At first sight, Rap and Gospel music do not seem to have much in common. That is why I attempt to analyze whether there are any similarities or just discrepancies. The topic deals with The Variety in the Lexicon of Rap and Gospel and therefore, the aim of this paper is the linguistic description of the special lexicon. The foundation of this paper is provided by the presentation held on the 13th of July 2010 in the seminar "Varieties of English".
I have chosen this topic, because the two styles of music have a similar history, but developed into opposite directions and they are, furthermore, both mostly sung by people of African American descent. Another reason for my choice is that I want to know if the images of Rap and Gospel I have in mind are really true or just prejudices: Are Rap lyrics full of swear words? Is Gospel by some means or other related to Rap?
One of the images I have in mind, are the lexicons of Rap and Gospel, because when you listen to two typical song you will clearly hear the differences in speaking and in the choice of words. For my analysis I chose two representative songs: Only God Can Judge Me by the ’gangster rapper’ Tupac Shakur (1971-1996) and Judge Me Not by the baptist preacher Timothy Wright (1947-2009).
I will start with a general overview of Rap and Gospel, give a short history of their development, so that the same roots of the styles of music become more obvious. In the following, I will present the results of the analyzed domains of register, commencing with the use of swear words and the application to the five types of linguistic forms of swearwords. Then I will go on with the use of slang, and especially the phonological representation of the features of African American Vernacular English, due to the descent of the two singers.
Finally, I will summarize my results in a conclusion at the end of this paper.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 History of Rap and Gospel
2.1 Rap Music
2.2 Gospel Music
3 Results of analyzed domains of register
3.1 Swear Words
3.2 Slang
4 Conclusion
5 References
Research Objective and Scope
The primary aim of this paper is to provide a linguistic analysis and comparison of the lexicons used in Rap and Gospel music, investigating whether these two genres—despite their shared African American roots—exhibit significant linguistic similarities or disparities through the examination of two representative songs.
- Historical development of Rap and Gospel music.
- Linguistic analysis of swear words and their structural forms.
- Investigation of slang usage and its social function within the subcultures.
- Examination of phonological features inherent to African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
- Comparative analysis of the lexicons of Tupac Shakur and Timothy Wright.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1 Swear Words
A "swear word" is "a word considered taboo and impolite or offensive"(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English). Swear words are used by a huge amount of people for very different reasons. Especially ’gangster rappers’ such as Tupac Shakur curse frequently in their songs. A reason for that is that "rap music brings together a tangle of some of the most complex social, cultural, and political issues in [...] American society" (Black Noise 2).
In contrast, Gospel music in general and also my representative song Judge Me Not does not contain one single swear word. Therefore, I will focus on the rap song by Tupac Shakur.
According to Elisa Nuraini and her work, A comparative study of English and Indonesian swearwords on English and Indonesian movie, there are five types of linguistic forms of swearwords:
1. Single Words
2. Compound Words (two single words are combined to form a new word)
3. Noun Phrases (they consist of a head noun or pronoun and are optionally modified by determiners, adjectives, complements in the form of a prepositional phrase or that-clause)
4. Verb Phrases (they consist of a head verb and are modified for example by objects and object complements)
5. Adjective Phrases (they consist of an adjective as head and is used to modify nouns and pronouns)
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter outlines the motivation for the study, focusing on the linguistic comparison of Rap and Gospel, and introduces the two representative songs chosen for analysis.
2 History of Rap and Gospel: This section traces the origins of both genres to African tribal chants and plantation work songs, detailing their divergence into contemporary musical styles.
3 Results of analyzed domains of register: This central chapter presents the empirical findings regarding the usage of swear words and slang, applying linguistic frameworks to the selected song lyrics.
4 Conclusion: The concluding chapter synthesizes the findings, noting that while the genres share cultural and phonological roots, they remain distinct in their topical focus and use of register.
5 References: This section lists all academic sources and web resources utilized in the research.
Keywords
Rap, Gospel, Lexicon, Linguistics, Swear words, Slang, AAVE, African American Vernacular English, Tupac Shakur, Timothy Wright, Register analysis, Linguistic description, Phonology, Subculture, Music genre.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this research?
The paper examines the linguistic differences and similarities in the lexicons of Rap and Gospel music by comparing the lyrics of representative artists from each genre.
What are the central themes investigated?
The research focuses on the historical origins of the music, the usage and structure of swear words, the role of slang, and the presence of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) phonological features.
What is the primary goal of the study?
The goal is to conduct a linguistic description of the special lexicons of Rap and Gospel to see if common prejudices about the genres are supported by the actual language used in the lyrics.
Which scientific methodology is employed?
The author performs a comparative register analysis, utilizing song lyrics as a data corpus and applying linguistic frameworks for swear word classification and phonological description.
What content is addressed in the main body?
The main body covers the history of both music styles, quantitative and qualitative analyses of swear words in Tupac Shakur's lyrics, and an evaluation of slang and AAVE phonological markers in both artists' work.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include Rap, Gospel, Lexicon, Swear words, Slang, and AAVE.
How does the use of swear words differ between the two analyzed artists?
The study finds a significant contrast: Tupac Shakur's rap lyrics contain frequent use of swear words, whereas Timothy Wright's gospel song contains none.
What role does African American Vernacular English (AAVE) play in the analysis?
AAVE serves as a shared cultural linguistic background that explains certain phonological similarities, such as word-final devoicing and the realization of velar nasals, found in the works of both artists.
Why did the author specifically choose Tupac Shakur and Timothy Wright for this comparison?
They were chosen as representative figures of their respective genres to compare "gangster rap" and traditional gospel, providing a clear contrast in language and register.
- Quote paper
- Kim Vahnenbruck (Author), 2010, The Variety in the Lexicon of Rap and Gospel, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/165209
