Hip-hop+assignment



Hip-hop and Rap Assignment


 * This Assignment has three steps. Please make sure you read through the entire page.**

How to write good Hip-pop song lyrics? //There are three techniques that used in every hip-hop and rap songs. // //**Alliteration **: When two or more words in a poem begin with the same letter or sound. “Rabbits Running Over Roses” “a peck of pickled peppers” //

// Rain // // Rain races, // // Ripping like wind. // // Its restless rage // // Rattles like Rocks ripping through // // The air. //

Assonance: Identity or similarity in sound between internal [|vowels] in neighbouring words. //Flash with a rash gimme my cash flickin' my ash// //Runnin with my money, son, go out with a blast//

//**Rhyme:**// For example: river/shiver, song/long, leap/deep. If the rhyme occurs at the ends of lines, it is called end rhyme.

Now look at examples below, can you tell where do Alliteration, Assonance and Rhyme occur?

Use different colours to highlight the three different techniques in the lyrics.

//Cars are cars all over the world// //Cars are cars all over the world// //Similarly made, similarly sold// //In a motocarde, abandoned when they are old// //Cars are cars all over the world// //Cars are cars all over the world// //Engine in the front, Jack in the back// //﻿Drive them on the left, drive them on the right// //Susceptible to the theft in the middle of night.// As same as rock, Hip-hop represents certain culture and has been used by young generations in every decade to make their personal expression. As same as rock, there are many types of Hip-hop songs, this is your first task of this assignment: Hip-hop styles and the origins ** The meaning of lyrics ** Hip-hop songs (raps) do not only mean something that is easy for everyone to sing along with or to dance with a funky rhythm. A good hip-hop song (raps) has a deep meaning in its lyrics.

**The Message (Grandmaster)** //It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder// //How I keep from going under// //It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder// //How I keep from going under// //Broken glass everywhere// //People pissing on the stairs, you know they just don't care// //I can't take the smell, I can't take the noise no more// //Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice// //Rats in the front room, roaches in the back// //Junkie's in the alley with a baseball bat// //I tried to get away, but I couldn't get far// //'Cause a man with a tow-truck repossessed my car// //Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge// //I'm trying not to lose my head, ah huh-huh-hu// **After read the lyrics and answer questions:** 1. What is the structure of the lyrics, does the lyrics goes with the structure of music? 2. Do you see all poetic devices we studied in the lyrics? Can you list some examples? 3. What is the mood or attitude behind the lyrics? In what ways the writer expressed this mood in the lyrics? 4. Do you have any ideas about where the content is about and when the song was written? Hip-hop artists use slang in their lyrics, for example, “Cheese” means Money, “to jet” means “leave in a rush” “to chill” means “to relax” “a dog” means a good friend. The lyrics can be hard to understand for people who are not from that culture. Now read this example below, do you see there are much slang are used and it is hard for non-Americans to understand everything the singer mentions in the song.

State mind of Empire

// yeah // // Yeah I'm out that Brooklyn. // // Now I'm down in Tribeca. // // Right next to DeNiro // // But I'll be hood forever // // I'm the new Sinatra // // And since I made it here // // I can make it anywhere // // (Yeah they love me everywhere) // // I used to cop in Harlem // // All of my Dominicanos (Hey yo) // // Right there off of Broadway // // Brought me back to that McDonalds // // Took it to my stash spot // // 560 State Street // // Catch me in the kitchen like Simmons whipping Pastry // // Cruising down 8th street // // Off-white Lexus // // Driving so slow // // (but BK, it's from Texas!!) // // Me I'm out that BedStuy // // Home of that boy Biggie // // now I live on Billboard // // and I brought my boys with me // // Say what up to Ta-ta // // Still sipping Mai Tais // // Sitting courtside // // Knicks and Nets give me high-5 // // Nga, I be Spiked out // // I could trip a referee // // ...tell by my attitude that I'm MOST DEFINITELY FROM... //

// [Alicia Keys] // // New York!!!! // // Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, // // There's nothing you can’t do, // // Now you're in New York!!! // // These streets will make you feel brand new, // // the lights will inspire you, // // Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York //

Your task 2:

As we discussed in class, in the “Empire state of Mind”, the lyrics tells the beauty of New York and the beauty of life in New York. The lyrics tell us every little thing that happens in New York streets and the people that living in New York. Now it is your chance to start working on your song. Your task is to find a topic and to write lyrics for your rap song. Requirements:

The lyrics should contain at least 3 verses and 1 chorus. The topics should be selected from these ones: Life in Melbourne, Life in our school, or current issues such as pollution, living pressure, multicultural society ect. Verses should be at least 8 lines. Each verse needs to focus on one aspect of the topic. The chorus should be at least 4 lines long.

Use the information chart to take all facts that can be used in your lyrics. ||  ||      ||   ||   ||      ||   ||   ||      ||   ||  Topic  ||  Content ||
 * Verse 1  ||  Subtopic  ||  Facts I know  ||
 * Verse 2 ||  Subtopic  ||  Facts I know  ||
 * Verse 3 ||  Subtopic  ||  Facts I know  ||
 * Chorus

Hip hop has a strong rhythm feature, among the three major musical elements - melody, harmony and rhythm, rhythm plays the most important role. Hip-hop has important influence on many morden music styles.

For example, there are five major music styles are heavily influenced by Hip-hop.

Nu Metal: a fusion of rap and heavy metal pioneered by bands Pantera and Altrax and performed by bands such as Limp Bizkit and Korn.

Nu Soul: Fusion of soul and rap, singers like Alicia Keys and Jill Scott.

Teen pop: a fusion of rap with new sounds of teen pop, such as Backstreet boys and NSYNC.

Reggaeton: a fusion of Reggae and rap, popular in Latin America

Mbalax: a fusion of rap featured African music elements (chants, rhythm).

Task 3 Pick on of these music genres, do some research on the internet, answer questions below:

1. what are the charactors of this style?

2. when this style started?

3. find 3 important musicians of this style and their works

4. Choose a song, how does the rhythm sound like? listen to backstreet boys, Jill Scott, Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, can you feel the beats?**