
expression!of!an!individual’s!or!a!society’s!values!and!beliefs’.!(Dutton)!
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In! the! context! of! nominal! authenticity,! Dutton! discusses! several! issues! of!
nominal! authenticity:! forgery,! plagiarism,! honest! misidentification! and!
performance! in! music.! Forgery! is! defined! ‘as! a! work! of! art! whose! history! of!
production! is! misrepresented! by! someone! (not! necessarily! the! artist)! to! an!
audience!(possibly!to!a!potential!buyer!of!the!work),!normally!for!financial!gain’.!
Plagiarism!is!related,!but!not!identical:!‘It!involves!the!passing!off!as!one’s!own!of!
the! words! or! ideas! of! another.’! Besides! forgery! and! plagiarism,! honest!
misidentification!could!occur!when!‘are!merely!misidentified’,!meaning!they!are!
deemed! to! be! inauthentic! because! they! were! attributed! to! the! wrong! author.!
Performance! in! music! creates! an! issue! of! authenticity! because! ‘music! is! a! two=
stage! process.! […]! The! original! work! is! specified! by! a! score,! essentially! a! set! of!
instructions,! which! are! realized! by! performers.’! There! are! different! ways! to!
strive! for! performance! authenticity.! One! is! to! strive! for! ‘historic! authenticity’!
which! is! tied! to! nominal! authenticity,! another! is! to! strive! for! a! ‘committed,!
personal! expression,! being! true! musically! to! one’s! artistic! self,! rather! than! the!
historical!tradition’,!which!is!tied!to!expressive!authenticity.!(Dutton)!
Dutton! describes! nominal! authenticity! as! the! ‘empirical! facts! concerning! the!
origins!of!an!art!object’!which!he!contrasts!with!expressive!authenticity,!which!is!
‘a! much! more! contentious! matter,! involving! any! number! of! disputable!
judgements’.! In! discussing! the! ‘ambiguities! of! expressive! authenticity’,! Dutton!
describes! ‘works! of! art’! as! ‘manifestations! of! both! individual! and! collective!
values,! in! virtually! every! conceivable! relative! weighting! and! combination’.!
Besides! the! expression! of! ‘personal! character! and! feeling! specific! to! an!
individual’,! works! of! art! also! express! ‘cultural! beliefs! general! to! a! people’.!
(Dutton)!
2.2 Signifying.
To! understand! the! dynamics! of! language! use! in! rap! texts! it! is! important! to!
understand! the! African=American! linguistic! tradition! of! ‘signifying’.! I! base! my!
definition!of!‘signifying’!on!the!relevant!discussions!of!the!concept!in!Henry!Louis!
!
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Gates’! book! Signifying$ The$ Signifying$ Monkey:$ A$ Theory$ of$ AfricanIAmerican$
Literary$ Criticism$ (1988),$ Michael! P.! Jeffries’! book! Thug$ Life:$ Race,$ Gender,$ And$
The$Meaning$of$HipIHop$(2011)!and!H.!Samy!Alim’s!article!‘Bring!It!to!the!Cypher:!
Hip!Hop!National!Language’!(2006).!(Gates;!Jeffries;!Alim)!
Gates! argues! that! signifying! is! an! inherent! part! of! African=American!
vernacular! discourse,! emphasizing! that! ‘black! people! have! been! Signifyin(g),!
without! explicitly! calling! it! that,! since! slavery’! (Gates! 47=48).! It! is! a! ‘mode! of!
language’,! meaning! it! is! not! just! a! ‘verbal! game’! or! a! ‘ritual’,! but! an! inherent!
feature! of! the! African=American! linguistic! tradition! (85).! Gates! notes! that! it! is!
difficult! to! define! signifying,! because! it! operates! in! its! own! linguistic! field! of!
meaning! and! form.! (88)! Alim! agrees! that! it! is! not! easy! to! give! a! definition! of!
signifying! and! describes! it! as! a! way! for! its! users! to! ‘encode’! their! messages! to!
exclude! outsiders! from! their! conversations;! these! encoded! messages! usually!
involve!an!‘element!of!indirection’!(Alim!540).!According!to!Gates!this!‘aspect!of!
misdirection’! signals! that! the! audience! should! understand! the! utterance! in! the!
context!of!signifying.!(Gates!86)!This!signal!is!the!‘signifier’!which!is!a!signal!‘that!
only! the! intended! audience! will! be! able! to! recognize! and! decode’! (Jeffries! 18).!
Gates! argues! that! the! signifier! creates! two! levels! of! meaning! in! the! utterance.!
(Gates! 86)! The! first! one! is! ‘that! the! speaker! and! his! audience! realize! that!
signifying! is! occurring! and! that! the! dictionary=syntactical! meaning! of! the!
utterance! is! to! be! ignored’! (86).! In! other! words:! the! signifier! signals! that! the!
literal! meaning! of! the! statement! is! not! the! real! meaning! of! the! utterance.! The!
second! level! of! meaning! is! the! abstract! level! of! meaning! that! should! be!
understood! in! relation! to! the! literal! meaning! and! to! a! ‘shared! knowledge’! the!
speaker! shares! with! the! intended! audience.! This! means! that! the! unintended!
audience! does! not! understand! the! utterance! because! of! their! lack! of!
understanding!of!the!dynamics!of!signifying.!They!are!‘unaware!of!the!game!and!
any!artistry!or!skill!employed!by!the!speaker’!(Jefffries!18).!Gates!argues!that!the!
success! of! signifying! ‘depends! on! the! success! of! the! signifier! at! invoking! an!
absent! meaning! ambiguously! present! in! a! carefully! wrought! statement’! (Gates!
86).!The!‘shared!knowledge’!allows!the!intended!audience!to!see!the!signifier!as!
a! signal! for! signifying! and! to! decipher! the! ‘latent! level! of! meaning’! of! the!
utterance! (86).! Signifying! comes! in! many! different! forms.! Jeffries! notes! its!
!
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intertextual!potency,!its!tendency!towards!insults,!arguing!that!the!term!covers!
‘many! communicative! phenomena,! from! tongue=in=cheek! reference! to! prior!
speakers! and! writers! to! playfully! insulting! a! conversational! adversary’! (Jeffries!
18).! Signifying! can! be! achieved! by! ‘rhyming,! mimicry,! call! and! response,!
repetition,!teasing,!shouting!out!(one’s!name!or!another!phrase),!or!a!variety!of!
other!tactics’!(18).!The!concept!of!signifying!is!not!only!apparent!in!rap!texts,!it!is!
still!present!in!the!language!of!hip!hop!culture!in!general,!as!Alim!points!out.!He!
claims!that!the!strategy!of!signifying!occurs!in!‘performances!of!rap,!in!rap!texts,!
even!in!conversations’!(Alim!542).!
To!recapitulate,!when!a!speaker!is!signifying,!he!uses!a!signifier!to!signal!the!
intended!audience!that!he!is!engaging!in!the!act!of!signifying,!thereby!excluding!
the! unintended! audience! or! the! outsiders.! Because! of! the! shared! knowledge! of!
the!speaker!and!the!intended!audience,!the!audience!recognizes!the!signifier!and!
knows!that!the!utterance!now!has!two!levels!of!meaning.!The!first!is!the!literal!
meaning,!the!second!is!the!figurative!meaning!which!is!related!to!the!first!and!is!
the!intended!message!of!the!utterance.!The!speaker’s!artistry!is!judged!based!on!
the!form!and!cleverness!of!the!signifier.!
The!encoded!nature!of!signifying!and!the!shared!knowledge!that!is!needed!to!
understand!utterances!of!signifying!means!that!in!order!to!understand!rap!lyrics,!
one!has!no!choice!but!to!infer!the!intended!meaning!of!the!utterance.!The!‘shared!
knowledge’!is!hard!to!define!because!if!defining!its!content!were!easy,!it!would!
lose!its!purpose!as!a!cloaking!device!for!the!intended!message!of!signifying.!That!
is! why! in! my! analysis! of! rap! texts! I! present! my! understanding! of! the! intended!
meaning! as! the! actual! intended! meaning.! Because! I! realize! I! am! not! infallibe,! I!
have!only!selected!rap!texts!of!which!I!can!state!that!I!understand!them!with!a!
high! level! of! certainty.! I! have! also! limited! the! selection! of! texts! to! those! whose!
intended! meaning! is! readily! apparent! without! having! to! provide! extensive! side!
information.!Of!course,!if!I!am!not!sure!of!the!meaning!of!relevant!rap!texts,!I!will!
not! quote! them.! That! being! said,! it! is! inevitable! to! the! nature! of! signifying! that!
my!analysis!is!tied!to!my!understanding!of!the!shared!knowledge!of!the!linguistic!
properties! of! African=American! vernacular! discourse! and! hip! hop! culture! in!
particular.! This! risk! of! a! reductive! analysis! of! some! of! the! texts! quoted! is!
!
10!
inevitable! because! understanding! rap! texts! from! the! perspective! of! the!
unintended!audience!robs!the!texts!of!their!poetic!and!artistic!potential.!!
!
11!
!
3 Introduction.to.hip.hop.and.rap.
In! this! chapter! I! try! to! convey! the! context! of! the! texts! I! want! to! analyse! in! this!
dissertation.!This!general!introduction!to!hip!hop!and!rap!is!intended!to!clarify!
the!historical!and!cultural!context!of!hip!hop!and!to!explain!the!formal!aspects!of!
rap!texts.!This!chapter!establishes!a!framework!for!our!discussion!of!authenticity!
and!competition.!I!start!off!with!a!discussion!of!some!key!concepts,!followed!by!a!
brief! history! of! hip! hop! culture! and! rap! music;! finally! I! expand! on! the! formal!
aspects!of!rap!texts.!As!a!coda!of!this!chapter,!I!examine!the!website!Rap$Genius!
as!an!illustration!for!rap!artists!and!fans’!appreciation!for!complex!wordplay.!
To!discuss!the!key!concepts!of!hip!hop!and!rap,!and!to!give!a!brief!overview!of!
hip!hop’s!history,!I!use!the!following!sources:!David!Toop’s!lemma!of!‘Rap’!and!
Felicia! M.! Miyakawa’s! lemma! of! ‘Hip! hop’! from! Oxford! Music! Online,! Yvonne!
Bynoe’s! introduction! to! Encyclopedia$ of$ Rap$ and$ Hip$ Hop$ Culture,$ David! Toop’s!
book!about!hip!hop!history,!Rap$Attack$3:$African$Rap$to$Global$Hip$Hop!and!Jeff!
Chang’s!history!Can’t$Stop$Won’t$Stop:$A$History$of$the$HipIHop$Generation.$I!also!
use! articles! to! invoke! the! contemporary! reactions! to! developments! in! hip! hop!
culture!and!rap!music.!For!the!discussion!of!the!formal!aspects!of!rap!I!also!use!
Adam! Bradley’s! Book$ of$ Rhymes:$ the$ Poetics$ of$ Hip$ Hop,! Paul! Edwards’! How$ to$
!
12!
Rap:$The$Art$and$Science$of$the$HipIHop$MC! and! How$to$Rap$2:$Advanced$Flow$&$
Delivery$Techniques.!
3.1 Key.concepts:.hip.hop.culture.and.rap.music.
Hip! hop! culture! was! born! in! the! ‘socio=cultural! context! of! post=Civil! Rights! era!
New! York! City’! (Miyawaka).! It! ! emerged! in! the! beginning! of! the! 1970s! ‘amidst!
privation! and! poverty! in! the! South! Bronx! in! New! York! City’! (Toop! 2012).! This!
area! was! a! ‘national! symbol! of! urban! blight’! because! of! ‘de=industrialization,!
skyrocketing! unemployment,! increased! crime,! governmental! neglect,! and! white!
flight’! (Toop! 2012).! This! context! of! socio=economical! problems! encouraged!
creativity!and!gave!birth!to!hip!hop’s!expressive!forms,!giving!perspective!to!the!
‘local! youth! [who]! transformed! neglect! into! numerous! creative! outlets!
expressing! their! frustration,! joy,! energy,! anger,! agency,! and! solidarity’!
(Miyakawa).! These! expressions! have! had! an! immense! influence! on! American!
popular!culture.!Hip!hop!culture’s!‘predominantly!young!and!Black!participants’!
have! contributed! to! a! subculture! which! ‘has! continued! to! inform! several!
American! cultural! idioms,! including! music,! language,! clothing,! film,! and!
advertising’! (Bynoe! ixx).! Hip! hop! has! since! grown! to! become! a! ‘global!
phenomenon’!(Miyakawa).!
Hip!hop!culture!is!comprised!of!four!elements,!for!which!Bynoe!proposes!the!
following! useful! terms:! the! ‘oral’! element! (‘MC=ing’! or! rapping),! the! ‘dance’!
element! (b=boying! or! breakdancing),! the! ‘musical’! element! (‘DJ=ing’)! and! the!
‘visual’! element! (graffiti)! (Bynoe! ixx).! From! the! beginning,! ‘versions! of! all! four!
original! elements! were! in! place’! (Miyakawa).! ! Although! the! four! elements! are!
essential! to! hip! hop,! there! are! more! artistic! forms! of! expression! that! could! be!
considered! to! be! elements! of! hip! hop.! Beatboxing! could! be! considered! a! fifth!
element! and! hip! hop! has! contributed! to! ‘the! fields! of! photography,! film,!
literature,!philosophy,!and!language’!(Miyawaka).!Hip!hop!has!developed!its!own!
‘fashion,! language,! and! lifestyle’! (Miyakawa).! There! is! also! an! ‘attitude’!
associated!with!hip!hop.!DJ!Kool!Herc,!one!of!the!pioneers!of!hip!hop!expresses!
!
13!
this! by! describing! the! aspects! of! the! attitude:! ‘the! way! you! walk,! the! way! you!
talk,! the! way! you! look,! the! way! you! communicate’! (Chang! xi).! Whatever! the!
confines!and!modes!of!expression!of!hip!hop!culture!might!be,!it!is!experienced!
and! defined! as! all=encompassing.! Rap! artist! KRS=One! famously! differentiated!
between! the! oral! element! of! hip! hop! and! hip! hop! culture! in! ‘Hip! Hop! Vs.! Rap’:!
‘Rap!is!what!you!do,!hip!hop!is!what!you!live’!(KRS=One).!
Rap!music!is!‘a!predominantly!African!American!musical!style!that!first!gained!
prominence!in!the!late!1970s’!(Toop!2012).!It!is!‘characterized!by!semi=spoken!
rhymes!declaimed!over!a!rhythmic!musical!backing’!(Toop!2012).!Toop!calls!rap!
music! ‘the! art! of! beats! and! rhymes’,! pointing! to! the! importance! of! the! hip! hop!
producer! who! is! ‘responsible! for! beat=making! and! assembling! tracks,! working!
alongside! rappers’! (Toop! 2012).! Beats! and! rhymes! are! not! created! separately,!
they!are!‘placed!in!a!more!dynamic!relationship’!(Toop!2012).!Toop!cites!‘flow’!
as!the!concept!which!connects!the!two:!
A!rapper’s!style!of!declamation,!colloquially!known!as!“flow,”!imparts!form!and!
direction! to! the! music! by! means! of! rhythmic! patterns! and! rhyme! schemes! that!
interact!dialectically!with!the!instrumental!track.!(Toop!2012)!
In!other!words,!the!specific!style!of!a!rapper!requires!instrumentals!which!suit!
his! or! her! rhythm! and! rhyme,! while! a! rapper! will! also! adapt! to! specific!
instrumentals.! The! original! term! for! ‘rapping’! was! ‘MC=ing’,! which! refers! to! the!
‘MC’! or! ‘emcee’,! the! ‘Master! of! Ceremonies’! (Bynoe! 327).! The! two! terms! have!
since! been! used! interchangeably! but! some! have! used! the! term! ‘MC’! as! a! more!
authentic!version!of!!‘rapper’.!!
Rap! texts! have! covered! many! subjects! ranging! from! controversial! tales! of!
street!life!to!innocent!love!songs.!In!terms!of!subject!matter,!rap!can!be!roughly!
divided!in!party!rap,!conscious!rap,!gangsta!rap,!personal!rap,!and!joke!rap.!Party!
rap! focuses! on! ‘being! in! the! club,! partying,! and! having! a! good! time! in! general’!
(Edwards!19).!Conscious!rap!discusses!‘themes!of!social!justice!and!community!
upliftment’,! but! can! also! deal! with! the! ‘the! deleterious! effects! of! materialism,!
criminality,! drugs,! and! politics! within! the! Black! Empowerment’! (Bynoe! 67).!
What! could! be! considered! as! the! antithesis! of! conscious! rap! is! ‘gangsta! rap’!
which! deals! with! rap! music’s! most! controversial! subject! matter! such! as! the!
glorification!of!violence!and!gang!life.!Toop!defines!gangsta!rap!as!‘a!style!of!rap!
!
14!
whose! texts! emphasize! the! violence! of! street! life’! (Toop! 2014).! ! Joke! rap! is! a!
marginal!style!of!rap!which!either!parodies!rap!for!comedic!purposes!or!uses!rap!
as! a! medium! for! comedy.! Notable! examples! of! the! first! are! Weird! Al! Yankovic!
and! The! Lonely! Island,! notable! examples! of! the! latter! are! Biz! Markie,! Eminem!
and!Das!Racist.!These!categories!are!hard!to!define!and!its!subjects!can!obviously!
overlap!easily.!For!instance,!conscious!rap!songs!can!cover!gangsta!rap!themes,!
personal!rap!can!deal!with!the!rap!artist’s!illegal!activity!and!joke!rap!parodies!
all!of!them.!
3.2 History.of.rap.music.
In! 1978! Robert! Ford! wrote! an! article! for! Billboard! in! which! he! provides! first=
person!accounts!of!the!‘strange!phenomenon’!of!!‘young!black!disco!DJs!from!the!
Bronx! who! are! buying! the! records! just! to! play! the! 30! seconds! or! so! of! rhythm!
breaks’!and!credits!DJ!Kool!Herc!as!the!first!to!do!it!(Ford!2012:41).!Herc!had!a!
wide=ranging!taste!in!records!but!he!got!the!most!response!!from!the!crowd!by!
playing! the! percussion! part! of! funk! records,! called! the! ‘break’.! He! started!
repeating!those!breaks!by!switching!between!two!copies!of!the!same!record.!This!
allowed!people!to!dance!longer!and!it!sparked!early!forms!of!hip!hop!dance!like!
breakdancing!or!b=boying.!These!extended!percussion!breaks!proved!to!be!ideal!
for!DJ’s!to!rhythmically!rap!over!(Toop!2012).!This!is!why!DJ!Kool!Herc!is!widely!
credited!as!the!first!hip!hop!DJ!(Ford;!Toop!2012).!
Ford! described! these! ‘rapping! DJs’! in! the! context! of! an! emerging! vibrant! hip!
hop! scene:! ‘Many! black! disco! promoters! now! use! the! rapping! DJs! to! attract!
young! fans! to! one=shot! promotions,! and! a! combination! of! the! more! popular!
names! have! filled! this! city’s! largest! hotel! ballrooms’(Ford! 2012:42).! Eventually!
these!‘rapping!DJs’!would!start!hiring!‘MC’s’!to!rap!for!them.!DJ!Kool!Herc!hired!
Coke! La! Rock! to! rap! at! his! parties.! Coke! La! Rock! is! now! widely! credited! as! the!
first!rapper!(Toop!2012;!Bynoe!60).!Kurtis!Blow!was!the!first!solo!rapper!signed!
to!a!major!label!(Toop).!In!1979,!Sugarhill!Gang’s!‘Rapper’s!Delight’!was!released,!
!
15!
which! was! ‘the! first! rap! single! to! appear! on! the! Top! 40! charts’! and! introduced!
international!audiences!to!rap!(Toop!2012).!
Grandmaster!Flash!and!the!Furious!Five’s!song!‘The!Message’!(the!title!track!
of!the!1982!album)!marked!an!important!transition!for!the!content!of!rap!texts!
and! revealed! the! potential! which! rap! music! had! for! the! creation! of! cultural!
identity.!The!song!‘set!a!new!agenda!for!rap’,!creating!‘message!rap’!or!‘conscious!
rap’!(Toop!2012).!Melle!Mel’s!raps!offered!an!‘up=close!view!into!the!devastation!
and! deprivation! experienced! by! many! urban! working=class! people! of! color’!
(Toop!2012).!Toop!contrasts!raps!before!and!after!the!release!of!‘The!Message’:!
The! majority! of! raps! composed! before! 1982! had! been! light=hearted! and! self=
aggrandizing,!but!after!the!portrait!of!the!decayed!urban!landscape!delivered!by!
“The!Message!“a!new!tone!of!realism!was!established.!(Toop!2012)!
The!theme!of!partying!that!had!dominated!rap!music!!before!‘The!Message’!now!
made!place!for!‘message!rap’.!!
In! the! early! 1980s,! Russell! Simmons! and! Rick! Rubin! founded! Def! Jam!
Recordings,!perhaps!the!most!influential!music!label!in!hip!hop’s!history!(Toop!
2012).!The!label!launched!the!career!of!influential!rap!artists!like!Run!DMC,!LL!
Cool!J,!Slick!Rick,!Public!Enemy,!the!Beastie!Boys,!EPMD,!3rd!Bass,!Onyx,!Warren!
G,! Foxy! Brown,! Redman,! Redman,! Method! Man,! DMX! and! Jay=Z! (Bynoe! 81=83).!
Toop!cites!Run!DMC’s!self=titled!debut!album!‘as!a!line!of!demarcation!between!
“old! school”! and! “new! school! hip=hop”’.! Their! new! approach! to! rap! music! was!
not!only!fresh!and!commercially!viable!but!also!less!playful!and!light=hearted:!
Their! novel,! commercially! lucrative,! and! widely! influential! approach! moved!
away!from!the!funk,!soul,!and!disco!of!rap’s!early!days!and!instead!embraced!a!
harder,! minimalistic,! rock=influenced! sound! replete! with! forceful! rhythms,!
especially! prominent! beats! programmed! on! drum! machines,! and! powerfully!
delivered!vocals.!(Toop!2012)!
The! late! 1980s! marked! the! emergence! of! ‘gangsta! rap’! with! ‘Schooly! D,! Kool! G!
Rap,! Boogie! Down! Productions! and! Ice=T’! paving! the! way! with! their! ‘hardcore!
street! narratives’! (Toop! 2012).! Straight$ Outta$ Compton,$ the! debut! album! of!
N.W.A.! (‘Niggaz! With! Attitude’)! was! released! in! 1988! and! featured! the!
‘inflammatory!chronicles!of!gang!life!in!Compton,!Los!Angeles!(Toop!2012).!The!
emergence! of! West! coast! gangsta! rap! ‘upset! critics! with! its! hypermasculine,!
ultraviolent!tales!that!often!engaged!in!misogyny!and!homophobia’!(Toop!2012).!
!
16!
In!response,!New!York!rap!formations!like!!A!Tribe!Called!Quest!and!De!La!Soul!
emerged! who! ‘experimented! with! musical! form! and! rapped! in! a! thoughtful,!
reflective,!and!humorous!style’!(Toop!2012).!
In! the! 1990s! gangsta! rap! ‘had! become! the! backbone! of! the! rap! commercial!
industry’! (Toop! 2012).! Rapper/producer! Dr.! Dre’s! 1992! album! The$ Chronic!
‘introduced!audiences!to!G=Funk!(Gangsta=funk),!a!bass=laden,!slow!paced!music’!
(Toop!2012).!In!the!mid=1990s!rap!music’s!narrative!was!dominated!by!a!‘bitter!
rivalry! […]! between! the! rap! scenes! on! the! East! and! West! coasts! of! the! United!
States’!(Toop!2012).!The!East!coast!crew!lead!by!Puff!Daddy!(Bad!Boy!Records)!
and!the!West!coast!crew!lead!by!Suge!Knight!(Death!Row!Records)!engaged!in!a!
war! of! words! which! escalated! and! ‘culminated! in! the! fatal! shootings! of! two! of!
rap’s! biggest! stars,! Tupac! Shakur! [i.e.! 2Pac]! and! the! ! Notorious! B.I.G.’! (Toop!
2012).!!
Since!2000,!the!popularity!of!‘chart=topping!acts,!including!Eminem,!Ludacris,!
Lil! Jon,! T.I.,! Kanye! West,! Lil! Wayne,! and! Drake,! all! hailing! outside! the! East! and!
West! Coast! communities’! has! made! rap! music! the! ‘dominant! form! of! youth=
oriented!popular!music’!(Toop!2012).!The!2000s!saw!the!emergence!of!hip!hop!
mogul!rappers!like!Jay=Z!and!50!Cent.!Eminem’s!rise!to!global!stardom!gave!rap!
music! one! of! its! ‘most! controversial! performers’! and! his! success! has! been!
attributed! to! the! undeniable! fact! that! he! ‘struck! a! cord! with! disaffected! youth!
who! could! relate! to! his! working! class! experience’! (Bynoe! 116).! ! The! release! of!
Kanye! West’s! debut! album! College$ Dropout$ ‘introduced! an! unapologetic,! black,!
middle=class! perspective! to! the! genre,! delving! into! themes! such! as! insecurity,!
materialism,! and! existential! angst’! (Toop! 2012).! Drake! was! the! first! rapper! to!
find!major!success!by!focusing!his!texts!on!‘emotive,!soul=searching!lyrics’!(Toop!
2012).! An! interesting! effect! of! hip! hop’s! popularity! is! hip! hop’s! influence! on!
internet! culture.! I! would! posit! that! hip! hop’s! culture,! its! language,! tropes! and!
content! has! had! an! enormous! amount! of! influence! on! popular! internet! culture!
and! its! discourse,! content! and! trends.! A! possible! explanation! for! this!
phenomenon! could! be! that! the! demographic! of! primary! creators! of! popular!
internet! culture! overlaps! with! the! largest! demographic! of! hip! hop! fans:! white!
American!middle=class!teenagers.!
!
17!
3.3 Formal.aspects.of.rap.
Hip! hop! has! developed! its! own! set! of! concepts! and! terms! to! define! the! formal!
tools!they!use.!Alongside!traditional!literary!terms!like!‘metaphor’!and!‘analogy’,!
other! terms! like! ‘flow’,! ‘punch! lines’,! ‘delivery’! and! ‘braggadocio’! are! used! to!
define! the! formal! aspects! of! rap.! Firstly,! I! want! to! show! the! great! amount! of!
thought!and!effort!rap!artists!and!fans!put!into!the!creation!and!analysis!of!rap!
texts.! Secondly,! this! discussion! gives! us! some! tools! to! better! understand! the!
intricacies!and!conventions!of!rap!texts.!
The!creation!of!a!comprehensive!framework!which!covers!all!formal!aspects!
of!rap!is!probably!an!impossible!feat.!In!all!likelihood,!many!features!of!rap!music!
would! elude! such! a! taxonomy! or! framework.! Instead! I! discuss! a! series! of!!
important! concepts! and! terms! which! rap! artists! and! rap! fans! use! to! talk! about!
the!‘art!of!rapping’.!Thus,!there!is!no!need!for!a!!reductionary!structure!but!I!can!
still!offer!a!‘crash!course’!in!rap.!First!I!discuss!general!aspects!of!rap:!beats,!bars,!
flow,! rhyme! schemes! and! delivery.! Then! I! deal! with! some! techniques! that! are!
used! in! rap! texts:! wordplay,! ! references! to! popular! culture,! punch! lines,! simile,!
hashtag! rap! and! non! sequitur.! Finally! I! expand! on! different! modes! of! rapping:!
freestyle!rap,!battle!rap!and!braggadocio.!
To! support! my! discussion! of! these! concepts,! I! rely! mostly! on! Paul! Edwards‘!
How$To$Rap$and!How$to$Rap$2$in!which!he!explores!the!techniques!and!methods!
rappers! use! when! writing! their! texts! (Edwards! 2009;! 2013).! The! books! were!
based!on!interviews!with!‘over!a!hundred!MCs’!including!established!rap!artists!
like! Kool! G! Rap,! Big! Daddy! Kane,! Nelly,! A! Tribe! Called! Quest! and! Mobb! Deep!
(2009:ix,!315=334).!To!illustrate!these!concepts,!I!add!examples!from!rap!texts.!
At! the! end! of! this! discussion,! I! expand! on! rap’s! potential! for! complexity! by!
discussing!the!website!Rap$Genius.$
3.3.1 Beats,.bars,.flow,.rhyme.schemes.and.delivery.
Rap! music! consists! of! a! ‘beat’! (the! music)! and! its! ‘lyrics’! (the! text).! Rap! music!
beats!are!almost!exclusively!in!4/4!time,!which!means!they!have!4!quarter=note!
beats!to!every!bar!of!music.!Rap!songs!are!traditionally!constructed!with!verses!
!
18!
of!16!bars!each!and!a!chorus!of!4!or!8!bars.!To!explain!it!in!a!more!simple!way,!
every! bar! corresponds! with! 4! beats,! which! is! how! musicians! count! to! 4.! A!
traditional! hip! hop! beat! is! structured! around! an! alternating! kick! and! clap:! kick!
(1),!clap!(2),!kick!(3),!clap!(4).!!
Because! of! the! structure! of! a! bar,! the! second! and! fourth! beats! are! naturally!
emphasized! by! the! rapper.! Bradley! compares! the! rapper’s! bar! to! the! poet’s!
pentameter! line:! ‘One! beat! in! a! bar! is! akin! to! the! literary! poet’s! metrical! foot’!
(Bradley!xx).!The!five!metrical!foots!of!the!pentameter!line!correspond!with!the!
four!beats!of!a!bar!of!music.!One!bar!is!used!to!rap!one!line.!(xx)!Most!rap!songs!
however!lack!this!strictly!traditional!‘flow’!where!the!emphasized!words!of!the!
line!correspond!with!the!four!beats!of!a!bar.!Rappers!adjust!their!flow!using!the!
the!four!beats!as!anchor!points,!around!which!theystructure!their!‘flow’.!!
Along! with! the! metre,! the! performance! contributes! to! the! flow.! The!
performance! aspect! of! rap! can! give! another! dimension! to! poetry’s! metrical!
structure.! In! ‘The! Corner’,! Common! uses! the! second! verse! to! experiment! with!
metre.! On! every! second! and! fourth! beat! of! every! of! the! verse’s! 16! bars,! he!
rhymes! two! syllables! with! ‘deep! nights’.! When! reading! the! text! without! the!
music,! every! two! syllables! in! which! he! rhymes! to! ‘deep! nights’! reads! like! an!
iamb,! an! unstressed! syllable! followed! by! a! stressed! syllable.! In! his! delivery!
however,! Common! pronounces! these! words! as! trochees,! by! stressing! the! first!
syllable! and! leaving! the! second! ! syllable! unstressed,! creating! a! curious! but!
interesting!effect.!I!have!highlighted!the!iambs!pronounced!as!trochees:!
Street.lights!and!deep.nights,!cats!trying!to!eat.right!
Riding!no=seatTbikes,!with!work!to!feed.hypes!
So!they!can!get!sweet.Nike's,!they!head!and!they!feet.right!
Desires!of!street.life,!cars!and!weed.types!
It’s!hard!to!breathe.nights,!days!are!thiefTlike!
The!beasts!roam!the!streets,!the!police!is!GreekTlike!
Game!at!its!peak,!we!speak!and!believe.hype!
Bang!in!the!streets!hats!cocked!left!or!deep.right!
It’s!steep.life,!coming!up!where!niggas!is!sheepTlike!
Rappers!and!hoopers,!we!strive!to!be.like!
G's!with!three.stripes,!seeds!that!need.light!
Cheese!and!recite,!needs!and!be.strife!
The!corner,!where!struggle!and!greed.fight!
We.write!songs!about!wrong!‘cause!it’s!hard!to!see.right!
Look!to!the!sky,!hoping!it!will!bleed.light!
Reality's!a!bitch,!and!I!heard!that!she.bites.(Common!2005)!
!
19!
Common’s!verse!is!also!an!example!of!an!‘abab’!‘rhyme!scheme’.!Rap!artists!use!
‘rhyme! schemes’! to! ‘structure! their! lyrics,! by! arranging! rhyming! words! and!
phrases!in!specific!sequences!throughout!a!verse!or!a!song’!(Edwards!2009:95).!
In!most!rap!texts,!one!line!will!rhyme!with!the!next!on!at!least!the!fourth!beat,!
while! many! will! rhyme! on! the! second! beat! as! well.! This! however,! is! not! a! rule!
and! rappers! sometimes! try! to! rhyme! as! many! syllables! as! they! can,! whether!
stressed! or! not.! In! the! first! verse! of! the! aforementioned! track! by! Common,!
almost!every!beat!of!every!of!the!16!bars!of!the!verse!corresponds!with!a!rhyme!
or! half=rhyme! to! ‘nose’.! In! the! following! quote! I! have! emphasized! the! syllables!
which!correspond!with!the!four!beats:!
Memories!on!the!corners!with!the!fo's!and!the!mo's!
Walk!to!the!store!for!the!rose,!talking!straightforward!to!ho’s!
Got!uncles!that!smoke,!and!some!put!blow!up!they!nose!
To!cope!with!the!lows,!the!wind!is!cold!and!it!blows!
In!their!socks!and!their!soles,!niggas!holding!they!rolls!
Corners!leave!souls!opened!and!closed,!hoping!for!mo'!
With!nowhere!to!go,!niggas!rolling!in!droves!
They!shoot!the!wrong!way,!cause!they!ain’t!knowin'!their!goals!
The!streets!ain’t!safe!cause!they!ain’t!knowing!the!code!
By!the!foes!I!was!told,!either!focus!or!fold!
Got!cousins!with!flows,!hope!they!open!some!doors!
So!we!can!cop!clothes!and!roll!in!a!Rolls!
Now!I!roll!in!a!Olds,!with!windows!that!don’t!roll!
Down!the!roads!where!cars!get!broken!and!stole!
These!are!the!stories!told!by!Stony!and!Cottage!Grove!
The!world!is!cold,!the!block!is!hot!as!a!stove..
(Common!2005)!
Rap! texts! feature! endless! variations! on! flow! and! rhyme! schemes.! These!
variations! exist! partly! because! of! the! perfomance! aspect! of! rapping.! Whereas!
poetry! traditionally! is! consumed! on! paper,! rap! texts! add! new! dimensions! to!
poetry!through!the!vocal!delivery!of!the!text.!The!price!rap!pays!for!this!formal!
surplus!is!that!it!is!formally!tied!to!the!four!beats!of!music.!Another!aspect!of!rap!
that!exists!because!rap!is!performed!vocally,!is!the!‘delivery’!of!the!text.!Edwards!
describes! the! possibilities! different! styles! of! delivery! offer,! mentioning! pitch,!
melody,!clarity!of!vocals,!volume!and!smoothness!or!harshness:!
You! can! alter! the! pitch! of! your! voice! and! make! your! delivery! more! or! less!
melodic.! You! can! adjust! how! muffled,! clear,! or! nasal! your! vocals! are.! You! can!
control!your!voice’s!volume!and!how!smooth!or!harsh!it!is.!An!outstanding!and!
unique!vocal!style!can!help!stand!out!from!other!MCs.!(Edwards!2009:246=247)!
!
20!
3.3.2 Wordplay,. references. to. popular. culture,. punch. lines,. simile,.
hashtag.rap.and.non.sequitur.
Edwards! describes! ‘wordplay’! as! ‘playing! around! with! words! and! their!
meanings,!using!language!in!clever!ways’!(Edwards!2009:56).!In!other!words,!it!
is! the! use! of! puns,! synonyms,! antonyms,! homophones! etcetera! to! play! with! the!
semantic! and! formal! features! of! language.! Understanding! rap’s! wordplay! is!
sometimes!quite!complicated.!For!example,!to!understand!Lil!Wayne’s!wordplay!
in!‘6!Foot!7’!you!have!to!take!in!account!the!‘silent!g’!in!the!word!‘lasagna’:!‘Real!
G's!move!in!silence!like!lasagna’!(Wayne!2011).!At!first!glance,!the!line!resembles!
a!simile,!but!obviously,!there!is!no!real!meaning!for!‘lasagnas!moving!in!silence’.!
Instead!the!listener!should!understand!that!‘G’s’,!or!gangsters,!do!their!business!
in!the!background,!silent!and!unnoticed,!just!like!the!silent!g!in!the!word!lasagna,!
which!results!in!a!surreal!tongue=in=cheek!play!on!words.!
Rap! artists! also! frequently! use! references! to! popular! culture! to! explore! new!
ways! to! expand! their! wordplay.! A! memorable! example! of! clever! wordplay! and!
references! to! popular! culture! can! be! found! in! the! first! verse! by! rap! artist!
Fabolous!in!the!song!‘You!Ain’t!Got!Nuthin’!from!the!Lil!Wayne!album!The$Carter$
III.$In!the!first!five!lines,!the!text!refers!to!the!Wayans!brothers,!who!are!popular!
Hollywood! comedic! actors:! Keenan! Wayans! who! starred! in! the! 1988! film! I’m$
Gonna$Git$You$Sucka,$Damon! Wayans! who! starred! in! Major$Payne! and! My$Little$
Man!and!Shawn!Wayans!who!also!starred!in!My$Little$Man!(Brumburgh,!‘Damon!
Wayans!Biography’;!Brumbugh,!‘Keenan!Ivory!Wayans!Biography):!
Go!'head!nigga,!say!another!name!
Take!this!family!for!a!joke,!play!them!Wayan!brother!games!
And!I'ma!Git!You!Sucka,!I!be!schemin'!with!this!Keenan!
Aimin!with!this!Damon,!I'm!putting!that!Major!Payne!in!
My!Little!Man!is!on!ya,!Marlon!and!Shawn!ya!(Lil!Wayne!2008)!
The!text!dares!the!imaginary!target!of!the!text!‘to!say!another!name’,!!if!you!‘play!
them!Wayan!brother!games’,!meaning!if!you!take!him!and!his!family!for!a!‘joke’,!
he!will!use!his!weapon.!The!threats!of!gunplay!are!conveyed!by!use!of!film!titles!
and! the! names! of! the! Wayans! brothers! to! basically! say! in! different! ways! ‘I! will!
use!my!gun!to!shoot!you’.!!In!the!next!three!lines,!Fabolous!continues!the!threats!
but! switches! to! a! pasta! theme,! naming! different! types! of! guns! along! with!
!
21!
different! types! of! pasta,! possibly! using! the! double! meaning! ‘noodle’! to! refer! to!
pasta!and!his!victim’s!head!or!skull:
Lay!the!beef!on!his!noodle,!make!some!Luger!lasagna!
Forty!Cal!fettuccine,!trey!pound![i.e.!gun]!pasta!
You!reach!for!this!medallion,!you!must!like!Italian!nigga!(Lil!Wayne!2008)!
The! last! line! is! the! ‘punch! line’,! ‘a! particulary! strong! phase! in! the! lyrics! that!
“punches”!or!hits’,!similar!to!how!a!joke!has!a!set=up!and!a!punch!line!(Edwards!
2009:58).! The! set=up! here! would! be! the! gun! threats! and! the! pasta! theme.! The!
last! line! first! conjures! up! the! trope! of! stealing! jewelry:! ‘You! reach! for! this!
medallion’,! then! the! punch! line! tells! the! target! of! threats! to! expect! retaliatory!
pasta!or!gunplay:!‘You!must!like!italian,!nigga’.!
The!wordplay!in!Fabolous’!verse!shows!why!it!is!helpful!that!certain!tropes!in!
rap!texts!are!reused!frequently.!Invoking!the!threat!of!gunplay!in!a!rap!text!is!by!
no! means! original,! but! the! wordplay! Fabolous! uses! is! unique! and! gives! a! new!
spin!to!the!trope.!As!Bradley!points!out,!what!rappers!rap!about!is!only!part!of!it,!
how! they! convey! their! message! is! sometimes! even! more! important! (Bradley!
188=189).!
A!popular!literary!technique!in!rap!is!the!‘simile’,!which!is!a!way!to!compare!
two! concepts,! linking! two! unlikely! concepts! to! create! new! meaning! using!
connecting!words!‘like’!or!‘as’!(Edwards!2009:45).!Most!similes!in!rap!are!quite!
simple! like! J.! Cole’s! in! ‘Nobody’s! Perfect’:! ‘Cole! heatin'! up! like! that! left=over!
lasagna’! (J.! Cole! 2011).! Rap! music’s! first! mainstream! hit! ‘Rapper’s! Delight’! by!
Sugarhill! Gang! features! ! a! simile! in! a! line! that! could! also! be! considered!
braggadocio!rap:!‘I!don't!mean!to!brag,!I!don't!mean!to!boast!/!But!we[‘re]!like!
hot!butter!on!a!breakfast!toast’!(Sugarhill!Gang).!
A!variation!to!the!simile!which!has!recently!been!popularized!by!Big!Sean!and!
Drake!is!the!‘hashtag!rap’!or!the!‘simile!punch!line’,!which!is!a!simile,!but!‘like’!or!
‘as’!is!replaced!by!a!short!pause.!One!of!the!most!known!hashtag!raps!by!Drake!is!
found!in!‘Forever’:!‘Swimming!in!the!money,!come!and!find!me,!Nemo!/!If!I!was!
at!the!club!you!know!I!balled![/bald],!chemo’!(Drake!2009).!The!reference!to!the!
animation!film!Finding$Nemo$in!combination!with!the!wordplay!on!cancer!makes!
for!some!absurd!lines.!We!find!another!example!of!Drake’s!hashtag!rap!in!‘Over’:!
‘I! could! teach! you! how! to! speak! my! language,! Rosetta! Stone’! (Drake! 2010).! A!
!
22!
final! example! can! be! found! in! Juelz! Santana’s! ‘Both! Sides’:! ‘My! pockets! cheesy,!
lasagna!nigga!/!My!neck!clear,!vodka!nigga’!(Juelz!Santana).!!!
Toop!signals!a!recent!development!in!rap!which!features!‘a!heightened!sense!
of! self=reflexivity! and! irony’,! naming! Das (Mims)! as! an! example! of! the!
phenomenon.! Das! Racist! is! known! for! its! ‘non! sequitur’! raps.! Using! wordplay,!
Das!Racist!texts!link!different!concepts!and!words!to!create!overlapping!fields!of!
meaning!in!a!stream!of!consciousness!style!of!rap:!
Talk!shit,!tell!me!how!the!floor!of!the!bar!feel!
Young!cocoa!butter,!I'm!fresh!as!new!car!smell!
Cynical!lasagna!loving!cat,!call!me!Garfield!
Graffiti!goes!legit!streets!spray!tags!for!soup!cans!(Das!Racist)!
Lil!Wayne!is!also!a!rap!artist!who!bases!most!of!his!texts!on!non!sequiturs.!In!his!
2008!signature!hit!‘A!Milli’,!his!raps!move!from!one!meaning!to!the!next.!From!a!
‘Sicilian! bitch! with! long! hair’! to! a! ‘Lamborghini’! to! comparing! a! ‘goon’! to! a!
‘goblin’:!
A!million!here!a!million!there!
Sicilian!bitch!with!long!hair,!with!coke!in!her!derriere!
Like!smoke!in!the!thinnest!air,!I!open!the!Lamborghini!
Hoping!them!crackers!see!me!like!look!at!that!bastard!Weezy!
He's!a!beast,!he's!a!dog,!he's!a!mothafuckin'!problem!
Okay,!you're!a!goon!but!what's!a!goon!to!a!goblin?!!(Lil!Wayne!2008)!
3.3.3 Freestyle.rap,.battle.rap.and.braggadocio.
In! Grove! Music! Online’s! lemma! of! ‘Freestyle! rap’,! Jared! Pauly! defines! freestyle!
rap! or! ‘freestyling’! as! ‘an! improvisatory! approach! to! rapping’,! in! other! words!
‘improvising! lyrics’! (Pauly).! Freestyle! raps! are! meant! ‘to! excite! the! crowd’! and!
often!consists!of!‘bragging!about!himself,!and!the!skills!of!the!DJ’!(Pauly).!Bynoe!
contrasts!freestyle!raps!with!written!raps:!!‘To!freestyle!is!to!create!rhymes!on!
the! spot! –spontaneously! and! contemporaneously=! as! opposed! to! memorizing!
and!reciting!previously!written!works’!(Bynoe!141).!
Battle! raps! are! the! kind! of! raps! that! are! used! in! rap! battles! and! consist! of!
‘putdowns,!insults,!and!disses!against!real!or!imaginary!oppononents’!(Edwards!
2009:25).!A!related!concept!is!‘braggadocio’!or!‘bragging!and!boasting’.!In!Book$
of$ Rhymes:$ The$ Poetics$ of$ Hip$ Hop,! Adam! Bradley! contrasts! braggadocio! with!
!
23!
battle! raps! and! their! different! centres! of! attention:! ‘While! dissing! concerns!
someone!else,!braggadocio!centers!on!the!self’!(Bradley!187).!It!is!also!an!MC’s!
tool! of! ‘verbal! elevations! of! themselves! above! all! others’,! meaning! rap! artists!
brag! and! boast! about! their! ability! to! write! complex! lyrics! (Bradley! 187).!
Braggadocio!raps!range!from!banal!machismo!to!clever!invocations!of!grandeur.!
The!simple!form!of!braggadocio!raps!has!triggered!‘false!assumptions!about!rap’!
or!the!belief!that!rap!texts!have!limited!creative!merit!(Bradley!187).!A!notable!
example! is! Mims’! almost! comedicly! simple! claims! of! ‘being! hot’! in! his! 2007!
mainstream!hit!‘This!Is!Why!I’m!Hot’,!in!which!he!explains!why!he!is!hot:!‘I’m!hot,!
‘cause! I’m! fly! /! You! ain’t,! ‘cause! you! not’! (Mims).! ! He! starts! off! the! first! verse!
claiming!he!could!sell!the!instrumental!of!the!song!without!the!raps!and!still!sell!
a!lot!of!records:!‘I!don't!gotta!rap!/!I!could!sell!a!mill[ion],!saying!nothing!on!the!
track’!(Mims).!Although!he!meant!‘saying!nothing!on!the!track’!literally,!a!cynic!
could!claim!he!actually!did!sell!a!million!‘saying!nothing!a!the!track’,!figuratively.!
On!the!other!end!of!the!spectrum!of!braggadocio!we!find!Jay=Z’s!clever!wordplay!
in! ‘Diamonds! From! Sierra! Leone! Remix’! from! Kanye! West’s! 2005! album! Late$
Registration! in! which! Jay=Z! likens! himself! to! an! infallable! Jesus! Christ! figure:!
‘How!can!you!falter,!when!you’re!the!Rock!of!Gibraltar!/!I!had!to!get!off!the!boat!
to! walk! on! water’! (West! 2005).! Later! in! the! song! he! brags! about! his! business!
savvy:! ‘I’m! not! a! business! man,! I’m! a! business,! man’! (2005).! By! changing! the!
intonation!from!‘man’!in!‘business!man’!to!the!first!syllable!in!‘business,!man’,!he!
contrasts!the!image!of!a!‘man!who!does!business’!with!the!image!of!himself!being!
a!business!in!and!of!itself.!!
3.3.4 Rap.Genius.and.rap’s.complexity.
An!interesting!phenomenon!which!illustrates!the!complexity!of!wordplay!in!rap!
texts,!or!at!least!reveals!the!willingness!of!rap!artists!and!fans!to!seek!complexity!
in! rap! texts,! is! the! website! Genius! formerly! known! as! Rap$ Genius.! The! website!
gathers! song! texts! and! ‘breaks! down! text! with! line=by=line! annotations,! added!
and! edited! by! anyone! in! the! world’! (http://meta.genius.com/Genius=about=
genius=annotated).!Rap$Genius!is!an!encyclopedia!of!hip!hop!lyrics!created!by!hip!
hop!fans.!It!explains!and!interconnects!lyrics!much!like!Wikipedia.!(Genius)!
!
24!
A! notable! example! of! complex! wordplay! can! be! found! in! Jay=Z’s! 2009! song!
‘Brooklyn! Go! Hard’! from! the! soundtrack! for! Notorious,$ the! biographical! film!
about!the!life!of!The!Notorious!B.I.G.:!
I!father,!I!Brooklyn!Dodger!them!
I!jack,!I!rob,!I!sin!
Ah!man,!I'm!Jackie!Robinson!
Except!when!I!run!base,!I!dodge!the!pen (Jay-Z 2009)
The! annotation! to! this! part! of! the! text! features! an! extensive! explanation! of! the!
different!layers!of!meaning!the!lines!invoke.!The!annotation,!which!was!written!
by!a!user!named!BergmanSenior, contains!some!text!about!Jackie!Robinson,!the!
‘Dodgers’!and!how!‘running!bases’!relates!to!him:!
Jackie! Robinson! was! the! Brooklyn! Dodger! player! who! broke! the! color! barrier;!
“Dodger”! means! criminal! —! the! “Artful! Dodger”! was! Oliver! Twist’s! pickpocket!
mentor!in!Dickens'!classic.![Jay=Z]!mentions!his!criminal!past!by!stating!that!he!
jacks,!robs,!and!sins,!thus!making!him!Jackie!Robinsin.![…]!Jackie!Robinson’s!high!
speed!made!him!a!great!candidate!to!steal!bases!and!get!extra!bases!on!his!hits!
(“running!base”)!(BergmanSenior)!
The! annotation! continues! to! claim! that! the! fourth! line! of! Jay=Z’s! verse! (‘Except!
when! I! run! base,! I! dodge! the! pen’)! is! in! fact! a! ‘dope! triple! entendre’!
(BergmanSenior):!
=!When!Jay!runs!base!(sells!drugs!like!freebase!cocaine),!he!dodges!jail!time!(vs.!
Jackie!dodging!getting!tagged!out)!
=! (homophone:! base/bass)! When! Jay=Z! raps! along! to! the! bass! of! the! beat,! he!
freestyles!rather!than!writing!raps!beforehand!(dodging!the!pen)!
=!The!pen!Robinson!isn’t!dodging!likely!is!the!one!that!was!used!to!sign!lucrative!
baseball! contracts.! Because! Jay! runs! base! (sells! drugs),! he! doesn’t! have! to! sign!
any!paperwork,!as!his!work!is!illegal.!(BergmanSenior)!
The!annotation!conjures!up!a!flurry!of!meanings!associated!with!the!fourth!line.!
‘Running! base’! either! means! ‘running! the! base! in! a! game! of! baseball’,! ‘selling!
freebase!cocaine’!or!‘rapping!along!to!the!bass!of!a!beat’.!‘Dodge!the!pen’!either!
means! ‘dodging! the! pen[itentiary]! i.e.! jail! time’,! ‘avoiding! paperwork! during!
illegal! activity’! or! ‘not! writing! down! rap! texts! before! recording! them’.! The! last!
meaning! refers! to! the! commonly! known! habit! of! Jay=Z! to! never! write! down! his!
texts!before!recording!them,!he!prefers!‘working!out!the!words!and!flow!ahead!
of!time!but!never!actually![writes!them!down]’!(Edwards!2009:144).!
!
25!
While! it! is! obviously! impossible! to! give! a! definitive! explanation! for! the!
wordplay,!whether!it!pertains!to!the!intentions!of!Jay=Z!or!the!semantic!fields!the!
lines! invoke,! it! does! show! how! much! potential! rap! texts! have! for! imaginative!
exploration!of!language!and!wordplay!by!the!artist!and!the!listener!alike.!
!
!
26!
!
4 Authenticity.and.hip.hop.
In! this! chapter! I! examine! the! concept! of! authenticity! in! the! context! of! hip! hop.!
First!I!discuss!what!is!hip!hop!authenticity!in!general!and!what!has!been!written!
about!it.!Then!I!try!to!define!what!it!means!to!be!authentic!as!a!rap!artist.!I!do!
this!by!analysing!authenticity!claims!in!hip!hop!discourse.!To!facilitate!this,!I!use!
Kembrew! McLeod’s! framework! which! differentiates! between! six! semantic!
dimensions!in!which!authenticity!claims!are!made:!the!social=psychological,!the!
racial,! the! political=economic,! the! gender=sexual,! the! social=locational! and! the!
cultural! dimension.! I! explore! each! of! these! dimensions! and! provide! examples!
drawing!from!rap!texts.!
4.1 Hip.hop.authenticity.and.‘keepin’.it.real’.
Many!have!been!critical!about!hip!hop’s!cultural!authenticity!and!its!potential!for!
expressive! authenticity.! In! ‘No! Time! for! Fake! Niggas:! Hip=Hop! Culture! and! the!
Authenticity! Debates’,! Mark! Anthony! Neal! argues! that! hip! hop! has! since! long!
losed!its!authenticity!as!a!subculture!because!of!the!commodification!of!hip!hop!
!
27!
culture!as!a!product!and!the!amount!of!money!that!is!involved!in!today’s!hip!hop!
industry:!
long! past! the! threshold! of! what! anybody! would! deem! as! an! authentic! sub=
culture.! Too! much! money! has! been! made,! too! many! icons! exposed,! too! many!
martyrs! buried! (literally! and! rhetorically),! too! much! branding! of! the! hip=hop!
lifestyle!carried!out,!and!too!many!nostalgic!cries!uttered!for!a!return!to!a!time!
when!things!were!supposedly!purer.!(Neal!69)!
Tricia! Rose! starts! off! her! book! The$Hip$Hop$Wars$with! a! diagnosis! of! hip! hop’s!
lack! of! authenticity,! naming! commercialism,! racial! issues! and! misogyny! as!
contributing! issues! to! the! demise! of! hip! hop! culture! and! its! authenticity.! She!
recalls!a!time!when!hip!hop!authenticity!was!still!intact:!
Hip!hop!is!not!dead,!but!it!is!gravely!ill.!The!beauty!and!life!force!of!hip!hop!have!
been! squeezed! out,! wrung! nearly! dry! by! the! compounding! factors! of!
commercialism,! distorted! racial! and! sexual! fantasy,! oppression,! and! alienation.!
[…]! I! remember! when! hip! hop! was! a! locallly! inspired! explosion! of! exuberance!
and! political! energy! tethered! to! the! idea! of! rehabilitating! community.! (Rose!
2008:ix)!
Rose!echoes!the!titles!of!rapper!Nas’!2006!album!Hip$Hop$Is$Dead.!!The!recurring!
theme! in! the! discourse! that! paints! the! lack! of! authenticity! is! assimilation! and!
commodification.! The! purity! of! hip! hop’s! identity! is! supposedly! threatened! by!
the!influence!of!mainstream!culture.!In!‘Authenticity!Within!Hip=Hop!and!Other!
Cultures! Threatened! With! Assimilation’,! Kembrew! McLeod! argues! that! in! the!
face! of! assimilation! to! the! mainstream,! rappers! have! ‘preserved! [hip! hop’s]!
identity! by! invoking! the! concept! of! authenticity! in! attempting! to! draw! clearly!
demarcated! boundaries! around! their! culture’! (Mcleod! 166).! In! other! words:!
rappers!try!to!preserve!hip!hop’s!authenticity!by!constructing!a!cultural!identity.!
What!does!this!hip!hop!authenticity!entail?!What!does!it!mean!to!be!authentic!
in! hip! hop?! To! start! to! answer! these! questions,! I! quote! two! scholars! who! have!
each! tried! to! define! the! traditional! rules! of! hip! hop! authenticity.! In! HipIHop$
Revolution:$The$Culture$and$Politics$of$Rap,!Jeffrey!O.G.!Ogbar!equals!authenticity!
to! ‘realness’! to! define! traditional! hip! hop! authenticity.! He! he! ties! realness! to!
‘urban,! working=class! landscapes! that! gave! rise! to! hip=hop! in! the! 1970s’;! he!
claims! realness! is! ‘inextricably! connected! to! race’! which! ‘implies! (somewhat!
narrowly)! that! black! communities! are! synonymous! with! poor! communities’!
(Ogbar! 39).! Alongside! the! economic! difficulty! that! is! tied! to! authentic! hip! hop,!
!
28!
Ogbar! names! criminality! as! an! important! aspect:! ‘A! brash! intimacy! with! crime!
has! also! been! assumed! within! the! dominant! definition! of! hip=hop! authenticity!
during!the!last!decade’!(39).!He!contrasts!this!image!of!poverty!and!criminality!
with!‘middle=class!status,!suburban!living,!and!whiteness’!(Ogbar!39)!
McLeod! defines! traditional! hip! hop! authenticity! as! ‘staying! true! to! yourself’,!
‘representing!the!underground!and!the!street’,!‘remembering!hip=hop’s!cultural!
legacy’!(Mcleod!173=174).!He!contrasts!this!realness!with!fakeness,!which!menas!
‘being! soft,! following! mass! trends! by! listening! to! commercial! rap! music,! and!
identifying!oneself!with!White,!mainstream!culture!that!is!geographically!located!
in!the!suburbs’!(McLeod!173=174).!
These! traditional! definitions! of! hip! hop! authenticity! or! ‘realness’! paint! a!
stereotypical!picture!of!African=American!gangsters!in!innercities!and!invoke!the!
clichéd! image! of! an! old! school! hip! hop! fan! who! misses! the! rap! of! yesteryear.!
Although! this! traditional! image! of! hip! hop! authenticity! still! has! an! important!
stake! in! hip! hop,! it! has! diminished! the! last! fifteen! years.! There! is! a! lot! more!
nuance! and! fluidity! to! authenticity! in! hip! hop! than! these! traditional! definitions!
suggest.!Both!Ogbar!and!McLeod!express!these!reservations.!McLeod!points!out!
that!these!concepts!are!fluid!and!warns!for!too!much!of!a!reductionist!view!of!hip!
hop!authenticity:!
Keepin’!it!real!and!various!other!claims!of!authenticity!do!not!appear!to!have!a!
fixed! or! rigid! meaning! throughout! the! hip=hop! community.! Keepin’! it! real! is! a!
floating!signifier!in!that!its!meaning!changes!depending!on!the!context!in!which!
it!is!invoked.!(McLeod!168)!
Ogbar! claims! that! ‘the! criteria! for! […]! authenticity! […]! are! in! constant! flux,!
reflecting! larger! social! and! political! currents! in! society! at! large’! (Ogbar! 39).!
Although!the!definition!of!hip!hop!authenticity!is!fluid!and!ever=changing,!what!is!
constant!is!the!barrage!of!authenticity!claims!in!hip!hop.!In!the!following!section!
I!expand!on!the!concept!of!authenticity!claims.!
!
29!
4.2 Authenticity.claims.in.hip.hop.
To!explore!hip!hop!authenticity,!I!use!Kembrew!McLeod’s!conceptual!framework!
to! better! understand! ‘authenticity! claims! within! hip! hop! discourse’! (McLeod!
165).! McLeod! claims! that! authenticity! claims! are! ‘a! significant! part! of! the!
vernacular!of!hip=hop!artists!and!fans’!(167).!These!‘invocations!of!authenticity!
are!performed!often,!resonate!deeply,!and!are!widely!shared!by!members!of!the!
hip=hop! community’! (168).! McLeod! defines! authenticity! claims! as! ‘direct! and!
conscious! reaction! to! the! threat! of! the! assimilation! and! the! colonization! of! this!
self=identified,!resistive!subculture’!(174).!In!other!words,!the!authenticity!of!hip!
hop! culture! is! protected! against! the! influence! of! mainstream! culture! by! its!
participants!through!invocations!of!authenticity.!We!can!reveal!hip!hop’s!cultural!
identity,!or!what!it!means!to!be!authentic!in!hip!hop!by!studying!the!content!of!
these! authenticity! claims:! ‘By! understanding! the! discourse! around! authenticity!
within! distinct,! but! interrelated,! semantic! dimensions,! we! can! see! how! the! key!
symbols!of!a!culture!threatened!with!assimilation!are!drawn!upon!and!organized!
to! maintain! that! culture’s! identity’! (168).! McLeod! defines! six! semantic!
dimensions! which! each! have! meanings! of! ‘realness’! or! ‘fakeness’.! He! describes!
the! attributes! which! correspond! to! realness! or! fakeness! for! each! dimension:!
social=psychological! (staying! true! to! yourself! as! opposed! to! following! mass!
trends),!racial!(black!as!opposed!to!white),!political=economic!(the!underground!
as! opposed! to! commercial),! gender=sexual! (hard! as! opposed! to! soft),! social=
locational! (the! street! as! opposed! to! the! suburbs),! cultural! (the! old! school! as!
opposed!to!the!mainstream).!!
To! reveal! the! complexity! of! authenticity! claims! in! hip! hop,! I! discuss! each!
dimension! by! expanding! on! the! authenticity! debate! in! hip! hop! studies,!
supporting! this! discussion! with! textual! illustrations,! drawing! from! rap! texts.! I!
also! discuss! how! these! dimensions! of! authenticity! claims! in! hip! hop! discourse!
can!interact.!
!
30!
4.2.1 SocialTpsychological.dimension.(staying.true.to.yourself.as.opposed.
to.following.mass.trends).
According! to! McLeod,! the! social=psychological! dimension! pertains! to! the!
‘valorization! of! individualism! and! the! demonization! of! conformity! in! the!
discourse! of! hip=hop! community! members’! (McLeod! 169).! This! semantic!
dimension! of! hip! hop! authenticity! is! far! from! exclusive! to! hip! hop! authenticity.!
One!could!argue!that!the!social=psychological!dimension!of!hip!hop!authenticity!
claims! is! the! manifestion! of! what! is! at! the! core! of! expressive! authenticity! as!
Dutton! defines! it.! This! dimension! is! probably! the! most! potent! semantic! field! in!
which!to!battle!the!assimilation!of!hip!hop!culture.!By!tying!one’s!originality!to!
hip! hop! authenticity,! and! tying! to! lack! of! authenticity! the! following! of! mass!
trends,! i.e.! giving! in! to! the! cultural! forces! of! assimilation,! the! very! dynamic! of!
assimilation!is!discredited!as!‘fake’.!!
Eminem!is!a!rap!artist!whose!texts!are!littered!with!authenticity!claims!in!the!
social=psychological! dimension.! The! white! rapper! from! Detroit! has! endured!
criticism! for! his! text! throughout! his! career.! In! Encyclopedia$of$Rap$and$Hip$Hop$
Culture,$ Yvonne! Bynoe! describes! his! lyrics! as! ‘vile,! misogynistic,! homophobic,!
caustic=and!sardonically!witty’!(Bynoe!116).$In!‘The!Way!I!Am’,!he!counters!such!
critiques! by! tying! his! controversial! lyrics! to! his! personality,! claiming! the!
commercial!success!they!have!garnered!is!merely!a!side!effect:!
And!since!birth!I've!been!cursed!with!this!curse!to!just!curse!
And!just!blurt!this!berserk!and!bizarre!shit!that!works!
And!it!sells!and!it!helps!in!itself!to!relieve!
All!this!tension!dispensing!these!sentences!(Eminem!2000)!
Later! in! the! song! he! counters! critics! who! have! accused! him! of! following! mass!
trends,!implying!his!attitude!is!a!natural!part!of!his!personality!and!not!contrived!
to!mimic!a!sense!of!hip!hop!authenticity:!
And!I!just!do!not!got!the!patience!
To!deal!with!these!cocky!caucasians!who!think!
I'm!some!wigger!who!just!tries!to!be!black!
‘Cause!I!talk!with!an!accent,!and!grab!on!my!balls!(Eminem!2000)!
!
31!
In!fact,!in!most!of!Eminem’s!responses!to!criticism!he!will!use!authenticity!claims!
in! the! social=psychological! dimension.! I! further! expand! on! the! complex!
portrayals!of!identitity!and!the!role!of!hip!hop!authenticity!in!Eminem’s!texts.!
The!importance!of!‘staying!true!to!yourself’!has!also!been!used!as!an!argument!
against!critics!of!gangsta!rap.!According!to!Bynoe,!gangsta!rap!is!‘a!media=driven!
term!to!describe!rap!lyrics!that!portray!street!life!and!violence’!and!she!offers!a!
alternative! definition:! ‘reality! rap’! (Bynoe! 149).! This! injunction! of! the! media’s!
misunderstanding! of! gangsta! rap! simoultaneously! indicts! American! society! for!
creating!the!reality!that!is!supposedely!mirrored!in!gangsta!rap.!This!defense!of!
gangsta! rap! as! a! truthful! representation! of! urban! ghetto! life! has! been! conjured!
up! by! many! rappers! who! have! been! considered! to! be! gangsta! rappers.! In!
‘Renegade’,!Jay=Z!likens!his!street!tales!to!journalism:!‘I!give!you!the!news!with!a!
twist,!it's!just!his!ghetto!point=of=view’,!in!‘Why!U!Mad!At!Me’,!T.I.!proclaims!his!
rap!texts!recount!his!experiences:!‘I'm!reciting!my!life’!(Jay=Z!2001;!T.I.;!).!!
4.2.2 Racial.(black.as.opposed.to.white).
McLeod! proposes! that! ‘to! its! core! community! members,! hip=hop! remains!
strongly!tied!to!Black!cultural!expression’!(McLeod!170)!Most!definitions!of!hip!
hop!and!rap!music!will!cite!blackness!as!an!important!aspect.!In!the!1994!book!
Black$ Noise,! Tricia! Rose! defines! rap! music! as! ‘a! black! cultural! expression! that!
prioritizes!black!voices!from!the!margin!of!urban!America’!(Rose!1994:2).!David!
Toop! defines! rap! as! a! ‘predominantly! African! American! musical! style’! (Toop!
2012).!Of!course!hip!hop!is!unimaginable!without!its!African=American!founders!
and! participants,! but! the! idea! that! hip! hop! is! an! exclusively! black! culture! is! an!
exaggeration.! It! seems! that! the! traditional! view! of! hip! hop! authenticity! in! the!
racial! dimension! that! creates! a! binary! opposition! between! black! and! white!
ignores! the! importance! of! other! racial! groups! like! latino’s,! Asian=Americans.! It!
also!degrades!hip!hop’s!white!listeners!and!participants!to!irrelevant!outsiders.!
Different! racial! groups! have! participated! in! hip! hop! culture! since! its! inception.!
Plenty! has! been! written! about! diverse! cultures! which! have! influenced! and!
formed!hip!hop!culture.!Ogbar!points!out!these!diasporic!roots!of!hip!hop:!
!
32!
Despite!the!centrality!of!African!Americans!in!articulations!of!authenticity,!hip=
hop!has!roots!that!are,!in!fact,!more!diasporic!than!popularly!perceived.!Hip=hop!
not! only! owes! its! origins! to! lyrical! and! instrumental! musical! styles! from! North!
America,! such! as! the! urban! folkloric! badman! narratives,! R&B,! blues,! jazz,! and!
disco;! it! also! is! influenced! by! ! the! early! sound=system! techniques! of! Jamaican!
music,!as!well!as!by!plena!and!bomba!music!from!Puerto!Rico.!(Ogbar!40)!
Even!though!scholars!have!widely!discussed!the!multi=cultural!context!in!which!
hip! hop! culture! was! born,! many! have! also! pointed! out! that! non=black! rappers!
have! traditionally! had! a! hard! time! infiltrating! hip! hop! culture.! Latino! rappers!
have!played!an!important!role!in!hip!hop!culture!from!the!beginning,!but!Asian=
American! and! white! rappers! have! had! a! harder! time.! I! expand! on! the! role! and!
influence!of!these!three!racial!groups!in!what!follows.!
Latino!rappers!have!been!present!in!hip!hop!from!the!beginning.!Juan!Flores!
goes!as!far!as!to!argue!that!‘latin!rap’!is!not!merely!a!subset!of!a!musical!genre,!
but! ‘an! expression! of! the! cultural! turf! shared,! and! contented! for,! by! African!
Americans! and! Puerto! Ricans! over! their! decades! as! neighbors,! coworkers! and!
“homies”! in! the! inner=city! communities’! (Flores! 75).! Ogbar! cites! Big! Pun! as! the!
first! ‘Latino! soloist! to! go! platinum! [sell! a! million! records]’,! crediting! the! latino!
rapper’s!authenticity!claims!in!the!other!semantic!dimensions!for!his!succes:!
His!incredible!skills!on!the!mic,!thugged=out!lyrics!about!violence,!misogyny,!and!
materialistic!references!earned!him!an!unquestionable!status!as!“real.”!He!even!
promotes!himself!as!a!“real!nigga”!on!several!songs.!(Ogbar!48)!
Ogbar!argues!that!we!can!find!!the!reason!for!this!acceptance!of!latino!rap!in!‘the!
historical,! cultural,! and! social! relationships! between! different! Latino!
nationalities!and!African!Americans’!and!‘African!diasporic!connections!between!
people! in! the! Caribbean! and! North! America’! (Ogbar! 48).! Ogbar! also! points! out!
that! Latino! rappers! ‘have! not! hesitated! to! call! themselves! real! niggas’.! Latino!
rappers!like!Fat!Joe!and!Big!Pun!were!able!to!attain!levels!of!hip!hop!authenticity!
that!allowed!them!to!use!the!word!‘nigga’!freely!without!facing!any!criticism.!A!
possible! explanation! for! this! phenomenon! is! that! they! have! reappropriated! the!
term! by! reducing! the! importance! of! the! racial! component,! and! establishing! its!
meaning! in! the! political=economic! semantic! dimension.! Ogbars! claims! these!
Latino! rappers! ‘use! the! word! with! great! agility! and! zeal’! and! because! they! are!
!
33!
considered!‘family’,!‘there!has!been!no!notable!protest!over!their!use!of!the!word’!
(65).!!
An!important!nuance!that!has!to!be!made!in!the!story!of!Latino!rap!is!the!fact!
that! Latino! rap! has! not! enjoyed! the! same! recognition! in! hip! hop! media! and! in!
corporate! America.! As! Ogbar! puts! it:! ‘Despite! being! cofounders! of! hip=hop,!
Latinos! generally! were! maginalized! in! the! hip=hop! media! until! the! post=1990s,!
when! they! were! slightly! more! visible’! (Ogbar! 41).! Flores! places! the! blame! on!
corporate!America!and!on!the!racial!tensions!of!American!culture:!she!claims!this!
‘omission![…]!has!as!much!to!do!with!the!selective!vagaries!of!the!music!industry!
as! with! the! social! placement! of! the! Puerto! Rican! community! in! the! prevailing!
racial=cultural!hierarchy’!(Flores!74).!
Latin! rappers! have! not! received! due! respect,! but! white! rappers! have! had! an!
even! harder! time! when! seeking! acceptance! in! the! hip! hop! community.! In!
McLeod’s! framework! whiteness! is! the! antithesis! of! authenticity! in! hip! hop,! so!
this!struggle!is!not!surprising.!In!Hip$Hop$America,$George!Nelson!describes!the!
how!black!hip!hop!fans!rejected!the!enormous!success!of!early!white!rap!group!
Beastie!Boys!in!the!eighties:!
The!rapid!rise!of!this!Manhattan=based!trio!of!white!MCs,!whose!debut,!Licensed$
to$Ill,!sold!four!million!copies,!generated!a!racial!chauvinism!among!black!folks,!
making! the! Beasties! the! first! whites! (but! hardly! the! last)! to! be! accused! of!
treading!on!100!percent!black!turf.!(Nelson!66)!
Ever!since!the!success!of!the!Beastie!Boys,!white!rappers!have!been!few!and!far!
between.! McLeod! names! ‘House! of! Pain,! Snow! and! Vanilla! Ice’! as! commercially!
successful!white!rappers,!but!notes!that!these!rappers!‘were!used!as!symbols!of!
identity! to! represent! an! inauthentic! whiteness’! (McLeod! 170).! In! Rap$ Attack,!
David!Toop!laments!Vanilla!Ice’s!success:!!
Perhaps! this! was! rough! justice! for! the! black! rap! artists! who! had! struggled! to!
establish!the!genre!but!popular!music!has!no!justice.!The!rise!of!Vanilla!Ice!was!
the! final! stage! in! rap’s! acceptance! by! the! music! industry.! Another! day,! another!
dollar.!(Toop!2000:210)!
After! Vanilla! Ice’s! success,! white! success! in! mainstream! hip! hop! culture! was!
absent!until!Eminem’s!album!The$Slim$Shady$LP!was!released!in!1999.! Eminem!
became! one! of! the! biggest! hip! hop! artists! of! all! time.! In! 2009,! Rolling$ Stone$
Magazine! reported! that! Eminem! was! ‘the! 2000s'! top=selling! artist’! in! the! US!
!
34!
(Kreps).! In! 2014,! Billboard! reported! that! Eminem! had! sold! 45! million! records,!
becoming! ‘the! second=best=selling! male! artist! of! the! SoundScan’! (the! last! 23!
years)!after!country!artist!George!Strait!(Trust).!How!did!a!white!rapper!not!only!
become! the! bestselling! hip! hop! artist! of! all! time,! but! also! a! global! icon?! Cynics!
will!argue!that!it!is!not!despite,!but!because!of!his!whiteness!that!he!has!enjoyed!
great! mainstream! success.! One! of! those! cynics! was! Eminem! himself.! In! ‘White!
America’! he! rapped:! ‘Let's! do! the! math,! if! I! was! black,! I! would’ve! sold! half’!
(Eminem! 2002).! Others! will! cite! Eminem’s! talent! as! an! author! of! complex! rap!
texts.! Ogbar! offers! another! explanation,! naming! the! co=signs! Eminem! received:!
‘Eminem’s! acceptance! among! hip=hop! heavyweights! […]! validated! him! as! his!
skills!could!not!alone’!(Ogbar!58).!Another!contributing!factor!to!his!authenticity!
is!his!competitive!background!and!his!political=economic!background!as!a!poor!
white!man.!(Ogbar!58)!
In! ‘Rapping! and! Repping! Asian:! Race,! Authenticity,! and! the! Asian! American!
MC’,! Oliver! Wang! argues! that! it! is! significantly! harder! for! Asian! American!
rappers! to! make! a! name! for! themselves! than! any! other! racial! group! (Wang!
2007).! Not! only! do! Asian=Americans! lack! authenticity! in! the! racial! dimension,!
Wang! claims! that! stereotypes! associated! with! Asian=Americans! further!
complicate!any!authenticity!claims!they!might!want!to!make:!
If! contemporary! Black! masculinity! is! associated! with! stereotypes! of!
hypermasculinity!and!sexuality,!physical!aggression,!and!the!underclasses,!these!
stand!in!almost!diametric!opposition!to!so=called!model=minority!stereotypes!of!
Asian!masculinity:!effete!or!asexual,!passive!and!middle!class.!(Wang!2007:203=
204)!!
Wang! explores! the! rise! of! Queens=based! rapper! Jin,! who! is! probably! the! only!
Asian! American! rapper! who! has! made! significant! noise! as! a! solo! rap! artist.! Jin!
started! off! his! career! as! a! battle! rapper! and! after! he! dominated! a! battle! rap!
tournament!on!BET’s![Black!Entertainment!Television]!106$and$Park$in!2002,!‘he!
was! invited! to! join! the! Ruff! Ryders! “family,”! which! at! the! time! included! top=
selling! rappers! such! as! Eve,! Styles! P,! DMX,! and! Jadakiss’! (Wang! 212=213).! In!
2005!he!announced!his!retirement.!The!retirement!proved!to!be!temporary,!but!
what! is! notable,! is! the! lack! of! reasoning! Jin! offered! for! the! early! stop.! Wang!
argued! that! this! ‘experience! […]! shows! how! tenuous! a! hold! Asian! American!
rappers!have!within!the!music!industry’!(215).!
!
35!
I! have! explored! the! difficulties! non=black! rappers! experience! when! trying! to!
make! it! as! a! rap! artist.! Some! are! able! to! become! successful,! but! the! road! is!
definitely! harder! for! them! than! it! is! for! black! rappers.! As! Michael! P.! Jeffries!
points! out! in! Thug$Life,! even! when! a! non=black! rapper! does! break! through! the!
barrier!of!blackness!in!hip!hop,!there!is!little!chance!that!he!will!be!recognized!
for! his! achievements.! He! calls! out! corporate! America! as! the! culprit! for! this!
cultural!inequality:!
One! of! the! primary! effects! of! corporate! influence! on! American! hip=hop! is! the!
wrongful! suppression! of! nonblack! contributions! to! hip=hop! history.! The! efforts!
of!white,!Asian,!Hispanic,!and!indigenous!American!practitioners!are!frequently!
ignored,! and! the! omission! of! Latino/a! hip=hop! experiences! is! especially!
egregious! considering! the! indispensable! role! played! by! so! many! Latino/a!
practitioners!from!the!beginning!of!hip=hop!history.!(Jeffries!6)!
Jeffries! explains! this! situation! by! pointing! to! the! marketability! of! blackness:!
‘Spectacular,! oppositional! ghetto! blackness! are! captivating! and! saleable! to!
consumers! in! a! range! of! social! milieus’! (Jeffries! 6).! He! also! notes! that! in! other!
forms! of! hip! hop! culture,! non=black! participants! have! had! significant! impact:!
‘Asians!and!Asian!Americans![…]!have!established!a!strong!foothold!in!DJ!and!b=
boy! culture! on! the! West! Coast,! while! Latinos! and! Latinas! have! been! holding!
down!the!East!Coast!b=boy!scene!since!before!the!dance!had!a!name.’!(6)!
However!dominant!blackness!might!be!in!hip!hop!culture,!the!fact!that!some!
rappers!like!Big!Pun,!Eminem!and!Jin!have!been!able!to!slip!through!the!cracks!of!
racial!authenticity!and!have!attained!success!equal!to!and!even!greater!than!their!
black! counterparts,! means! there! is! a! certain! level! of! flexibility! to! the! racial!
dimension! of! hip! hop! authenticity.! A! possible! explanation! for! this! flexibility! is!
that! the! other! dimensions! can! compensate! the! lack! of! authenticity! in! the! racial!
dimension.! To! counter! their! lack! of! blackness,! I! would! posit! that! non=black!
rappers! concentrate! their! authenticity! claims! on! all! the! other! dimensions! that!
contribute!to!hip!hop!authenticity.!!
It! seems! that! McLeod’s! traditional! two=dimensional! view! of! the! racial!
dimension! of! hip! hop! authenticity! as! the! opposition! of! black! and! white! is! too!
radical! and! outdated.! On! the! other! hand,! Jeffries’! more! open! view! seems! too!
optimistic.! Although! the! importance! of! blackness! in! hip! hop! authenticity! is!
overstated,! blackness! remains! the! norm! in! hip! hop! culture.! I! would! argue! that!
!
36!
the! racial! dimension! has! lost! some! of! its! importance! and! have! indicated! that!
authenticity!claims!in!the!other!dimension!can!make!up!for!a!lack!of!blackness,!
but! it! also! likely! that,! in! a! country! where! racial! debates! are! a! minefield,! a!
supposed! lack! of! authenticity! in! the! other! semantic! dimensions! is! used! as! an!
excuse!to!oust!racially!different!rappers.!Whatever!the!case!may!be.!Rappers!like!
Big! Pun,! Eminem! and! Jin! have! broken! through! the! black! dominance! in! hip! hop!
culture!by!concentrating!their!authenticity!claims!in!the!other!dimensions.!
4.2.3 PoliticalTeconomic.(the.underground.as.opposed.to.commercial).
McLeod!defines!realness!in!the!political=economic!dimension!as!protecting!one’s!
creative!freedom!by!releasing!music!!through!‘an!independently!owned!network!
of! distribution! (the! underground)’! as! opposed! to! the! ‘music! business! culture!
dominated!by!the!big!five!multinational!corporations!that!control!the!U.S.!music!
industry’!(McLeod!170).!Fakeness!is!defined!by!adjusting!your!music!to!get!extra!
radio! plays! and! those! ‘who! make! “hits”’! (170).! Rappers! constantly! attack! ! this!
form! of! fakeness! in! their! texts.! An! example! is! Nas! in! ‘Hip! Hop! Is! Dead’:!
‘Everybody! sound! the! same,! commercialize! the! game! /! Reminiscing! when! it!
wasn't! all! business! […]! Went! from! turntables! to! MP3's! /! From! "Beat! Street"! to!
commercials!on!Mickey!D's’!(Nas!2006).!Another!is!Common!in!‘Start!the!Show’:!
‘Many! have! come,! but! few! have! been! chosen! to! be! a! true! MC! /! You! sing! along!
with! it,! inside! you! knowin'! it's! wack! /! Young! who?! Oh,! he’s! the! openin'! act’!
(Common!2007).!Or!take!Kendrick!Lamar!in!‘Bitch,!Don’t!Kill!My!Vibe:!‘I'm!trying!
to!keep!it!alive!and!not!compromise!the!feeling!we!love!/!You're!trying!to!keep!it!
deprived!and!only!co=sign!what!radio!does’!(Lamar!2012).!In!‘Daydreamin’’,!Lupe!
Fiasco! sarcastically! attacks! the! fakeness! of! artificially! staged! rap! music! videos,!
contrasting!it!to!the!realness!of!‘the!baby’s!sleeping’:!
Now!come!on!everybody,!let's!make!cocaine!cool!
We!need!a!few!more!half=naked!women!up!in!the!pool!
And!hold!this!MAC=10!that's!all!covered!in!jewels!
And!can!you!please!put!your!titties!closer!to!the!22s?!
And!where's!the!champagne?!We!need!champagne!
Now!look!as!hard!as!you!can!with!this!blunt!in!your!hand!
And!now!hold!up!your!chain,!slow=motion!through!the!flames!
Now!cue!the!smoke!machines!and!the!simulated!rain!
But!not!too!loud!cause!the!baby's!sleeping!
!
37!
I!wonder!if!it!knows!what!the!world!is!keeping!(Fiasco!2006)!
Some!rappers!have!actually!admitted!they!prefer!the!riches!over!the!authenticity.!
In! ‘#1’,! Nelly! raps! that! he! does! not! care! about! his! lack! of! underground!
authenticity!and!is!happy!with!his!commercial!success:!‘You!ain't!gotta!give!me!
my!props,!just!give!me!the!yachts!/!Give!me!my!rocks![i.e.!jewels],!and!keep!my!
fans! coming! in! flocks’! (Nelly! 2002).! ! In! ‘Moment! of! Clarity’,! Jay=Z! admitted! to!
adjusting! his! music! for! more! mainstream! success,! comparing! himself! to! Talib!
Kweli! and! Common! (a.k.a.! Common! Sense),! rappers! who! are! considered! to! be!
underground:!
I!dumbed!down!for!my!audience!to!double!my!dollars!
They!criticized!me!for!it,!yet!they!all!yell!"holla"!
If!skills!sold,!truth!be!told,!I'd!probably!be!
Lyrically!Talib!Kweli!
Truthfully!I!wanna!rhyme!like!Common!Sense!
But!I!did!5!mill[ion],!I!ain't!been!rhyming!like!Common!since!(Jay=Z!2003)!
Several!have!expressed!the!internal!struggles!dealing!with!the!political=economic!
dimension!of!hip!hop!authenticity.!A!notable!example!is!‘Let!Nas!Down’!by!J.!Cole.!
In! the! emotional! song,! he! expresses! his! disappointment! in! himself! when! he!
buckled!to!the!pressure!he!felt!from!the!music!industry!to!write!‘the!record!that!
the! radio! could! play’! (Cole! 2013).! He! eventually! ‘made! the! biggest! hit! of! [his]!
career’,!after!which!he!heard!his!idol!Nas!was!disappointed!because!he!felt!J.!Cole!
was!‘the!one’,!meaning!he!had!the!potential!to!match!Nas’!penchant!for!complex!
lyrics!and!gave!that!up!by!following!mass!trends.!J.!Cole!goes!as!far!as!to!reframe!
the!moment!he!stopped!staying!true!to!himself!as!Christ=like:!‘I!took!the!fall!like!
the!son!of!the!Lord!/!On!the!cross,!dyin'!for!that!fake!shit!you!niggas!bought’.!He!
claims!he!wanted!commercial!success!to!reintroduce!casual!fans!‘to!honesty,![to]!
show!'em!that!they!need!more!/!The!difference!between!the!pretenders!and!the!
Kendrick!Lamars![example!of!a!rapper!who!remains!true!to!himself]’.!!
J.! Cole! continues! this! trope! in! the! 2013! song! ‘Hell’s! Kitchen’.! Echoing! his!
mentor!Jay=Z!and!Nelly’s!views,!he!claims!he!will!‘dumb!it!down’!if!his!next!album!
fails! commercially:! ‘My! next! album! flop,! then! I'm! going! pop,! like! Nelly! /! With!
tops!dropped!on!convertible!Porsches’!(DJ!Khaled!2013).!You!could!easily!argue!
that! these! authenticity! claims! in! the! political=economic! dimensions! are! not! so!
much!about!the!inherent!authenticity!of!the!‘underground’!or!‘the!mainstream’,!
!
38!
but! about! where! the! rap! artist! is! in! his! career.! Successful! rappers! will! justify!
their!mainstream!succes!by!laughing!it!off!or!rationalizing!the!perceived!lack!of!
authenticity!their!success!sets!them!up!with.!Rappers!stuck!in!the!underground!
circles! of! rap! music! will! attack! successful! rappers! for! giving! up! the! part! of! hip!
hop!that!really!matters:!the!underground.!
Rose!argues!that!commercialism!‘took!hold!rather!quickly!in!the!middle!to!late!
1990s!and!reached!a!peak!in!the!early!2000s’!(Rose!2008:3).!But!one!could!argue!
that! the! commercialism! of! hip! hop! started! when! Sugarhill! Gang! released!
‘Rapper’s!Delight’!in!1979.!The!rap!group!was!artificially!put!together,!the!lyrics!
were! stolen! and! the! texts! were! about! materialism! and! women.! (Flores! 82)!
(Sugarhill!Gang!1979).!
In! fact! it! is! worth! expanding! on! hip! hop’s! first! mainstream! hit! ‘Rapper’s!
Delight’!and!its!glaring!lack!of!authenticity.!The!song’s!creation!history!reads!like!
a! summation! of! everything! not! to! do! when! striving! for! hip! hop! authenticity.!
From! a! hip! hop! purist’s! perspective,! rap’s! first! big! mainstream! hit! lacked!
authenticity!in!several!major!ways.!Chang!calls!Sugarhill!Gang’s!members!as!‘rap!
amateurs’! and! typifies! the! group! as! a! artificiallly! put! together! fake! formation:!
‘Assembled! in! a! New! Jersey! afternoon,! they! were! a! studio! creation! that! never!
stepped! on! a! stage! until! after! their! single! became! a! radio! hit’! (Chang! 132).!
Chang’s!recounting!of!the!events!that!led!up!to!the!signing!of!the!iconic!rap!group!
is! probably! the! most! poignant! indictment! of! the! commodification! of! rap! music.!
Chang!recounts!an!afternoon!where!Big!Bang!Hank!was!heard!rapping!at!a!pizza!
parlor!which!resulted!in!an!invitation!to!audition!for!Sylvia!Robinson.!On!the!way!
to!studio,!Master!Gee!and!Wonder!Mike!‘jumped!in!the!car’!and!that!very!night,!
Sugarhill!Gang!was!created:!
Henry! “Big! Bank! Hank”! Jackson! was! a! Herc! follower! and! a! Bronx! nightclub!
bouncer!who!somehow!became!a!manager!for!Grandmaster!Caz!and!the!rappers!
who! became! the! Cold! Crush! Brothers.! He! was! making! pizzas! in! New! Jersey! to!
pay!for!Caz’s!sound!system,!and!rapping!along!to!a!Caz!tape!one!afternoon!at!the!
parlor,! when! Joey! Robinson! heard! him! and! asked! him! to! come! to! Jersey! for! an!
audition.! On! the! way! back,! two! other! rhymers! jumped! into! Joey’s! car,! Guy!
“Master! Gee”! O’Brien! and! Michael! “Wonder! Mike”! Wright,! and! the! three!
auditioned!that!evening.!Sylvia!Robinson!immediately!signed!them!to!be!the!first!
group! on! her! new! imprint,! Sugar! Hill! Records.! Nobody! knew! who! they! were.!
They!were!the!perfect!people!to!vault!hip=hop!into!the!realm!of!pop.!(Chang!130)!
!
39!
Chang’s!claim!that!they!were!‘the!perfect!people!to!vault!hip=hop!into!the!realm!
of!pop’!is!a!sarcastic!sneer!that!ties!the!Sugarhill!Gang’s!creation!and!its!lack!of!
authenticity!to!the!fakeness!that!is!associated!with!‘pop’!or!with!the!‘commercial’!
as!it!pertains!to!our!discussion!of!the!semantic!dimensions!of!authenticity!claims.!
Miyakawa! further! details! the! song’s! lack! of! authenticity,! adding! that! the! music!
was!‘created!with!a!houseband!and!not!a!DJ’!(Miyakawa).!The!fact!that!the!text!of!
the! song! was! ‘borrowed’! as! Miyawaka! puts! it! with! a! euphemism! becomes!
apparent! when! closely! examining! the! Big! Hank’s! verse! in! which! he! steals!
Grandmaster! Caz’! raps! in! an! almost! commically! obvious! way:! ‘Check! it! out,! I'm!
the! C=A=S=an=the=O=V=A! and! the! rest! is! F=L=Y’! (Sugarhill! Gang).! He! unknowingly!
spelled!out!Grandmaster!Caz’!nickname!‘Casanova!Fly’!(Bynoe!159).!Later!in!the!
song,! he! unwittingly! denounced! his! own! actions:! ‘Ya! never! let! a! MC! steal! your!
rhyme’!(Sugarhill!Gang).!!
4.2.4 GenderTsexual.(hard.as.opposed.to.soft).
Hip!hop!music!has!been!widely!accused!of!being!misogynistic!and!homophobic.!
McLeod’s! definition! of! realness! seems! to! support! these! claims:! ‘Within! the!
context! of! hip=hop,! these! oppositional! terms! are! very! clearly! gender=specific,!
with! ‘soft’! representing! feminine! attributes! and! hard! representing! masculine!
attributes’! (McLeod! 171).! Critics! of! hip! hop’s! sexist! texts! quote! authenticity!
claims! in! the! gender=sexual! dimension! to! support! that! accusation.! Not! only! do!
rappers!remain!largely!uncriticized!within!hip!hop!for!sexist!texts,!rappers!who!
show!signs!of!softness!still!get!criticized!within!hip!hop!culture.!McLeod!cites!LL!
Cool!J!as!an!example!of!a!rapper!who!has!been!criticized!for!being!soft.!(171)!A!
recent!notable!example!is!Drake.!In!‘Lord!Knows’!the!Toronto=based!actor!turned!
rapper!responds!to!critics!who!question!his!hip!hop!authenticity!by!calling!him!
soft.!Drake!is!known!for!making!what!is!sometimes!pejoratively!called!‘emo=rap’,!
another! term! for! rap! songs! in! which! the! author! is! ‘too! emotional’.! In! the!
following! quote! Drake! reframes! the! emotional! or! ‘soft’! content! of! some! of! his!
texts:!!
I'm!hearing!all!of!the!jokes,!I!know!that!they’re!trying!to!push!me!
I!know!that!showing!emotion!don't!ever!mean!I'm!a!pussy!
!
40!
Know!that!I!don't!make!music!for!niggas!who!don't!get!pussy!
So!those!are!the!ones!I!count!on!to!diss!me!or!overlook!me!(Drake!2011)!
At! first! sight,! it! seems! that! Drake! is! defending! his! softness! to! redefine! hip! hop!
authenticity!but!really!he!is!using!the!existing!framework!to!reframe!the!object!of!
the!criticism.!He!claims!‘showin’!emotion’!(being!true!to!yourself)!does!not!mean!
he!is!‘a!pussy’!(soft)!after!which!he!attacks!the!hip!hop!authenticity!of!the!critics:!
He!does!not!make!music!for!‘Niggas!who!don’t!get!pussy’!(meaning!‘niggas’!who!
are!not!sexually!active!i.e.!not!hard)!which!means!the!critics!are!(soft)!and!thus!
not!authentic.!Therefore!their!opinion!is!not!relevant.!Drake!manages!to!defend!
his!hip!hop!authenticity!without!having!to!stray!from!the!traditional!image!of!hip!
hop! authenticity.! By! making! social=psychological! dimension! (staying! true! to!
yourself)! more! important! than! the! gender=sexual! dimension! (being! hard),! he!
defuses! the! criticism.! One! reason! why! Drake! has! been! able! to! incorporate! his!
sensitive! side! into! his! raps! is! because! he! also! sings! on! his! records.! He! has!
imported!R&B’s!appreciation!for!emotional!honesty!into!rap.!It!is!also!apparent!
that!Drake!portrays!a!harder!persona!when!rapping!and!a!softer!persona!when!
singing.! In! ‘Marvin’s! Room’! he! laments! lost! love! while! singing:! ‘Fuck! that! nigga!
that!you!love!so!bad!/!I!know!you!still!think!about!the!times!we!had’!and!reverts!
back! to! a! tougher! persona! when! rapping! about! conversating! about! his! sexual!
prowess:! ‘I! think! I'm! addicted! to! naked! pictures! /! And! sitting,! talking! 'bout!
bitches!that!we!almost!had!(Drake!2011).!
4.2.5 SocialTlocational.(the.street.as.opposed.to.the.suburbs).
McLeod! argues! that! realness! in! the! social=locational! dimension! is! defined! by! ‘a!
very! specific! and! idealized! community! that! is! located! in! African! American=
dominated! inner! cities’! also! known! as! ‘the! street’! (McLeod! 171).! This! social!
location!of!‘the!street’!is!‘negatively!defined!against!the!symbols!of!identity!that!
represent!suburbia’!(172).!Another!term!for!‘the!street’!is!‘the!hood’,!a!word!for!
‘neighbourhood’.! Not! only! is! the! social=locational! dimension! of! hip! hop!
authenticity!about!the!opposition!between!the!street!and!suburbia!but!also!about!
a!rapper’s!ties!to!their!hometown.!‘Repping’!or!representing!one’s!hometown!is!
real!and!disassociating!oneself!from!one’s!hometown!is!fake.!In!‘Represent:!Race,!
!
41!
Space! and! Race! in! Rap! Music’,! Murray! Forman! expands! on! this! concept,! noting!
the!importance!of!the!social=locational!dimension!of!hip!hop!authenticity:!
As!a!site!of!affiliation!and!circulation,!the!‘hood!provides!a!setting!for!particular!
group!interactions!which!are!influential!in!rap!music’s!evolution.!In!rap,!there!is!
a! widespread! sense! that! an! act! cannot! succeed! without! first! gaining! approval!
and! support! from! the! crew! and! the! ‘hood.! Successful! acts! are! expected! to!
maintain! connections! to! the! ‘hood! and! to! “keep! it! real”! thematically,! rapping!
about! situations,! scenes! and! sites! that! comprise! the! lived! experience! of! the!
‘hood.!(Forman!254)!
Hip!hop’s!obsession!with!a!rap!artist’s!geographical!ties!has!been!apparent!from!
the! early! days! of! hip! hop.! Forman! names! KRS=One,! who! enjoyed! critical! and!
commercial!success!in!the!eighties,!launched!his!career!when!he!released!‘South!
Bronx’! in! 1987.! He! felt! MC! Shan! disrespected! the! birthplace! of! hip! hop! (The!
Bronx)! in! the! ‘The! Bridge’,! an! ode! to! MC! Shan’s! ‘hood! Queensbridge.! (Forman!
257)! In! 1988! the! Compton=based! rap! group! N.W.A.! burst! onto! the! scene! with!
Straight$Outta$Compton!and!the!song!‘Straight!Outta!Compton’:!!
I'm!knocking!niggas!out!the!box!daily!
Yo,!weekly,!monthly!and!yearly!
Until!them!dumb!motherfuckers!see!clearly!
That!I'm!down!with!the!capital!C=P=T![i.e.!Compton]!(N.W.A.!1988)!
Compton=based! rappers! 2Pac! and! Dr.! Dre! continued! this! celebration! of! their!
Westcoast! locale.! In! ‘California! Love’,! Dr.! Dre! raps:! ‘We! in! that! sunshine! state!
where! the! bomb! ass! hemp! be! /! The! state! where! you! never! find! a! dance! floor!
empty’!and!2Pac!adds:!‘Let!me!serenade!the!streets!of!L.A!/!From!Oakland!to!Sac=
town,! the! Bay! Area! and! back! down’! (2Pac! 1996).! On! Nas’! 1994! debut! album!
Illmatic! the! most! recognizable! song! is! not! coincidentally! ‘N.Y.! State! of! Mind’:!
Nothing's!equivalent!to!the!New!York!state!of!mind’!(Nas!1994).!In!the!2008!song!
‘Homecoming’! Kanye! West! raps! about! a! metaphoric! girl! who! symbolizes! his!
hometown! of! Chicago,! echoing! fellow! Chicago=based! rapper! Common’s!
metaphoric! girl! in! a! serenade! about! hip! hop,! ‘I! Used! to! love! H.E.R.’! (Common!
1993):!
Every!interview!I'm!representing!you,!making!you!proud!
Reach!for!the!stars!so!if!you!fall,!you!land!on!a!cloud!
Jump!in!the!crowd,!spark!your!lighters,!wave!'em!around!
If!you!don't!know!by!now,!I'm!talking!about!Chi=Town!
(Kanye!West!2008)!
!
42!
Rap!artists!not!write!individual!lines!or!verses!about!their!hometown,!they!write!
whole! songs! about! them.! The! prevalence! of! this! becomes! apparent! when!
examining! the! vast! amount! of! songs! written! about! Brooklyn.! Notable! examples!
are! the! Beastie! Boys’! ‘No! Sleep! Til! Brooklyn’! (1987),! The! Notorious! B.I.G.’s!
‘Unbelievable’!(1994),!Old!Dirty!Basterd’s!‘Brooklyn!Zoo’!(Wu=Tang!Clan!1995),!
Joell!Ortiz’!‘Brooklyn!Bullshit’!(2007)!and!!Jay=Z’s!‘Brooklyn!We!Go!Hard’!(2008).!
The! social=locational! dimension! of! hip! hop! authenticity! carries! so! much!
weight!that!extensive!conflicts!have!been!driven!by!the!geographical!ties!of!the!
opponents.!I!have!mentioned!the!‘beef’!or!feud!between!Westcoast!and!Eastcoast!
rappers!of!the!mid=1990!that!resulted!in!!the!deaths!of!2Pac!and!The!Notorious!
B.I.G..! (Toop! 2010)! This! obsession! with! geographical! ties! to! the! point! of!
destruction! baffled! Paul! Gilroy.! In! ‘It’s! a! Family! Affair’,! Gilroy! argues,! that! the!
authenticity!of!the!African=American!community!or!experience!can!not!be!linked!
to!specific!locations.!He!asks:!
‘But,! if! the! ‘hood! is! the! essence! of! where! blackness! can! now! be! found,! which!
‘hood! are! we! talking! about?! How! do! we! weigh! the! achievements! of! one! ‘hood!
against!the!achievements!of!another?’!(Gilroy!2012:95)!
Gilroy!misses!a!crucial!aspect!of!social=locational!authenticity!claims,!namely!that!
a! rap! artist’s! authenticity! in! the! social=locational! dimension! is! not! only! defined!
by!how!authentic!his!hood!is,!but!also!by!whether!or!not!the!artist!in!question!is!
loyal! to! his! hood.! For! instance,! moving! to! Brooklyn,! New! York,! when! you! have!
already!established!yourself!as!a!rapper!from!Michigan!will!be!contraproductive!
for!your!perceived!level!of!authenticity.!
Ironically,! the! importance! of! the! social=locational! dimension! of! hip! hop!
authenticity!becomes!clear!when!hip!hop!culture!becomes!popular!outside!of!the!
US.! ! In! ‘Arabic! Hip=Hop:! Claims! of! Authenticity! and! Identity! of! a! New! Genre’,!
Usama! Kahf! explores! authenticity! claims! in! hip! hop! of! the! Middle! East.! He!
describes!on!the!global!spread!of!hip!hop!culture:!‘Hip!hop!is!appropriated!and!
transformed!by!local!artists!in!different!parts!of!the!world!who!are!searching!for!
emancipatory! and! empowering! avenues! of! expression! in! the! midst! of! a! reality!
that! continues! to! shut! doors! in! their! faces’! (Kahf! 117).! During! the! process! of!
appropriating!hip!hop!music,!the!new!local!version!of!hip!hop!‘takes!on!the!beats!
and! rhythms! of! western! hip! hop! as! well! as! unique! flavors! of! the! local! culture,!
!
43!
including! its! language,! dialect,! musical! instruments,! and! local! issues,! and!
transforms!itself!beyond!imitation!to!invention!and!cultural!creativity’!(117).!!
4.2.6 Cultural.(the.old.school.as.opposed.to.the.mainstream).
McLeod! defines! realness! in! the! cultural! dimension! as! ‘old! school’,! which! is! a!
‘romantic! reference! to! a! time! before! hip=hop! music! became! popular’! (McLeod!
172).!In!the!intro!to!Joell!Ortiz’!song!‘Hip!Hop’!the!Brooklyn=based!latino!rapper!
memorably!defines!what!is!real!hip!hop!to!him,!referring!to!old!school!hip!hop!
tropes!and!denouncing!the!mainstream:!
Yo,! do! me! a! favor,! accidently! step! on! your! white! sun! glasses.! We! don't! wear!
those! over! here,! this! is! hip! hop.! This! is! Carhartt! jackets,! Timberland! boots,!
unlaced.!This!is!Champion!hoodies,!chicken!wings!and!french!fries.!R.I.P.!pieces!
on!the!handball!court,!this!is!us!still!fighting!hip!police!brutality.!This!is!hip!hop.!
(Ortiz!2007)!
Many!rappers!have!claimed!that!hip!hop!has!died,!meaning!it!has!lost!its!cultural!
authenticity.! Nas! has! made! an! album! out! if! it:! Hip$Hop$is$Dead.$(Nas! 2006)! Joe!
Budden!expanded!on!the!concept!in!2011!in!a!15!minute!song!called!‘Who!Killed!
Hip!Hop’.!In!one!continuous!verse!Budden!displays!his!enormous!knowledge!of!
hip! hop! history! by! rapping! about! everything! that! has! ever! gone! wrong! in! hip!
hop.! The! text! reads! like! an! extensive! encyclopedia! of! hip! hop! history.! After!
naming! what! seems! like! every! single! rap! artist! who! has! made! a! significant!
impact!on!hip!hop,!he!concludes!by!putting!the!blame!on!hip!hop!culture!itself:!
Maybe!anybody!complaining!is!deranged!
Can!you!expect!something!to!grow!and!not!change?!
We’re!socially!accepted,!deviated!our!old!route!
To!simplify!the!term,!we!all!sold!out!
I!think!I!figured!out!who’s!to!blame!
Started!out!Obama![i.e.!black],!ended!up!McCain![i.e.!white],!
So!we!Kurt!Cobain’d![i.e.!suicide]!ourself!and!we’re!defeated!
So!next!time!they!ask!who!killed!it,!tell!‘em!we!did!it!(Budden!2011)!
Another! way! to! claim! authenticity! in! the! cultural! dimension! is! to! ‘know! the!
culture! from! which! hip=hop! comes’! (McLeod! 173).! To! be! real,! you! have! to! be! a!
‘student!of!the!game’.!Rap!artists!prove!this!by!making!references!to!old!school!
rap!or!by!sampling!old!school!rap!records.!Jay=Z!did!this!in!multiple!ways!in!’99!
Problems’:! Rick! Rubin,! one! of! the! most! important! producers! of! old! school! hip!
!
44!
hop,!produced!the!track!in!his!signature!stripped!down!style!using!samples!from!
eighties!music.!Furthermore,!the!chorus!quotes!Ice=T’s!1993!song!’99!Problems’:!
‘I!got!99!problems,!but!a!bitch!ain’t!one’!(Jay=Z!2003).!
4.3 Conclusion.
I!have!discussed!the!cultural!authenticity!of!hip!hop!and!have!shown!that!many!
doubt! contemporary! hip! hop’s! authenticity! because! of! the! commodification! of!
hip! hop.! I! have! also! tried! to! define! what! ‘keeping! it! real’! means.! Or! what! the!
authentic! rap! artist! looks! like.! To! explore! how! rap! artists! convey! images! of!
authenticity! through! authenticity! claims,! I! have! used! Kembrew! McLeod’s!
framework!of!six!semantic!dimensions.!
In!the!social=psychological!dimension,!it!seems!that!staying!true!to!yourself!is!
in!fact!the!most!important!part!of!authenticity.!Although!the!racial!dimension!is!
still! a! very! important! aspect! of! hip! hop! authenticity,! non=black! rappers! have!
succeeded! in! building! rap! careers! despite! their! obvious! racial! disadvantage.!
Latino!rappers!experience!the!least!difficulty!in!infiltrating!mainstream!hip!hop!
culture,!even!though!they!are!still!at!a!disadvantage.!However,!because!of!their!
shared!cultural!history!and!their!authenticity!in!the!social=locational!dimension,!
they! are! able! to! overcome! this! disadvantage.! White! rappers! have! a! hard! time!
because!they!represent!the!antithesis!of!blackness.!A!white!rapper!like!Eminem!
was! able! to! slip! through! the! cracks! because! of! his! skills! as! a! rapper,! his!
competitive!background!and!his!political=economic!background!as!a!poor!white!
man.! Asian! Americans! face! the! biggest! obstacle! as! my! discussion! of! Jin! has!
proven.!In!the!political=economic!there!is!less!agreement!between!rappers.!Some!
favor!the!authenticity!of!the!underground,!others!are!willing!to!sacrifice!that!in!
favor!of!mainstream!success.!One!could!argue!that!rap!artists!use!this!dimension!
as!a!way!of!justifying!their!position!in!the!hip!hop!industry.!In!the!gender=sexual!
dimension,!it!is!clear!that!rap!artists!still!find!it!important!to!come!over!as!‘hard’.!
However,! some! rappers! like! Drake! have! softened! the! importance! of! this!
dimension.! In! the! social=locational! dimension,! two! aspects! are! important:! the!
!
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contrast! between! the! streets! and! the! suburbs! and! a! rap! artist’s! loyalty! to! his!
geographical! ties.! In! the! cultural! dimension! authenticity! is! defined! by! either!
being!old!school!or!at!least!having!knowledge!of!the!old!school.!
!
!
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5 Competition.and.braggadocio.in.rap.texts.
!
Bradley! calls! competitions! ‘rap’s! motivating! energy! and! its! sustaining! drive’!
(Bradley! 179).! In! this! chapter,! I! study! the! competitive! dynamics! in! hip! hop!
culture!in!general!and!rap!texts!in!particular.!I!start!off!with!a!general!discussion!
of! how! competition! has! played! a! role! in! the! four! original! elements! of! hip! hop:!
graffiti,!b=boying,!DJ=ing!and!rap!music.!Ater!that,!I!focus!in!on!rap!texts!and!how!
the!influence!of!competition!has!evolved!from!raps’!roots!to!its!current!forms.!I!
discuss!the!protoforms!of!rap!called!‘the!dozens’!and!‘toasting’!and!an!early!form!
of! rap! called! ‘the! cypher.! I! also! discuss! a! quite! obvious! expression! of! hip! hop!
competition! in! rap! battles! and! beef! after! which! I! examine! the! competitive!
elements! of! braggadocio! raps.! After! this! discussion! of! the! early! evolution! of!
competition!in!rap,!I!focus!on!braggadocio!raps.!I!discuss!braggadocio!raps!as!a!
form! of! signifying! and! how! signifiers! are! part! of! them.! I! also! propose! a!
framework! which! sorts! all! braggadocio! raps! in! to! four! different! categories:!
coolness!braggadocio,!authenticity!braggadocio,!violence!braggadocio!and!meta=
braggadocio.!To!conclude!this!chapter!I!discuss!two!cases!that!deal!with!different!
problems! of! authenticity,! competition! and! braggadocio.! The! first! discusses!
Eminem!and!deals!with!authenticity!and!braggadocio.!The!second!discusses!the!
famous!beef!between!Jay=Z!and!Nas!and!deals!with!competition!and!authenticity.!
!
47!
!
5.1 Competition.in.the.four.elements.of.hip.hop.culture.
Competition! has! always! been! important! to! hip! hop! culture,! in! fact! it! helped!
create! it.! In! different! ways,! competitive! practices! have! helped! form! graffiti,! b=
boying,!DJ=ing!and!rapping.!
The!competitive!element!of!graffiti!can!be!found!in!its!canvas!and!‘tagging’.!Its!
canvas!meaning!that!graffiti!artists!engaged!in!what!could!be!considered!a!free!
market! of! surfaces! in! the! city.! Because! no! graffit! artist! owned! the! walls! they!
sprayed,!they!could!easily!be!covered!by!competing!artists.!This!created!not!only!
a!competition!for!surfaces!but!also!a!competition!in!the!sense!of!trying!to!make!
your! piece! ‘better’! than! the! one! next! to! it.! The! second! competitive! element! of!
graffiti!is!‘tagging’.!It!is!the!practice!of!spraying!your!‘tag’!on!as!many!surfaces!as!
possible!to!create!a!name!for!yourself!in!the!social!circles!of!graffiti!artists.!A!‘tag’!
is!a!stylized!signature!of!the!graffiti!artist’s!name.!(Bynoe!157=158;!Miyawaka)!
In!b=boying!or!breakdancing,!battling!was!a!vital!part!of!the!dance!element!of!
hip! hop.! B=boying’s! early! style! was! fast,! furious,! very! physical! and! involved!
complicated! leg! work! which! lent! itself! perfectly! to! dance! battles! between! two!
opponents!or!crews.!!(Bynoe!15=16;!Miyawaka)!Some!b=boying!styles!had!their!
roots!in!gang!culture.!Chang!recounts!how!far!gangs!would!take!the!competitive!
nature!of!b=boying!and!claims!that!leaders!of!gangs!would!actually!engage!in!b=
boy!dance!battles!to!settle!disputes!about!turf.!(Chang!115=116)Sometimes!these!
battles!would!escalate,!sometimes!they!would!defuse!tensions.!Chang!describes!
the! style! as! ‘aggression,! a! competitive! bid! for! dominance’! (116).! ! Dance! battles!
are!still!prevalent!worldwide!today.!(Miyawaka)!
Competition!in!DJ=ing!started!off!with!sound!systems.!When!powerful!sound!
systems! were! widely! available! starting! in! the! 1960s,! it! would! only! take! some!
‘powerful!amplifiers!and!blasting!stacks!of!homemade!speakers’!to!transform!a!
yard!into!a!party!and!all!what!was!needed!after!that!was!‘a!selector!and!records’!
(Chang! 29)! This! ‘selector’! would! become! the! DJ.! ! The! competition! tied! to! these!
!
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sound! systems! was! quite! simple:! the! loudest! wins.! Competing! DJs! and! their!
sound! systems! would! sometimes! meet! in! the! same! hall! or! yard.! One! DJ! would!
play!a!song!on!his!system;!the!next!DJ!would!play!the!next!song!on!his,!and!so!on.!
(30)! Chang! describes! how! hip! hop! pioneer! DJ! Kool! Herc! had! his! sound! system!
guarded!because!it!was!not!unusual!for!rival!gangs!or!DJs!to!sabotage!the!sound!
systems! of! competitors.! (80)! Although! the! sound! systems! played! an! important!
role!in!DJ!battles,!battles!would!also!occur!in!a!sense!that!is!more!related!to!b=
boy! or! rap! battles;! competing! DJs! would! compete! with! eachoter! at! the! same!
party,! the! DJ! that! ‘moved! the! crowd’! the! best,! would! win.! Like! b=boy! battles,!
these!DJ!battles!are!still!organized!wordwide.!(Miyawaka)!
The! competitive! element! of! rap! music! can! be! traced! to! different! cultural!
practices:!‘Toasting’!and!‘the!dozens’!were!vocal!folk!practices!that!contributed!
to! the! competitive! spirit! of! rapping.! ‘Signifying’! is! a! related! concept! that!
contributed!to!these!folk!practices!and!later!forms!of!competition!in!rap.!These!
forms! evolved! and! transformed! into! the! ‘cypher’,! ‘rap! battles’! and! ‘beef’.! In! the!
following!chapter!I!define!and!expand!on!these!concepts.!!
5.2 Competition.in.rap.texts:.from.the.dozens.to.braggadocio.
The! competitive! element! of! rap! texts! has! taken! different! forms! through! the!
years.! We! can! trace! its! competitive! spirit! to! the! practices! of! ‘the! dozens’! and!
‘toasting’.! This! evolved! into! ‘the! cypher’,! ‘rap! battles’! and! ‘beef’! and! ultimately:!
braggadocio.! To! trace! the! competitive! roots! of! rap! music,! I! discuss! and! expand!
on!each!of!these!competitive!forms.!!
5.2.1 The.dozens.and.toasting.
Two!important!early!forms!of!African=American!oral!culture!that!are!widely!cited!
to!be!forerunners!of!rap!are!‘the!dozens’!and!‘toasting’.!The!‘dozens’!is!a!verbal!
game! in! which! ‘humorous! and! exaggerated! insults! [are! traded]! back! and! forth!
until!one!contestant!conceded’!(Toop!2012).!Bradley!describes!it!as!‘a!ritualized!
!
49!
exchange!of!insults,!with!the!winner!being!the!one!who!could!marshal!creativity!
without!breaking!cool’!(Bradley!181).!In!other!words,!insults!are!traded!back!and!
forth! and! the! competitor! who! is! deemed! to! deliver! the! most! creative! insults,!
wins.!It!also!closely!related!to!‘Yo!Momma’!jokes,!a!popular!practice!wherein!two!
persons! insult! eachother’s! moms.! (181).! ‘Toasting’! is! a! related! mode! of!
expression,! in! which! stories! of! pimps! and! gangsters! are! valorized.! (181)! In!
‘Looking! for! the! “Real”! Nigga’,! Robin! D.G.! Kelley! describes! it! as! ‘long,! often!
profane!vernacular!narrative!poetry!performed!orally’!(Kelley!145).!The!practice!
of! toasting! is! still! echoed! in! today’s! rap! texts.! Bradley! argues! that! the! dozens!
were!typified!by!bravado!and!‘the!construction!of!a!larger=than=life!persona,!an!
outlaw!hero!with!superhuman!aptitudes!and!appetites’!(Bradley!191).!This!self=
aggrandizement! is! still! apparent! in! today’s! rap! texts! which! I! demonstrate! and!
expand!on!in!my!discussion!of!braggadocio!raps.!
Furthermore,!the!insults!in!the!dozens!and!toasting!should!not!be!understood!
as! (speech)! acts! of! violence.! Kelley! warns! for! a! reductive! explanation! of! the!
phenomenon!of!the!dozens.!He!argues!that!although!many!have!posited!that!the!
goal!of!the!dozens!is!to!channel!frustrations!into!vicious!insults,!the!real!goal!of!
the! dozens! is! quite! simple:! ‘to! get! a! laugh’! (Kelley! 144).! He! continues:! ‘The!
pleasure! of! the! dozens! is! not! the! viciousness! of! the! insult! but! the! humor,! the!
creative! pun,! the! outrageous! metaphor’! (144).! Kelley! sneers! at! critics! who!
deconstruct! the! meaning! of! ‘yo! momma’! jokes! as! a! compensation! ‘for! a! lack! of!
masculinity!caused!by!too!many!absent!fathers!an!domineering!mothers’!(144).!
This! kind! of! analysis! of! ‘yo! momma’! jokes! totally! foregoes! the! tradition! of!
signifying.! Kelley! argues! that! ‘yo! momma’! is! in! fact! a! ‘signifier’! for! a! ‘shift! in!
speech’,! it! is! a! ‘generic! reference,! a! code! signaling! that! the! dozens! have! begun’!
(144).!The!idea!that!the!dozens!is!literally!about!insulting!one’s!mother!ignores!
the!subtleties!of!signifying!and!the!communal!understanding!of!its!dynamics.!!
5.2.2 The.cypher.
The!dozens!and!toasting,!driven!by!the!linguistic!practice!of!‘signifying’!inherent!
to! hip! hop! language,! evolved! into! ’the! cypher’.! The! cipher! was! originally! an!
activity! of! b=boys! which! was! later! adapted! by! aspiring! rappers.! According! to!
!
50!
Jorge!Pabon’s!discussion!of!b=boying,!‘Physical!Graffiti’,!the!cipher!is!‘the!circular!
dance! space’! that! is! naturally! formed! when! b=boys! start! dancing.! This! dance!
space! is! a! free! space! of! expression.! Dances! ‘can! direct! their! performance! in!
various! directions,! uninhibited! and! free! from! all! counts! and! cues’! (Pabon! 61).!
Because! of! its! openness! and! its! freedom! of! expression! the! cipher! holds! the!
potential! for! competition! when! one! participant! jump! in! to! challenge! another!
participant!to!a!battle.!
The!rap!cypher!is!the!verbal!version!of!the!dance!cypher.!Bradley!stresses!the!
competitive! and! collaborative! nature! of! the! rap! cypher,! defining! it! as! ‘a!
competitive! and! collaborative! space! created! when! MCs! gather! to! exchange!
verses,! either! in! freestyle! battles! or! in! collaborative! lyrical! brainstorming!
sessions’!(Bradley!177).!Like!the!dozens!and!toasting,!wordplay!and!wit!are!the!
main!objective!of!an!MC!engaging!in!a!cypher.!(Bradley!177)!In!other!words,!the!
cypher! is! a! group! of! rappers! standing! in! a! group! rapping! and! freestyling.! The!
importance! of! the! cypher! as! a! symbol! of! hip! hop! authenticity! can! not! be!
understated.!In!what!is!supposed!to!be!an!‘objective’!encyclopedia,!Bynoe!goes!as!
far! as! to! call! it! ‘Hip! Hop’s! sacred! space’! (Bynoe! 60).! Although! the! image! of! the!
cypher!as!a!holy!space!of!congregation!which!turns!hip!hop!culture!in!a!religion!
seems!a!bit!exaggerated,!the!cypher!can!definitely!hold!the!potential!to!form!rap!
artist’s!writing!craft.!Alim!sees!the!cypher!as!‘a!linguistic!training!field!for!MC’s’!
in! which! MC’s! practice! and! perfect! the! important! skills! every! rapper! should!
master:!‘Rap!delivery,!reacting!under!pressure,!verbal!battling,!or!“jousting!from!
the!mouth.”’!(Alim!553).!Alim!calls!the!cypher!‘Hip!Hop’s!classroom,!where!one!
studies!to!learn!the!tricks!of!the!trade’!(553).!Bradley!echoes!this!notion!of!the!
cypher!as!the!place!where!rappers!hone!their!skills!and!prove!themselves!calling!
the!cypher!‘rap’s!proving!ground’!(Bradley!177).!Because!dance!cyphers!are!not!
relevant! to! our! discussiong! of! rap! music,! we! will! from! now! on! refer! to! rap!
cyphers!as!‘cyphers’.!!
5.2.3 Rap.battles.and.beef.
In!the!early!days!of!rap,!the!practice!of!rap!battles!grew!out!of!the!competitive!
traditions!of!signifying,!the!dozens!and!toasting,!but!most!importantly,!because!
!
51!
DJ’s!searched!out!hypemen!who!would!use!the!microphone!to!control!and!‘move’!
the!crowd!at!parties.!Battling!became!a!way!for!rappers!to!prove!themselves!to!
the!DJ!who!determined!who!had!the!microphone.!These!battles!also!grew!out!of!a!
desire!for!community!recognition.!(Toop!2012)!
In!‘The!Rap!Career’,!Mickey!Hess!argues!that!over!the!years,!rap!battles!have!
become!more!of!an!underground!activity.!Succesful!rap!artists!avoid!engaging!in!
rap! battles! because! they! ‘stand! to! lose! credibility,! and! therefore! sales’! (Hess!
649).!Rap!battles!have!been!credited!for!launching!the!careers!of!several!rappers.!
One!notable!example!is!Eminem.!Although!he!came!up!through!rap!battles,!he!no!
longer!engages!in!them.!But!as!a!Hess!points!out,!the!film!8$Mile$about!his!time!as!
a! battle! rapper! ‘works! to! convince! the! viewer! that! Eminem! paid! his! dues! in!
performance! on! his! way! to! becoming! a! platinum=selling! recording! artist’! (Hess!
648=649).!
An!alternative!form!of!the!rap!battle!is!‘beef’!which!takes!the!competition!to!
the! studio.! Opponents! record! ‘diss! tracks’! in! which! they! attack! eachother.!!
Perhaps!the!most!famous!beef!between!two!rap!artists!is!the!rap!fued!between!
hip!hop!greats!Jay=Z!and!Nas.!Jay=Z!called!out!Nas!in!the!song!‘Takeover’!and!Nas!
responded! with! ‘Ether’.! (Jay=Z! 2001;! Nas! 2001)! Both! rappers! attacked!
eachother’s! authenticity! in! their! diss! tracks.! I! expand! on! this! in! ‘5.6.1! Jay=Z! vs!
Nas:! ‘Ether’! vs! ‘Takeover’.!The! debate! as! to! who! won! the! Jay=Z/Nas! beef! is! still!
ongoing,!but!an!interesting!effect!of!the!beef!was!that!the!term!‘ether’!became!a!
hip! hop! slang! for! ‘killing’! another! rapper! i.e.! besting! another! rapper! through!
raps.!
Rap!battles!and!beef!should!not!be!seen!as!a!marginal!activity!in!the!culture!of!
rap!music,!instead!it!has!the!potential!to!play!an!important!role!in!the!creation!of!
the! narrative! or! rap! music’s! history.! In! the! Peter! Spirer! directed documentary!
Beef$which!recounts!famous!battles!and!beefs!of!rap!music,!KRS=One!claims!that!
he! would! have! never! found! success! were! it! not! that! he! traded! diss! tracks! with!
MC!Shan.!KRS!claims!that!the!battles!was!the!reason!for!the!success!of!his!single!
‘South! Bronx’.! He! goes! as! far! as! to! claim! that! his! career! would! be! non=existent!
without!the!famous!battle.!(Spirer)!The!belief!that!rap!battles!have!been!crucial!
and!formative!in!the!history!of!rap!music!is!of!course!greater!than!it!should!be.!
Was! it! the! battle! with! MC! Shan! that! launched! KRS=One’s! career! or! was! ‘South!
!
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Bronx’!destined!to!be!hit!because!of!its!hypnotic!beat!and!chorus?!The!reason!for!
the!single’s!success!is!probably!a!combination!of!both,!but!it!does!show!that!rap!
battles’! importance! for! rap! music! in! the! minds! of! hip! hop! fans! can! not! be!
understated.!
5.2.4 Braggadocio.
When! hip! hop’s! early! DJ’s! hired! rappers! to! become! their! hypemen,! at! first! the!
rapper!was!supposed!to!glorify!the!DJ!and!his!DJ!skills.!When!these!early!rappers!
developed! their! art,! they! started! becoming! the! focal! point! of! the! parties! these!
DJ’s!played.!They!started!bragging!about!themselves!in!the!tradition!of!signifying,!
the!dozens!and!toasting.!These!braggadocio!raps!eventually!made!it!to!records.!
(Toop!2012)!
Hip! hop’s! very! first! commercial! hit! ‘Rapper’s! Delight’! by! Sugarhill! Gang! was!
also!the!first!example!of!a!song!enjoying!mainstream!success!with!a!text!mainly!
based!on!braggadocio!raps.!In!the!second!verse,!Big!Hank!lays!delivers!a!notable!
series! of! braggadocio! raps! in! which! he! brags! and! boasts! about! the! kind! of!
materialistic! objects! that! are! still! frequently! rapped! about! today.! He! starts! off!
bragging!about!his!fashion!sense,!after!which!he!shifts!his!attentions!to!his!cars,!
his!pool!and!his!‘color!TV’.!He!rounds!off!his!round!of!bragging!with!a!breakdown!
of! his! supposedly! impressive! financial! situation,! which,! of! course,! is! the!
prototypical!theme!of!materialistic!braggadocio:!
You!see!I'm!six!foot!one!and!I'm!tons!of!fun!and!I!dress!to!a!t!
You!see!I!got!more!clothes!than!Muhammad!Ali!and!I!dress!so!viciously!
I!got!bodyguards,!I!got!two!big!cars!that!definitely!ain't!the!wack!
I!got!a!Lincoln!Continental!and!a!sunroof!Cadillac!
So!after!school,!I!take!a!dip!in!the!pool!which!really!is!on!the!wall!!
I!got!a!color!TV!so!I!can!see!the!Knicks!play!basketball!
Hear!me!talking!bout!checkbooks,!credit!cards,!more!money!than!a!sucker!could!
ever!spend!(Sugarhill!Gang)!!
Every!element!of!hip!hop’s!materialistic!tropes!is!already!present!in!these!lines.!
However,!there!is!a!subtle!difference!between!the!charming!aspirations!of!these!
rappers! and! today’s! braggadocio! in! rap.! At! the! time! the! song! was! released,! Big!
Hank! was! a! poor! African=American! without! any! sort! of! financial! security.! This!
makes!the!song!hip!hop’s!first!popular!expression!of!the!‘fake!it!until!you!make!it’!
!
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mentality.!‘Rapper’s!Delight’!is!not!about!being!rich,!it!is!about!aspiring!to!be.!It!is!
about!ambition,!imagination!and!hope.!The!text!tears!down!the!fantasy!of!fancy!
cars!and!conspicuous!spending!with!the!line:!‘So!after!school,!I!take!a!dip!in!the!
pool!which!really!is!on!the!wall.’!Using!his!imagination,!he!turns!his!shower!into!
a!pool.!Because!Sugarhill!Gang’s!members!were!in!fact!poorer!than!rich,!it!could!
be! theorized! that! the! song! had! success! with! white! and! international! audiences!
because! the! braggadocio! raps! were! seen! as! innocent! and! charming.! By! the!
2000’s,!aspiring!to!wealth!would!be!seen!as!a!sign!of!weakness,!as!Jay=Z!puts!it!in!
‘What!More!Can!I!Say’:. ‘So!them!rings!and!things!you!sing!about,!bring!‘em!out’!
(Jay=Z!2003)!
We! should! take! Kelley’s! warning! into! account.! Kelley’s! warning! concerning!
the!oversimplification!of!the!dynamics!of!the!dozens!also!applies!to!braggadocio!
raps.! As! Kelley! put! it:! ‘The! pleasure! of! the! dozens! is! not! the! viciousness! of! the!
insult! but! the! humor,! the! creative! pun,! the! outrageous! metaphor’! (Kelley! 144).!
We!can!echo!Kelley’s!words!and!state!that!the!pleasure!of!braggadocio!raps!lies!
not!in!the!invocations!of!machismo,!misogyny!or!materialism,!but!in!the!humor,!
the!creative!wordplay!and!the!comical!and!sometimes!absurd!imagery.!
5.3 Braggadocio.raps.as.a.form.of.signifying.
To!show!how!Braggadocio!raps!are!in!fact!a!form!of!signifying,!I!discuss!how!the!
important! elements,! which! are! vital! for! signifying,! are! present! in! braggadocio!
raps.! Like! signifying,! Braggadocio! features! a! speaker! who! uses! a! signifier! to!
signal!to!the!intended!audience!that!the!utterance!has!two!levels!of!meaning,!one!
being!the!literal!meaning!and!the!second!being!the!figurative!meaning!which!is!
the! intended! message.! The! literal! meaning! is! a! bragging! statement! and! the!
second!meaning!is!the!figurative!meaning.!The!message!is!the!cleverness!of!the!
wordplay! used! to! create! the! two! levels! of! meaning.! To! understand! these!
braggadocio! raps,! a! ‘shared! knowledge’! is! needed! of! African=American! English!
vernacular! discourse! and! hip! hop! culture! and! rap! music.! The! unintended!
audience! is! unaware! of! the! signifier! because! of! their! lack! of! shared! knowledge!
!
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and! therefor! only! understand! the! literal,! bragging! meaning! of! the! braggadocio!
rap,! i.e.! the! ‘materialistic’,! ‘misogynistic’! or! ‘violent’! meaning.! Like! in! signifying,!
the! rap! artist’s! ‘lyrical! skills’! are! judged! on! the! form! and! cleverness! of! the!
signifier.!
Because! braggodocio! raps! should! be! understood! in! the! context! of! signifying,!
they! raps! are! about! form! and! performance,! not! about! the! content.! Kelley!
criticizes! what! he! calls! ‘social! scientists’! who! ‘reduce! expressive! culture! to! a!
political!text’,!meaning!they!reduce!rap!texts!to!their!literal!meaning,!meanwhile!
ignoring! the! enjoyment! rap! fans! garner! from! the! form! and! performance! of! the!
braggadocio!raps:!
By! not! acknowledging! the! deep! visceral! pleasures! black! youth! derive! from!
making! and! consuming! culture,! the! stylistic! and! aesthetic! conventions! that!
render! the! form! and! performance! more! attractive! than! the! message,! these!
authors! reduce! expressive! culture! to! a! political! text! to! be! read! like! a! less!
sophisticated!version!of!The!Nation!or!Radical!America.!(Kelley!146)!
These!literal!readings!of!rap!texts!ignore!the!importance!of!form!and!performance,!the!
tradition!of!signifying!and!the!linguistic!creativity!these!raps!display:!
But! what! counts! more! than! the! story! is! the! “storytelling”—an! emcee’s! verbal!
facility! on! the! mic,! the! creative! and! often! hilarious! use! of! puns,! metaphors,!
similes,!not!to!mention!the!ability!to!kick!some!serious!slang!(or!what!we!might!
call!linguistic!inventiveness).!(Kelley!146)!
In! other! words,! when! a! rap! artist! brags! about! his! car,! he! is! not! really! bragging!
about!his!!material!wealth,!but!he!is!indirectly!bragging!about!his!‘lyrical!ability’!
through!the!form!in!which!he!bragged!about!the!car.!For!instance!Kanye!West’s!
famous! line! in! ‘Last! Call’! about! his! ‘mayonaise! colored! Mercedes! Benz’! is! not!
really!about!the!color!of!the!car,!it’s!about!the!wordplay!he!uses!when!he!calls!his!
car! a! ‘miracle! whip’! which! is! also! the! name! of! a! brand! of! mayonnaise:!
‘Mayonnaise! colored! Benz,! I! push! Miracle! Whips’! (West! 2004).! The! idea! that!
braggadocio! raps! are! not! about! the! content! but! about! the! form! is! echoed! in!
Kanye!West’s!verse!on!‘Otis’!in!which!he!calls!the!content!‘ignorant’!but!the!form!
‘sophisticated’! because! he! writes! his! ‘curses’! (ignorant)! in! ‘cursive’!
(sophisticated):! ‘Sophisticated! ignorance,! write! my! curses! in! cursive’! (West!
2011).!We!can!apply!this!last!line!to!the!car=themed!line!I!quoted.!Rapping!about!
!
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a! ‘mayonnaise! colored! Benz’! seems! ignorant,! but! the! wordplay! makes! it!
sophisticated.!
As!I!have!explained!earlier,!an!important!aspect!of!signifying!is!the!‘signifier’!
which! is! a! coded! signal! that! makes! the! intended! audience! aware! that! the!
message!should!be!understood!in!the!context!of!signifying.!I!have!also!mentioned!
that!Kelley!sees!‘Yo!Momma’!as!a!signifier,!meaning!a!‘generic!reference,!a!code!
signaling!that!the!dozens!have!begun’!(144).!The!same!mechanism!is!present!in!
braggadocio! raps.! As! I! have! noted,! it! is! hard! to! define! the! concept! of! signifying!
and!it!is!at!least!as!hard!to!define!what!should!be!considered!a!signifier!and!what!
should! not.! This! is! inherent! to! the! concept,! because! if! it! would! be! easily!
explained,! it! would! lose! its! purpose,! which! is! to! exclude! outsiders.! This! would!
explain! why! rap! texts! are! easily! misunderstood! by! cultural! outsiders.! What! on!
the!surface!seems!like!an!rap!artist!bragging!about!himself!is!actually!a!lot!more!
than! that.! Bradley! describes! the! misunderstanding! that! occurs! when! cultural!
outsiders!listen!to!braggadocio!raps:!‘Play!rap!for!someone!who!doesn’t!usually!
listen!to!the!music!or!only!listens!to!it!casually!and!one!of!the!first!things!you’re!
likely!to!hear!is:!“Why!are!they!bragging!so!much!about!themselves?”’!(Bradley!
187)! This! misunderstanding! occurs! because! these! outsiders! interpret! the!
signifiers! in! these! braggadocio! raps! as! literal! statements.! What! these! outsiders!
fail!to!recognize!is!that!these!braggadocio!raps!should!not!be!taken!literally!and!
should!not!be!judged!on!their!content,!but!should!be!appreciated!for!the!form!of!
the! boast.! What! they! fail! to! grasp! is! that! braggodocio! raps! are! about! form! and!
performance,!not!content.!
The!same!argument!goes!for!braggadocio!raps!that!deal!with!violence.!When!
Juelz!Santana!raps!on!‘You!Ain’t!Got!Nuthin’’:!‘Slit!your!throath,!have!you!smiling!
with!your!neck,!say!cheese’,!the!rap!is!not!about!about!slitting!someone’s!throat,!
it! is! about! the! creative! image! he! created! of! someone! ‘smiling! with! his! neck’! to!
illustrate! his! competitive! spirit! (Wayne! 2008).! Kelley! echoes! this! sentiment!
when! he! discusses! violent! lyrics! in! rap! and! their! competitive! spirit:! ‘Violent!
lyrics! in! rap! music! are! rarely! meant! to! be! literal.! Rather,! they! are! more! often!
than!not!metaphors!to!challenge!competitors!on!the!microphone’!(Kelley!146).!!
Aside! from! the! form,! another! important! aspect! of! braggadocio! raps! is! the!
performance.! A! rap! artist’s! attitude! contributes! to! the! performance! of! the! rap!
!
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which! contributes! to! the! enjoyment! of! braggadocio.! DJ! Kool! Herc’s! words! also!
apply! to! this! aspect! of! braggadocio! raps! when! he! pointed! to! the! importance! of!
attitude! in! hip! hop! culture:! ‘the! way! you! walk,! the! way! you! talk,! the! way! you!
look,! the! way! you! communicate’! (Chang! xi).! The! performance! of! braggadocio!
raps! can! add! to! the! enjoyment! listeners! experience! when! hearing! them.! A!
notable! example! of! a! rapper! whose! performance! adds! a! poetic! surplus! to! his!
braggadocio! raps! is! Rick! Ross.! In! his! verse! on! Drake’s! song! ‘Lord! Knows’,! he!
brags!about!his!villa!with!a!view!and!paints!the!comical!and!ludicrous!image!of!a!
‘fat!nigga’!sitting!in!a!sauna!accompanied!by!‘jews’:!‘Villa!on!the!water!with!the!
wonderful! views! /! Only! fat! nigga! in! a! sauna! with! jews’! (Drake! 2011).! The!
combination!of!the!absurd!image!and!the!confidence!with!which!he!raps!this!line!
makes!it!memorable!as!a!braggadocio!rap.!!
As!I!have!explained!earlier,!an!interesting!effect!of!signifying!is!that!it!creates!
an! unintended! audience! of! cultural! outsiders.! Ironically,! this! means! that!
braggadocio! raps! could! be! more! potent! at! securing! hip! hop’s! cultural! identity!
and! defining! its! borders! than! authenticity! claims! can.! McLeod! has! argued! that!
authenticity! claims! are! a! way! for! rap! artist! to! preserve! hip! hop’s! cultural!
authenticity! (McLeod! 168).! However,! because! authenticity! claims! lack! the!
double! meanings! of! braggadocio! rap,! they! do! not! separate! their! audience! in! an!
intended! and! unintended! group.! Because! of! its! signifying! nature,! braggadocio!
rapcreates! an! unintended! audience! of! cultural! outsiders,! and! by! doing! this,! it!
strengthens! the! borders! of! hip! hop! culture.! I! would! go! as! far! as! to! state! that!
braggadocio! raps! have! created! the! conditions! in! which! a! subculture,! that! has!
been! commodified! and! has! spread! internationally,! can! blossom! as! an! authentic!
culture!of!insiders!and!outsiders.!An!great!illustration!of!this!is!my!discussion!of!
the! website! Rap$Genius! and! its! communal! analysis! of! rap! texts! by! international!
participants.!
5.3.1 Signifiers.in.braggadocio.raps.
But!what!do!these!signifiers!in!braggadocio!raps!look!like?!I!would!posit!that!the!
tropes! that! are! widely! used! in! braggadocio! could! be! considered! as! signifiers.!
These! signifiers! come! in! many! different! forms! and! constantly! repeated! and!
!
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altered!in!rap!texts.!In!‘6.4!Different!forms!of!braggadocio!raps’,!I!discuss!these!
tropes!and!how!they!relate!to!the!different!forms!of!braggadocio!raps.!!
An!important!nuancing!point!we!have!to!make!is!that!sometimes!what!seems!
like! a! signifier! is! not.! Sometimes! rap! artists! just! mean! what! they! say.! For!
instance,!‘killing!niggas’!has!been!widely!used!as!a!metaphor!for!besting!another!
‘nigga’! or! ‘rapper’! with! ‘lyrical! skill’,! but! of! course! it! is! not! uncommon! for! rap!
artists!to!talk!about!the!literal!meaning!of!‘killing!niggas’.!For!example,!in!‘Streets!
is!Watching,!Jay=Z!raps:!‘Now!it's!hard!not!to!kill!niggas!/!It's!like!a!full!time!job!
not!to!kill!niggas’!(Jay=Z!1997).!It!becomes!clear!from!the!context!of!these!lines!
that!this!statement!is!to!be!taken!literally.!The!song!deals!with!the!difficulties!of!
the!life!of!drug!dealer!in!the!streets!of!New!York!and!the!violence!associated!with!
this!illegal!lifestyle.!However,!the!border!between!literal!meaning!and!metaphor!
are! murky! and! hard! to! define.! For! instance,! ‘Killing! niggas’! becomes! a! signifier!
again!when!The!Game!cites!Jay=Z!in!‘Scream!On!Em’:!‘Homie,!it's!hard!not!to!kill!
niggas,!it's!like!a!full!time!job!/!Not!to!pull!out!the!steel!and!shove!it!in!your!grill’!
(Game).! Although! it! still! seems! The! Game’s! should! be! taken! literally,! but! the!
chorus! offers! a! clue! when! The! Game! raps:! ‘This! is! that! disrespectful,!
motherfucking! Westcoast! /! Hip! hop! death! blow’! (Game).! The! Game! is! not!
rapping! about! an! actual! ‘death! blow’,! but! a! ‘hip! hop! death! blow’.! In! the! second!
verse!he!further!positions!the!song!as!a!form!of!braggadocio!and!signifying!and!
expands!on!the!concept!of!killing!as!a!metaphor!for!rapping.!He!claims!to!kill!the!
song:!‘I!body!a!track’!and!after!he!implies!the!image!of!a!coffin!rising!out!of!the!
ground! (‘earth! crack’,! ‘hearse),! he! tells! the! implied! target! to! ‘take! a! lyrical! dirt!
nap’! in! it:! I! body! a! track! /! From! the! first! clap! I! hurt! rap,! now! watch! the! earth!
crack!/!Bring!the!hearse!back,!and!take!a!lyrical!dirt!nap’!(Game).!
5.4 Different.forms.of.braggadocio.raps.
To! explore! braggadocio! raps,! I! differentiate! between! four! different! forms! of!
braggadocio!raps.!Most!braggadocio!raps!will!fit!in!these!in!categories.!The!four!
categories! I! have! devised! are:! coolness! braggadocio,! authenticity! braggodocio,!
!
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violence! braggadocio! and! meta=braggadocio.! I! expand! on! these! forms! and!
illustrate!with!examples!from!contemporary!rap!texts.!!!
5.4.1 Coolness.braggadocio.
Coolness! braggadocio! embodies! all! braggadocio! raps! that! contribute! to! the!
image! of! coolness! the! rap! artists! try! to! invoke.! Coolness! braggadocio! has! two!
overlapping! forms:! materialistic! braggodocio! and! attitudinal! braggadocio.!
Materialistic!braggodocio!pertains!to!brag!and!boast!raps!about!the!wealth!of!the!
artist.! Popular! tropes! are! cars,! jewelry! and! money.! Attitudinal! braggadocio!
pertinas! to! braggadocio! raps! about! the! attitude! and! style! of! the! artist.! Popular!
tropes!are!fashion,!flyness,!swagger!and!success!with!women.!!In!the!following!I!
expand! on! two! tropes,! one! for! materialistic! braggadocio! (cars)! and! one! for!
attitudinal!braggadocio!(flyness)!
In! my! discussion! of! braggadocio! raps! as! a! form! of! signifying! I! have! quoted!
Kanye!West!car=themed!line!and!it!is!worth!it!to!repeat!it!here!as!an!example!of!
materialistic! coolness! braggadocio:! ‘Mayonnaise! colored! Benz,! I! push! Miracle!
Whips’! (West! 2004).! In! ‘Otis’,! he! continues! this! to! brag! about! his! Benz:! ‘They!
ain't!see!me!‘cause!I!pulled!up!in!my!other!Benz!/!Last!week!I!was!in!my!other,!
other! Benz’! (West! 2011).! By! repeating! the! word! ‘other’! twice,! West! indirectly!
claims! to! have! at! least! three! different! Mercedes! Benzes.! In! West’s! verse! on! the!
Jay=Z! song! ‘Run! This! Town’,! he! leaves! no! doubt! as! to! why! he! raps:! ‘What! you!
think!I!rap!for?!To!push!a!fucking!RAV=4?’!(Jay=Z!2009).!It!is!quite!clear!now!that!
West!prefers!a!fancy!Mercedes!Benz!over!a!measly!Toyota!RAV=4.!Although!these!
braggadocio! raps! are! quite! clearly! about! cars! and! materialism,! sometimes,! the!
theme!is!taken!to!an!absurd!end!with!comedic!effect.!For!instance,!in!‘Who!Dat’,!
Young!Jeezy!raps:!‘I![will]!buy!me!a!chopper/!And!I!ain't!talking!AK's,!I'm!talkin!
shit! wit! propellers! /! Fly! to! the! club! make! my! old! bitch! jealous’! (Jeezy).! A!
‘chopper’! is! slang! for! an! ‘AK’! (i.e.! a! gun),! but! he! means! a! chopper! that! has!
‘propellers’,! meaning! a! hellicopter.! Instead! of! using! a! car! to! go! to! the! club,! he!
‘flies’! to! the! club! to! make! his! ‘old! bitch! jealous’,! thereby! taking! the! trope! of!
making!your!ex=girlfriend!jealous!by!showing!off!to!an!absurd!extreme.!!
!
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Kanye! West! also! provides! us! with! our! first! example! of! attitudinal! coolness!
braggadocio.!In!‘Good!Morning’!he!raps:!‘I’m!like!the!fly!Malcolm!X,!buy!any!jeans!
necessary’! (West! 2007).! By! adjusting! the! phrase! that! is! widely! associated! with!
Malcolm! X! from! ‘by! any! means! necessary’! to! ‘buy! any! jeans! necessary’,! he!
illustrates!his!flyness.!A!simple!example!based!on!the!double!meaning!of!‘flyer’!of!
braggadocio! which! is! memorable! because! of! the! cadence! of! the! performance! is!
Jay=Z’s!line’s!‘Public!Service!Announcement’:!‘Flyer!than!a!piece!of!paper!bearing!
my!name’!(Jay=Z!2003).!!
Of!course,!materialistic!and!attitudinal!braggadocio!frequently!combine!when!
materialism!is!given!as!the!reason!for!the!attitude.!We!find!an!example!of!this!in!
Kanye!West’s!verse!on!‘Mercy’:!‘Let!the!suicide!doors!up!/!I!threw!suicides!on!the!
tour!bus!/I!threw!suicides!on!the!private!jet!/!You!know!what!that!mean,!I'm!fly!
to!death’!(G.O.O.D.).!He!starts!off!bragging!about!the!old!school!‘suicide!doors’!on!
his!car,!after!which!he!takes!the!concept!of!suicide!doors!to!an!absurd!place!by!
putting!them!on!his!‘tour!bus’!and!on!his!‘private!jet’.!The!image!of!suicide!doors!
on! a! private! jet! do! not! make! a! lot! of! sense,! but! the! last! line! uses! wordplay! to!
reveal!new!meaning:!‘I’m!fly!to!death’!which!links!the!meaning!of!literal!meaning!
of!‘fly’!to!a!private!jet!and!the!literal!meaning!of!‘death’!to!the!suicide!doors!on!
his!private!jet.!
I! conclude! this! discussion! with! an! interesting! example! of! coolness!
braggadocio! rap! by! Kanye! West! also! illustrates! how! outsiders! who! lack! the!
shared!knowledge!of!signifying!do!not!understand!the!intended!meaning.!In!the!
Kanye! West! track! named! ‘Cold’,! which! was! originally! named! ‘Theraflu’,! West!
raps:!
Don't!talk!to!me!'bout!style,!nigga,!I'll!mothafuckin'!embarrass!you!
Talking!'bout!clothes,!I'll!mothafuckin'!embarrass!you!
Hollering!'bout!some!ho’s,!I'll!mothafuckin'!embarrass!you!
Way!too!cold,!I!promise!you'll!need!some!Theraflu!(G.O.O.D.)!
After! these! lines,! Kanye! West! starts! repeatedly! coughing! and! rapping! ‘Get! the!
Theraflu’! (G.O.O.D.).! By! mentioning! his! impeccable! ‘style’,! his! fashionable!
‘clothes’! and! his! success! with! ‘ho’s’! (i.e.! women),! he! claims! his! coolness!
embarrasses!the!implied!target.!In!the!last!line!he!is!so!cold,!he!needs!‘Theraflu’!
which! is! a! cold! and! flu! medicine.! He! drives! the! point! home! by! performing! a!
!
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stylized!form!of!coughing!and!rapping!‘Get!the!Theraflu’.!!Interestingly,!this!line!
uncovered!how!important!the!shared!knowledge!of!signifying!is!and!how!easily!
misunderstood! braggadocio! raps! can! be.! Novartis,! the! parent! company! of!
Theraflu! issued! a! statement,! in! which! they! distanced! them! from! the! song,!
claiming!that!the!company!‘in!no!way!endorses!or!approves!of!the!references!or!
use!of!the!image!and!likeness!of!Theraflu!in!this!manner’!(Sacks).!The!company!
apparently!interpreted!West’s!use!of!Theraflu!as!drug!abuse!instead!of!a!play!on!
words.! On! the! one! hand,! this! misunderstanding! illustrates! the! disconnection!
between! the! modes! of! communication! common! to! hip! hop! culture! and!
mainstream! American! discourse.! On! the! other! hand,! this! illustrates! how! the!
mechanics!of!signifying!work!and!how!West!effectively!applied!them!in!the!song.!
5.4.2 Authenticity.braggadocio.
I!have!discussed!authenticity!claims!in!hip!hop!based!on!six!semantic!dimensions!
that! McLeod! proposed.! (5.3.! Authenticity! claims! in! hip! hop)! Authenticity!
braggadocio! uses! hip! hop! authenticity! and! its! semantic! dimensions! as! a! trope.!
However,! authenticity! braggadocio! raps! are! not! a! form! of! authenticity! claims.!
They! are! not! about! the! authenticity! claim! they! invoke,! instead! they! use! the!
different! semantic! dimensions! of! hip! hop! authenticity! as! a! trope.! Authenticity!
braggadocio,!like!all!forms!of!braggadocio!raps,!are!about!the!display!of!linguistic!
and!performative!creativity.!Again,!they!are!about!form,!not!content.!!
A! trope! that! is! frequently! invoked! in! the! semantic! dimension! of! the! social=
locational!is!using!the!‘crack!game’,!meaning!‘selling!drugs’,!as!a!metaphor!for!the!
‘rap!game’,!meaning!‘selling!raps’.!In!‘Diamonds!From!Sierra!Leone!Remix’,!Jay=Z!
likens!selling!music!to!his!days!as!a!drug!dealer,!claiming!that!selling!rap!is!quite!
easy!if!you!have!experience!selling!drugs:!‘Difficult!takes!a!day,!impossible!takes!
a!week!/!I!do!this!in!my!sleep!/!I!sold!kilo’s!of!coke,!I’m!guessing!I!can!sell!cd’s’!
(West! 2005).! A! rap! duo! who! have! taken! this! trope! and! expanded! on! it!
extensively! and! are! now! known! for! their! drugdealer! themed! raps! is! Clipse.! In!
‘Grindin’’,!Clipse!member!Pusha!T!raps:!‘I'm!the!neighbourhood!pusher!/!Call!me!
Subwoofer,!‘cause!I!pump!base!like!that,!Jack!/!On!or!off!the!track’!(Clipse).!He!
claims!to!be!the!neighbourhood’s!designated!drugdealer!(‘pusher’),!he!takes!the!
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name! ‘Subwoofer’! because! he! ‘pumps! base’! alluding! to! the! double! meaning! of!
base:!‘bass’,!meaning!the!low!frequency!tones!of!rap!music!and!‘base’,!meaning!
the!‘base!form!of!cocaine’!which!he!‘pumps’!i.e.!sells.!In!the!second!verse!of!the!
song,! Malice,! the! other! member! of! Clipse,! takes! this! trope! even! further! to! the!
point!where!it!is!unclear!whether!he!is!talking!about!the!crack!game!or!the!rap!
game:!‘Patty!cake,!patty!cake,!I'm!the!baker's!man!/!I!bake!them!cakes!as!fast!as!I!
can!/!And!you!can!tell!by!how!my!bread!stack!up!/!Then!disguise!it!as!rap!so!the!
feds! back! up’! (Clipse).! First! he! uses! the! theme! of! baking! as! a! metaphor! for!
making!and!distributing!drugs,!then!he!uses!the!same!theme!as!a!metaphor!for!
money!which!‘stacks!up’!high!because!he!is!able!to!‘bake!them!cakes’!so!‘fast’.!In!
the!last!line!he!claims!to!disguise!his!illegal!activity!as!‘rap’!so!that!the!‘feds!back!
up’,! meaning! the! cops! leave! him! alone.! The! different! meanings! that! these! raps!
invoke! blur! the! lines! between! where! the! crack! game! ends! en! the! rap! game!
begins.!But!again,!the!exact!interpretation!is!not!as!important!as!the!form!of!his!
claims.!!
Another!example!of!this!metaphor!also!shows!how!subtle!signifiers!can!be.!Fat!
Joe’s! ‘That! White’,! first! seems! like! an! unironic! tribute! to! that! ‘that! white’,!
meaning! cocaine.! He! uses! wordplay! on! the! trope! of! drugdealing.! But! one! line!
which!contains!a!subtle!signifier!which!signals!the!double!meaning!of!the!song:!
‘Number!one!hustler!/!I!opened!up!the!floodgates,!my!"Flow!Joe"!customers’!(Joe!
2008).! He! boasts! that! he! is! the! ‘number! one! hustler’,! after! which! he! claims! he!
had!‘opened!up!the!floodgates’!for!his!‘Flow!Joe!customers’,!which!at!first!seems!
like!he!is!claiming!to!widely!distribute!a!drugs!named!‘Flow!Joe’,!but!the!shared!
knowledge!of!Fat!Joe’s!career!shows!us!that!he!is!referring!to!the!first!single!of!
his!1993!debut!album!Represent!called!‘Flow!Joe’.!(Joe!1993)!The!latent!meaning!
of! the! line! is! that! he! opened! the! floodgates! when! he! released! his! first! singles,!
which! makes! him! the! ‘number! one! hustler’.! This! subtle! signifier! reframes! the!
whole!song!as!a!metaphor!for!rap!instead!of!a!straightforward!ode!to!‘that!white’.!
5.4.3 Violence.braggadocio.
In!no!other!form!of!braggadocio!is!the!importance!of!competition!in!hip!hop!as!
apparent!as!in!violence!braggadocio.!It!is!important!to!note!that!these!raps!are!
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not!about!the!violence!itself.!Violence!braggadocio!uses!violence!as!a!metaphor!
for! competitive! dominance! in! the! field! of! rap.! Kelley! echoes! the! notion! that!
violence!braggadocio!is!a!metaphor!for!competition!in!rap:!‘Violent!lyrics!in!rap!
music! are! rarely! meant! to! be! literal.! Rather,! they! are! more! often! than! not!
metaphors! to! challenge! competitors! on! the! microphone’! (Kelley! 146).! Because!
violence! needs! multiple! participants! for! it! to! occur,! these! braggadocio! raps!
almost!always!have!an!implied!target.!
One!of!the!most!clever!braggadocio!raps!I!have!heard!was!one!of!Joe!Budden’s!
lines! on! ‘Family! Reunion’:! I! a! cappella! the! whole! left! side! of! his! chest’! (Budden!
2007).!When!he!raps!this!line,!the!beat!goes!silent,!which!means!he!raps!this!line!
‘a!cappella’.!The!‘left!side!of!his!chest’!refers!to!the!implied!target’s!‘heart’,!so!to!‘a!
cappella’! his! heart! is! to! stop! his! heart! from! beating.! The! line! cleverly! links! the!
meaning!of!rapping!without!a!beat!to!making!a!heartbeat!stop!by!metaphorically!
killing!the!implied!target!through!rap.!!
Eminem! has! taken! this! to! an! extreme! level! by! turning! violence! braggadocio!
one=liners! into! extended! visuals! of! graphic! murder.! For! instance,! he! paints! a!
picture! of! murder! that! leaves! no! doubts! about! how! vicious! his! raps! can! be:! ‘I!
strangle! you! to! death! then! I! choke! you! again! /! And! break! your! fucking! legs! ‘til!
your!bones!poke!through!your!skin’!(Eminem!1999).!He!starts!off!two!of!his!most!
violent! songs! on! The$Marshall$Mathers$LP$by! making! obvious! references! to! the!
idea!that!the!violence!he!describes!should!be!seen!as!a!metaphor!for!his!lyrical!
prowess.! In! ‘Criminal’! he! likens! his! words! to! a! ‘dagger’:! ‘My! words! are! like! a!
dagger!with!a!jagged!edge!/!That'll!stab!you!in!the!head’!(Eminem!2000).!In!‘Kill!
You’!he!starts!off!claiming!he!‘murders’!the!text!and!he!warns!the!listener!for!his!
‘perverted!mind’:!‘I!murder!a!rhyme!one!word!at!a!time!/!You!never!heard!of!a!
mind!as!perverted!as!mine’!(Eminem!2000).!
In! the! Big! Sean! song! ‘Control’,! Kendrick! Lamar! blurs! the! borders! between!
battle!raps!and!violence!braggadocio!by!seemingly!attacking!his!peers:!!
I'm!usually!homeboys!with!the!same!niggas!I'm!rhymin'!with!
But!this!is!hip=hop!and!them!niggas!should!know!what!time!it!is!
And!that!goes!for![J.!Cole],!Big!KRIT,!Wale!
Pusha!T,!Meek!Millz,!A$AP!Rocky,!Drake!
Big!Sean,!Jay!Electron[ica],!Tyler![The!Creator],!Mac!Miller!
I!got!love!for!you!all!but!I'm!tryin’!to!murder!you!niggas!
Trying!to!make!sure!your!core!fans!never!heard!of!you!niggas!
!
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They!don't!wanna!hear!not!one!more!noun!or!verb!from!you!niggas!
What!is!competition?!I'm!trying!to!raise!the!bar!high!(Sean)!
Notice!he!qualifies!his!violence!braggadocio!in!the!first!and!last!line!so!the!lines!
are!not!seen!as!a!battle!raps!but!as!braggadocio!raps.!In!the!first!line!he!qualifies!
the! rappers! he! names! as! ‘homeboys’! and! in! the! last! he! invokes! the! concept! of!
competition! to! explain! his! violence! braggadocio.! The! response! this! song! got!
illustrated!the!shared!knowledge!of!the!hip!hop!community.!None!of!the!artists!
Lamar!mentioned!responded!to!the!song!in!a!response!song.!However,!dozens!of!
rappers! from! New! York! took! offense! to! a! one! of! two! things,! first! the! fact! that!
earlier! in! the! verse! he! claimed! to! be! the! ‘king! of! New! York’,! which! is! a! gaudy!
boast!for!the!California,!Compton=based!Kendrick!Lamar.!The!second!reason!why!
a! lot! of! rappers! responded! is! because! they! took! offense! because! they! were! not!
mentioned! in! Lamar’s! list! of! ‘homeboys’.! This! shows! how! well! the! hip! hop!
community! understands! these! concepts! in! an! intuitive! way.! The! competitive!
spirit!that!Kendrick!Lamar!showed!is!what!is!rap!is!about,!as!Joe!Budden!put!it!in!
his! response! song! ‘Lost! Control’:! ‘Fuck! whoever! mad,! you! said! how! we’re! all!
supposed!to!feel’!(Budden!2013).!
5.4.4 MetaTbraggadocio.
A! fourth! form! of! braggadocio! is! meta=braggadocio,! which! concerns! all!
braggadocio! raps! in! which! the! rap! artist! is! basically! bragging! about! how! good!
they!are!at!bragging.!They!use!their!lyrical!artistry!as!a!trope!to!illustrate!their!
creativity.! There! are! two! sides! to! meta=braggadocio,! one! focuses! on! the! self,!
meaning!it!glorifies!the!rap!artist’s!skill,!the!other!has!an!implied!target,!meaning!
it!invokes!the!rap!artist’s!competitive!dominance.!
A!meta=braggadocio!trope!that!is!used!at!nauseam!uses!the!theme!of!sickness!
as!a!metaphor!for!his!lyrical!skill.!!In!‘A!Milli’,!he!likens!his!writing!of!lyrics!with!a!
pencil!to!a!venereal!disease!and!a!menstrual!bleed:!‘I'm!a!venereal!disease!like!a!
menstrual!bleed!/!Through!the!pencil!I!leak!on!the!sheet!of!the!tablet!in!my!mind’!
(Wayne!2008).!In!‘Niggas!In!Paris’,!Kanye!West!raps:!‘Doctors!say!I’m!the!illest,!
‘cause!I!suffer!from!realness’,!presenting!his!‘illness’!as!a!diagnosis!(West!2011).!!
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A!popular!trope!of!meta=braggadocio!which!has!an!implied!target!uses!‘eating’!
as! a! metaphor! for! besting! other! rappers.! Rakim! was! one!of!the!first!to!use!this!
trope! in! ‘My! Melody’:! ‘I! take! seven! emcees! put! 'em! in! a! line! /! And! add! seven!
more!brothers!who!think!they!can!rhyme!/!Well,!it'll!take!seven!more!before!I!go!
for!mine!/!Now!that's!twenty!one!emcees!ate!up!at!the!same!time’!(Rakim).!The!
lines!are!quite!straightforward;!he!puts!three!times!seven!rappers!in!line!to!‘eat!
them!up’,!meaning!he!bests!them!in!the!competition!of!rap.!Lil!Wayne!echoes!this!
trope! in! his! own! peculiar! way,! presenting! himself! as! a! ‘Martian’! who! feeds! on!
rappers:!‘Hip!hop!is!my!supermarket!/!Shopping!cart!full!of!fake!hip!hop!artists!/!
I'm!starving,!sorry!I!gotta!eat!all!of!it!/!And!I'll!be!back!in!the!morning’!(Wayne!
2008).!Another!example!of!this!trope!is!delivered!by!Eminem!in!‘No!Love’:!‘They!
call! me! a! freak! ‘cause! I! like! to! spit! on! these! pussies! 'fore! I! eat! 'em’! (Eminem!
2010).! He! literal! meaning! of! ‘a! sexual! freak’! who! ‘spits’! on! ‘pussies’! before! he!
‘eats’!them!i.e.!performs!fellatio!on!them!is!coupled!with!the!second!meaning!of!
‘spitting’!i.e.!rapping!and!‘eat!‘em’!i.e.!beat!them!lyrically.!!
5.5 Authenticity.and.braggadocio:.Eminem.
In!‘Race…!And!Other=Letter!Words’,!Gilbert!B.!Rodman!argues!that!Eminem!has!
been!criticized!for!the!perceived!‘offensive,!antisocial,!irresponsible,!dangerous,!
violent,! misogynistic,! and/or! homophobic! nature! of! his! lyrics’! (Rodman! 182).!
(188=189)! In! the! intro! to! ‘Criminal’! Eminem! responds! to! these! type! of!
allegations:!
A!lot!of!people!think!that!what!I!say!on!record!
Or!what!I!talk!about!on!a!record!
That!I!actually!do!in!real!life!or!that!I!believe!in!it!
Or!if!I!say!that!I!want!to!kill!somebody,!that!
I'm!actually!gonna!do!it!or!that!I!believe!in!it!
Well!shit,!if!you!believe!that,!then!I'll!kill!you!(Eminem!2000)!
Eminem!accuses!his!critics!of!mistakingly!taking!his!texts!literal.!I!would!argue!
that! Eminem! feels! this! way! because! he! understands! the! dynamics! of! signifying!
and! is! frustrated! with! the! unintended! audience’s! lack! of! the! shared! knowledge!
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needed!to!decipher!his!texts.!But!how!come!Eminem!has!endured!more!criticism!
than!a!Jay=Z!or!a!Lil!Wayne?!Rodman!argues!that!Eminem’s!race!has!given!him!a!
lack! of! authenticity! and! because! of! this,! his! rap! lyrics! are! held! to! different!
standard!than!his!fellow!rappers.!The!interesting!dynamic!here!is!that!Eminem’s!
detractors!who!feel!comfortable!criticizing!him!because!of!his!whiteness!are!hip!
hop!outsiders.!This!pressure!from!outside!only!strengthens!Eminem’s!presence!
on!the!inside!of!hip!hop!culture.!
To! examine! how! Eminem’s! lyrics! are! misinterpreted! further! I! examine!
Rodman’s! analysis! of! Eminem’s! three! identities.! Rodman! argues! that! Eminem!
has!created!two!fictional!alter!egos!to!his!autobiographical!identity!as!Marshall!
Mathers,!who!Rodman!tipifies!as!‘just!a!regular!guy’;!the!alter!ego!of!Eminem,!‘his!
professional! alter! ego’,! who! Rodman! typifies! as! a! ‘self=assured,! swaggering! rap!
star’! and! the! alter! ego! of! Slim! Shady,! ‘his! fictional! character’,! who! Rodman!
typifies! as! an! ‘evil! trickster’! (Rodman! 185).! Examples! of! Marshall! Mathers! are!
autobiographical!songs!like!‘Cleaning!Out!My!Closet’!in!which!he!raps!about!his!
early!life!and!his!mom’s!troubles:!‘put!yourself!in!my!position;!just!try!to!envision!
/! Witnessin'! your! momma! poppin'! prescription! pills! in! the! kitchen’! (Eminem!
2002).! An! example! of! Eminem! can! be! found! in! ‘Rap! God’! in! which! he! likens!
himself!to!a!god!of!rap!music.!The!text!is!a!barrage!of!complicated!braggadocio!
raps.! He! ends! the! song! with! something! only! a! braggadocio! rapper! comes! away!
with:!‘Why!be!a!king!when!you!can!be!a!God?’!(Eminem!2013).!I!draw!an!example!
of!Slim!Shady!from!‘Who!Knew’!in!which!he!ingeniously!turns!the!table!on!critics!
who! take! his! lyrics! too! seriously! by! ostensibly! taking! the! criticism! of! his! texts!
literally:!‘Oh,!you!want!me!to!watch!my!mouth,!how?!/!Take!my!fucking!eyeballs!
out,!and!turn!‘em!around?’!(Eminem!2000)!
These!critics!not!only!fail!to!grasp!that!Eminem!constantly!switches!between!
these! three! identities,! but! that! tied! to! these! three! identities! are! three! different!
modes! of! communication! that! are! to! be! understood! in! their! own! way.! In! his!
identity! as! Marshall! Mathers,! he! engages! in! honest,! self=reflective! and! honest!
discourse.!In!his!identity!as!Eminem,!he!engages!in!braggadocio!raps!of!all!kinds.!
In! his! identity! as! Slim! Shady,! he! engages! in! violence! braggadocio.! As! I! have!
argued!extensively,!these!last!two!identities!and!their!braggadocio!raps!are!not!
to!be!taken!seriously.!Rodman!does!not!use!the!term!‘braggadocio’,!but!the!idea!
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stays!the!same!when!he!argues!that!this!misunderstanding!ignores!the!tradition!
of!signifying,!toasting!and!the!dozens:!!
[This]! reading! of! Eminem’s! art! –and! rap! in! general=! points! to! a! fundamental!
failure!to!recognize!the!historical!connection!between!the!deliberatley!over=the=
top! lyrical! posturing! of! hip=hop! and! longstanding! oral! traditions! of! boasting,!
toasting,! and! playing! the! dozens! found! in! African! American! culture.! (Rodman!
185)!
He!continues!his!analysis!by!pointing!out!that!Eminem’s!different!identities!are!
impossible!to!separate!neatly!because!of!the!sophisticated!ways!in!which!these!
oral! traditions! ‘weave! together! authentic! self=expression! and! performative!
hyperbole’,! in! other! words,! how! they! combine! authentic! discourse! and!
braggadocio!raps!(Rodman!185).!!
The! ease! with! which! Eminem! switches! between! his! different! identities! can!
only! be! explained! by! differentiating! between! his! braggadocio! raps! and! honest!
discourse!to!define!his!different!identities.!Even!though!Eminem!had!to!deal!with!
a!huge!disadvantage!in!the!racial!dimension!of!hip!hop!authenticity,!he!was!able!
to!attain!authenticity!by!mastering!the!subleties!of!signifying.!Eminem’s!mastery!
of! this! African=American! tradition! has! left! a! vast! amount! of! critics! in! his! wake.!
However,! this! criticism! only! confirms! his! skills! as! a! signifying! rapper! because!
they! are! the! unintended! audience,! the! outsiders,! produced! by! the! successful!
application!of!signifying.!
5.6 Competition.and.authenticity.
In!this!section!I!discuss!how!authenticity!is!used!as!a!weapon!in!rap!battles!and!
beef.! These! authenticity! disses! are! not! the! same! as! authenticity! braggadocio.!
While! authenticity! braggadocio! invokes! authenticity! as! a! trope! and! plays! with!
associated! meanings,! authenticity! disses! attack! the! image! of! an! opponent! in!
order! to! portray! the! opponent! as! inauthentic.! Rap! battles! and! beefs! are! mostly!
fought!out!through!authenticity!disses.!!The!Jay=Z/Nas!beef!is!a!great!example!of!
this.! The! two! diss! tracks! that! kicked! off! the! beef! were! both! focused! on! the!
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opponent’s! (lack! of)! authenticity.! I! use! McLeod’s! framework! of! semantic!
dimensions!to!explore!these!texts.!
5.6.1 JayTZ.vs.Nas:.‘Ether’.vs.‘Takeover’.
The!beef!between!Jay=Z!and!Nas!shows!how!rap!artists!who!engage!in!rap!battles!
or!beef!use!authenticity!as!an!important!theme!in!their!attacks.!In!fact,!in!most!
beefs,!the!objective!seems!to!be!to!attack!eachother’s!authenticity.!Because!beef!
is!a!form!of!signifying,!it!would!be!logical!to!posit!that!the!winner!of!the!beef!is!
determined!based!on!who!has!won!the!‘lyrical’!battle,!meaning!whose!wordplay!
and! imagery! and! his! braggadocio! and! battle! raps! impress! the! most.! However,!
this! is! not! the! only! aspect! of! beef.! Another! important! aspect! is! authenticity.!
Another! way! to! determine! the! winner! is! by! examining! who! has! attacked! his!
opponent’s!authenticity!in!the!most!vicious!way.!This!means!that!as!opposed!to!
braggadocio! raps,! the! content! of! battle! raps! does! become! important,! because!
they! convey! a! message! about! the! opponent’s! perceived! (lack! of)! authenticity.!
When!analysing!‘Ether’!and!‘Takeover’,!it!becomes!clear!that!this!battle!was!not!
just! a! playful! iteration! of! ‘the! dozens’,! but! a! brutal! battle! over! hip! hop!
authenticity.! To! show! how! the! importance! of! hip! hop! authenticity! is! very!
important! in! beefs,! I! show! how! both! Jay=Z! and! Nas! attack! their! opponent’s!
authenticity!in!almost!every!semantic!dimension!by!providing!examples!for!each:!
the! social=psychological,! the! political=economical,! the! gender=sexual,! the! social=
locational! and! the! cultural! dimension.! The! racial! dimension! is! absent! in! this!
battle,! simply! because! both! rappers! are! black.! This! does! not! mean! the! racial!
dimension! of! hip! hop! authenticity! is! never! invoked! in! beef.! Aside! from! the!
obvious! references! to! skin! colour! in! attacks! of! white! or! Asian! rappers,! it! is! not!
uncommon! for! rap! artists! to! attack! their! opponent’s! ‘light! skin’,! meaning! ‘less!
black’!than!what!is!considered!authentic.!For!instance!in!what!I!consider!one!of!
the!most!memorable!beefs!in!hip!hop!history!between!Saigon!and!Joe!Budden,!in!
‘Pushin’! Buddens’,! Saigon! links! ‘prison! rape’! to! his! opponent’s! light! skin:! ‘The!
ones!that!get!rapped!in!the!prison!/!The!light!skinned,!scrawny!niggas!like!you,!
so!play!your!position’!(Saigon).!
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The! beef! between! Jay=Z! and! Nas! started! when! Jay=Z! released! ‘Takeover’! in!
which! Jay=Z! dedicates! a! verse! dissing! Nas.! He! deconstructs! Nas’! career! by!
attacking!his!authenticity!in!the!different!semantic!dimensions!of!authenticity.!In!
the! social=psychological! dimension! he! claims! Nas! is! fake! because! the! life! he!
writes!about!in!his!texts!is!a!fabrication:!‘Nigga,!you!ain't!live!it!/!You!witnessed!
it!from!your!folks'!pad!/!You!scribbled!it!in!your!notepad!and!created!your!life’.!
In!the!political=economical!dimension,!Jay=Z!invokes!Nas’!commercial!hit!‘Oochie!
Wally’! (which! he! released! with! his! crew! Bravehearts),! which! he! considers! not!
only! badly! written! but! also! as! ‘commercial’! and! therefore! fake.! He! also! claims!
that!his!‘bodyguard’!(i.e.!one!of!the!Bravehearts)!actually!outshined!him:!!‘Your!
bodyguard's!Oochie!Wally!verse![was]!better!than!yours!/!Matter!of!fact!you!had!
the! worst! flow! on! the! whole! fucking! song.’! Jay=Z! disses! Nas! only! once! in! the!
gender=sexual!dimension!when!he!calls!him!a!‘fag’.!‘Takeover’!contains!only!line!
that!could!be!considered!as!a!diss!in!the!social=locational!dimension,!but!it!takes!
a!loose!interpretation!of!the!line!in!question:!‘You!witnessed!it!from!your!folks'!
pad’.!The!line!could!be!interpreted!to!create!a!contrast!between!safe!location!of!
his!‘folks’!pad’!and!the!streets.!In!the!cultural!dimension,!Jay=Z!reconfigures!the!
traditional!definitions!of!‘realness’!and!‘fakeness’!by!first!admitting!that!Nas!has!
old! school! credibility,! but! he! has! since! lost! his! authenticity:! ‘Had! a! spark! when!
you!started!but!now!you're!just!garbage!/!Fell!from!"top!10"!to!"not!mentioned!at!
all"’.!
Nas! responded! with! ‘Ether’,! in! which! he! attacks! Jay=Z! extensively! in! every!
dimension.! In! the! social=psychological! dimension! attacks! Jay=Z! originality,!
pointing! out! to! his! album! title! Blueprint:! ‘his! manuscript! just! sound! stupid! /!
When! KRS! already! made! an! album! called! Blueprint’.! He! also! accuses! Jay=Z! of!
stealing!The!Notorious!B.I.G.!i.e.!Biggie’s!texts:!‘How!much!of!Biggie's!rhymes!is!
gonna!come!out!your!fat!lips’.!In!the!political=economical!dimension,!Nas!claims!
gave!up!his!soul!for!mainstream!succes:!‘You!traded!your!soul!for!riches’.!‘Ether’!
contains! multiple! attacks! in! the! gender=sexual! dimension.! Nas! uses! multiple!
homophobic! slurs! to! attack! his! opponent.! He! calls! Jay=Z! a! ‘You! a! dick=riding!
faggot’! and! renames! him! and! his! crew! Roc=a=Fella:! ‘Gay=Z! and! Cock=a=Fella’.!
Although! these! attacks! cheapen! the! overall! quality! of! the! song! as! a! diss! track,!
there!is!one!more!attack!in!the!gender=sexual!dimension!that!is!quite!poignant:!
!
69!
‘You! seem! to! be! only! concerned! with! dissing! women! /! Were! you! abused! as! a!
child,! scared! to! smile,! they! called! you! ugly! /! Well! life! is! harsh;! hug! me,! don't!
reject! me’.! Nas! attacks! Jay=Z! misogynistic! lyrics! and! reframes! them! as! a! cry! for!
help!instead!of!sign!of!toughness,!encouraging!him!to!‘hug’!him!instead!of!dissing!
him.!!In!the!social=locational!dimension,!Nas!contrasts!his!hometown!Queens!to!
Jay=Z’s! hometown! Brooklyn! by! referring! to! the! Queens! born! CEO! of! Def! Jam!
Recordings! (Jay=Z’s! music! label)! and! drawing! a! parallel! to! ‘Queens! niggas’!
dominating!‘you!niggas’:!‘Queens!niggas!run!you!niggas,!ask!Russell!Simmons’.!In!
the!cultural!dimension,!Nas!positions!himself!as!old!school!by!presenting!himself!
as!Jay=Z’s!hip!hop!father:!‘My!child,!I've!watched!you!grow!up!to!be!famous!/!And!
now! I! smile! like! a! proud! dad! /! Watching! his! only! son! that! made! it’.! He! further!
expands! on! this! theme! by! calling! Jay=Z! ‘a! fan,! a! phony,! a! fake,! a! pussy,! a! Stan’,!
referring!to!Eminem’s!song!‘Stan’!about!an!obsessive!fan.!(Eminem!2000)!
Determining!who!won!the!battle!is!a!tricky!endeavour.!You!could!argue!that!
Nas’! focus! on! the! gender=sexual! dimension! weakened! the! diss! track,! but! that!
does!not!negate!the!other!clever!disses.!Arguing!for!Jay=Z’s!side,!you!could!point!
out! that! the! whole! verse! carefully! deconstructs! Nas’! career,! but! on! the! other!
hand,! the! diss! was! only! one! verse! which! automatically! makes! the! verse! more!
concise! and! venomous.! In! the! end,! determining! the! winner! is! not! what! is!
important.! The! joy! hip! hop! fans! derive! from! rap! battles! and! beef! can! not! be!
found!in!the!result!but!in!the!process.!The!creative!insults!and!competitive!spirit!
of!beef!make!these!feuds!as!entertaining!as!boxing!matches.!
5.7 Conclusion.
In!this!chapter!I!elaborated!on!how!the!element!of!competition!has!contributed!
to! the! formation! of! hip! hop! culture! in! its! four! elements! in! general! and! in! rap!
music!in!particular.!I!have!traced!rap’s!competitive!roots!back!to!the!dozens!and!
toasting.! The! most! important! conclusion! for! this! chapter! is! that! the! concept! of!
signifying! is! essential! to! the! proper! understanding! and! effective! analysis! of!
competitive! forms! of! rap! texts.! I! have! argued! that! braggadocio! raps! should! be!
!
70!
seen!in!the!tradition!of!signifying!and!that!they!should!be!analysed!as!such.!The!
critics!of!braggadocio!rap!are!the!unintended!audience!who!are!not!aware!of!the!
shared!knowledge!necessary!for!the!understanding!of!braggadocio!as!a!form!of!
signifying.!I!have!argued!that!like!signifying,!braggadocio!raps!feature!signifiers,!
which!can!range!from!the!blatantly!obvious!to!the!clever!and!subtle.!Rap!artists!
are!judged!based!on!the!cleverness,!subtlety!and!effectiveness!of!the!signifiers.!I!
have!argued!that!braggadocio!raps!are!in!fact!more!potent!at!securing!hip!hop’s!
cultural!authenticity!than!authenticity!claims.!I!have!also!proposed!a!framework!
which! can! be! used! to! categorize! the! four! different! forms! of! braggadocio! raps:!
coolness! braggadocio! which! contains! attitudinal! and! materialistic! braggadocio;!
authenticity! braggadocio! which! uses! hip! hop! authenticity! as! a! trope;! violence!
braggadocio!which!attacks!an!implied!target!using!violence!as!a!metaphor!for!the!
competitive! spirit! of! rap! and! finally! meta=braggadocio,! which! brags! about! the!
ability! to! brag.! Each! category! either! has! an! implied! target! or! is! centred! on! the!
self.! Whatever! the! case! may! be.! These! braggadocio! raps! are! not! meant! to! be!
taken! literally! are! not! meant! to! be! boasts! about! the! actual! content.! They! are!
boasts!about!the!artist’s!wit!and!lyrical!skill.!
At! the! end! of! the! chapter! I! have! explored! two! cases! in! which! competition,!
authenticity! and! braggadocio! interact.! I! have! argued! that! Eminem’s! raps! have!
been! criticized! because! critics! are! not! aware! of! signifiers! that! signal! shifts! in!
Eminem’s!identities.!These!critics!confuse!the!sincerity!and!authenticity!of!some!
of! his! songs! with! the! ironic! use! of! braggadocio! rap! in! others.! I! have! also!
discussed!the!beef!between!Jay=Z!and!Nas!to!illustrate!how!rap!battles!and!beef!
do!not!use!authenticity!as!a!trope!like!in!authenticity!braggadocio.!In!rap!battles!
and!beef,!authenticity!is!what!is!at!stake!in!the!verbal!competition.!
!
71!
!
6 Conclusion.
In!the!introduction!to!this!dissertation!I!have!quoted!Jay=Z’s!response!to!critics!
who!claim!he!only!talks!about!‘jewelry,!money,!cash!and!ho’s’.!!Jay=Z!responded!
first! by! positioning! himself! as! journalist! of! the! ghetto.! In! another! song! he!
defended! himself! by! presenting! his! braggadocio! raps! as! playful! and! innocent.! I!
have! explained! this! dichotomy! in! my! dissertation.! On! the! one! hand,! rap! artists!
frequently!make!authenticity!claims!in!their!text,!because!hip!hop!authenticity!is!
very!important!to!hip!hop!culture,!rap!music!and!rap!artists.!These!invocations!of!
authenticity! are! intended! to! show! a! sincere! image! of! the! artist’s! identity,! and!
should!be!read!as!an!honest!reflection!of!rap!artists’!desire!to!be!authentic.!They!
are! also! attempts! to! protect! the! cultural! identity! of! hip! hop! and! maintain! its!
authenticity.!On!the!other!hand,!braggadocio!raps!operates!in!a!different!mode!of!
communication!called!signifying.!That!is!why!these!braggadocio!raps!are!not!to!
be! taken! literally.! The! reason! why! critics! of! rap! make! the! mistake! of! only!
acknowledging!the!surface!meaning!of!braggadocio!is!because!they!are!unable!to!
detect!the!difference!between!authenticity!claims!and!braggadocio!raps.!
Central! to! my! argument! is! the! concept! of! signifying.! It! is! essential! to! our!
understanding! of! rap! texts! in! general! and! braggadocio! raps! in! particular.!
!
72!
Because! braggadocio! is! a! form! of! signifying,! it! creates! an! unintended! audience!
who!do!not!understand!the!true!meaning!of!braggadocio!raps.!!
A! collateral! point! I! am! confident! I! have! made! through! my! discussion! is! that!
rap!texts!are!an!subject!worthy!of!academic!research.!I!hope!to!have!proven!that!
braggadocio! raps! can! be! understood! as! complex! literary! mechanisms.! The!
research! of! braggadocio! raps! is! quasi! non=existant! so! there! are! plenty! of!
questions!left!to!ask.!It!would!be!interesting!to!further!explore!the!formal!aspects!
of! braggadocio! raps! and! the! literary! techniques! they! use.! An! aspect! of!
braggadocio! that! I! have! not! elaborated! on! sufficiently! is! intertextuality! and! the!
way!in!which!rap!artists!quote!and!slightly!eachother’s!braggadocio!raps.!On!the!
topic! of! hip! hop! authenticity;! McLeod’s! framework! of! semantic! dimensions! is! a!
worthy! categorization! that! should! be! further! explored.! Several! questions! arise.!
How! do! rap! artists! construct! their! image! of! authenticity! through! these!
dimensions?!Which!dimensions!are!perceived!to!be!more!important!for!hip!hop!
authenticity?! Which! dimensions! translate! to! mainstream! success?! McLeod’s!
framework! could! also! offer! a! fresh! take! on! the! difficult! matter! of! Eminem’s!
authenticity! as! a! rap! artist.! Finally,! there! is! plenty! to! uncover! about! the! subtle!
mechanics!of!signifying!and!its!relation!to!rap!texts.!
The! irony! of! the! problematic! relation! between! authenticity! claims! and!
braggadocio!raps,!is!that!even!though!authenticity!claims!are!supposed!to!keep!
hip!hop!culture!alive!and!authentic,!braggadocio!raps!might!actually!be!the!more!
potent! mode! of! communication! to! ensure! the! survival! of! hip! hop’s! cultural!
identity! and! its! intricacies! and! subtleties.! Braggadocio! raps! inevitably! exclude!
the! unintended! audience! and! push! forward! the! shared! knowledge! of! cultural!
insiders.! Through! this! dynamic,! it! further! strengthens! the! identity! of! hip! hop!
culture! because! it! sets! clear! borders! between! hip! hop’s! insiders! and! outsiders.!
The!international!spread!of!rap!music!makes!braggadocio!raps!able!to!maintain!
an!ever!evolving!international!pool!of!cultural!insiders:!the!intended!audience!of!
signifying!braggadocio!raps.!To!take!this!argument!to!an!seemingly!extreme!but!
logical!end:!Braggadocio!was!not!only!part!of!rap’s!inception,!it!now!functions!as!
hip!hop!culture’s!stabilizing!factor.!!
!
73!
!
!
74!
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