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The Sociolinguistics of Hip-hop as Critical Conscience pp 237–268Cite as

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The Death of Dissent and the Decline of Dissin’: A Diachronic Study of Race, Gender, and Genre in Mainstream American Rap

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Abstract

This chapter presents a diachronic corpus-based study of mainstream American rap. By analyzing lyrical themes and conducting a genre analysis of lyrics from the past and present, the author demonstrates that expressions of dissatisfaction and dissent have all but disappeared from contemporary American rap. Didactic messages from “authentic”, streetwise artists of the past have been replaced with more introspective lyrical content from current artists. The data indicates that while the focus of lyrical themes and genres has shifted over the years, the demographics of the artists who create them has not. The most influential rap artists have remained almost exclusively Black and male from the birth of rap music until today.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    It should be noted that not all academics maintain the same, highly positive perspective of hip-hop outlined here. Rose (2008), for example, presents five sets of scholarly arguments (and their counter-arguments) that parallel those criticisms levied against hip-hop by the press. These include the notions that hip-hop causes violence, that it is inherently misogynistic, and that it hurts Black people and destroys society’s values by presenting the image of a dysfunctional urban culture. For a coming-to-terms with the specific issue of misogynistic lyrics by an otherwise pro-hip-hop, feminist academic, see Rose (1994, pp. 166–182, see also Morgan 1990/1995, 1999).

  2. 2.

    Rap album charts—another potentially rich database for this research—did not debut until November of 2004 and hence were not included in this study.

  3. 3.

    “Black” is used as a shorthand here for all artists of African descent. I am not using the term “African-American” as some of these artists are not American (e.g., Drake who is African-Canadian). “White” here refers to all non-Black artists. No attempt has been made to determine whether the artists self-identify as Black or White. “Other” refers to groups where band members belonged to more than one race or gender.

  4. 4.

    A trap is a place where drugs are manufactured, sold, and used. In this case, it is located in a bando (an abandoned building). Bands here is a lexical substitute for money, referring to the currency bands in which bills are wrapped. The verse goes on to include a boast rap element related to the excessive expenditure (i.e., purchasing matching Lamborghinis and spending large sums of money at strip clubs).

  5. 5.

    A basehead is an addict of freebased cocaine (i.e., crack). Here F.B.I. stands for “freebase institute”, a euphemism for a crackhouse or trap, where cocaine is freebased and smoked.

  6. 6.

    Science is used here, and in a number of other raps songs, to signify wisdom.

  7. 7.

    In fact, all of the Time 1 relationships+ songs had relationships and sex as their most prominent themes. In other words, all circumstantial raps in the 1989–90 period were about either relationships, sex, or both. The relationships+ songs at Time 2 comprised mostly relationships/drugs songs along with only a few relationships/money and relationships/sex-themed songs.

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Acknowledgment

The author wishes to express his thanks to Jaspal Singh for his insightful comments on an earlier version of this chapter, and to Dawn Knight and Mercedes Durham for their input during the early stages of this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dokkyo University, Soka City, Saitama, Japan

    John P. Racine

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  1. John P. Racine
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Teaching and Learning, Southern Cross University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

    Andrew S. Ross

  2. Centre for Meta-Learning, Faculty of Systems Information Science Future University Hakodate, Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan

    Damian J. Rivers

Appendix

Appendix

Songs appearing in the top 15 positions of Billboard’s Hot Rap Singles chart during the Time 1 period (November 4, 1989 to April 28, 1990) ranked according to the number of weeks on the chart (of 26 in total).

 

Artist

Title

Weeks

Race

Gendera

Genre (Themes)

1

Salt-N-Pepa

Expression

18

BF

Didactic (self-expression)

2

2 Live Crew

Me So Horny

15

BM

Circumstantial (relationships, sex)

3

De La Soul

Buddy

15

BM

Circumstantial (relationships, sex)

4

Sir Mix-A-Lot

Beepers

14

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

5

Wreckx-N-Effect

New Jack Swing

13

BM

Entertainment (music, dance)

6

MC Lyte

Cha Cha Cha

12

BF

Diss

7

Heavy D & the Boys

Somebody for Me

12

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

8

Rob Base

Turn it Out

12

BM

Diss

9

Digital Underground

The Humpty Dance

12

BM

Diss

10

Biz Markie

Just a Friend

11

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

11

DOC

The DOC and the Doctor

11

BM

Entertainment (music)

12

Public Enemy

Welcome to the Terrordome

11

BM

Didactic (politics)

13

3rd Bass

Steppin’ to the AM

10

InterM

Entertainment (music)

14

Awesome Dre & The Hard Core Committee

Frankly Speaking

9

BM

Didactic (politics)

15

Redhead Kingpin & The FBI

Pump it Hottie

9

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

16

Young and Restless

Poison Ivy

9

BM

 

17

Queen Latifah

Ladies First

9

BF

Diss

18

3rd Bass

The Gas Face

9

InterM

Diss

19

Heavy D & the Boys

Gyrlz, They Love Me

9

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

20

Rodney O & Joe Cooley

Say It Loud

9

BM

Diss

21

Young MC

Bust a Move

8

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

22

LL Cool J

Jingling Baby

8

BM

Diss

23

Low Profile

Pay Ya Dues

8

BM

Diss

24

Arabian Prince

She’s Got a Big Posse

7

BM

Circumstantial (relationships, sex)

25

Young MC

Principal’s Office

7

BM

Entertainment (comedy)

26

Above the Law

Murder Rap

7

BM

Diss

27

Donald-D

FBI

6

BM

Didactic (anti-drug)

28

Big Daddy Kane

I Get the Job Done

6

BM

Circumstantial (relationships, sex)

29

Wreckx-N-Effect

Juicy

6

BM

Circumstantial (relationships, sex)

30

2 Live Crew

C’mon Babe

6

BM

Circumstantial (relationships, sex)

31

Divine Styler

Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’

6

BM

Diss

32

Bobby Jimmy & The Critters

Somebody Farted

6

BM

Entertainment (comedy)

33

MC Lyte & DJ K Rock

Stop, Look, Listen

6

BF

Diss

34

Kool Moe Dee

I go to Work

5

BM

Diss

35

Cool C

Glamorous Life

5

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

36

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

I Think I Can Beat Mike T

5

BM

Entertainment (comedy)

37

Gucci Crew II

Five Dollar High

5

BM

Didactic (anti-drug)

38

Serious-Lee-Fine

Nothing Can Stop Us

5

BM

Diss

39

Kid ‘N Play

Funhouse

5

BM

Entertainment (dance)

40

Big Daddy Kane

Smooth Operator

4

BM

Diss

41

Ice-T

Lethal Weapon

4

BM

Diss

42

Professor Griff

Pawns in the Game

4

BM

Didactic (politics)

43

DOC

The Formula

4

BM

Diss

44

MC Hammer

They Put Me in the Mix

3

BM

Entertainment (music)

45

De La Soul

Say No Go

3

BM

Didactic (anti-drug)

46

Oaktown’s 3.5.7

Juicy Gotcha Crazy

3

BF

Circumstantial (relationships)

47

Tribe Called Quest

I Left My Wallet in El Segundo

3

BM

Entertainment (comedy)

48

DOC

It’s Funky Enough

2

BM

Entertainment (music)

49

Boogie Down Productions

You Must Learn

2

BM

Didactic (black history)

50

MC Hammer

Help the Children

2

BM

Didactic (urban strife, racism)

51

Public Enemy

911 is a Joke

2

BM

Didactic (dissent)

52

Kid Sensation

Back to Boom

2

BM

Diss

53

Kwame

The Rhythm

1

BM

Diss

54

T-Ski

Pump That Beat

1

BM

 

55

Mr. Lee

Get Busy

1

BM

Entertainment (dance)

56

Maestro Fresh-Wes

Let Your Backbone Slide

1

BM

Diss

57

Young and Restless

“B” Girls

1

BM

Entertainment (comedy)

58

2 Live Crew

The Funk Shop

1

BM

Circumstantial (sex)

  1. Notes. The lyrics to Young and Restless’s “Poison Ivy” (16) were not included in the analyses. This is actually a cover of the Leiber and Stoller song first recorded by The Coasters in 1959
  2. No lyrics could be obtained for T-Ski’s “Pump that Beat” (54)
  3. a BF Black female, BM Black male, InterM Racially mixed, all-male group

Songs appearing in the top 15 positions of Billboard’s Hot Rap Song chart during the Time 2 period (July 18, 2015 to January 9, 2016) ranked according to the number of weeks on the chart (of 26 in total).

 

Artist

Title

Weeks

Race

Gendera

Genre (Themes)

1

Fetty Wap

679

26

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

2

Silentó

Watch Me

23

BM

Entertainment (music)

3

Fetty Wap

My Way

22

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

4

Fetty Wap

Trap Queen

20

BM

Circumstantial (relationships, drugs)

5

Fetty Wap

Again

20

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

6

Drake

Hotline Bling

20

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

7

Meek Mill

All Eyes on You

19

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

8

iHeartMemphis

Hit the Quan

19

BM

Entertainment (dance)

9

Future

Where Ya At

18

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

10

Drake

Back to Back

17

BM

Diss

11

Rich Homie Quan

Flex (Ooh Ooh Ooh)

14

BM

Circumstantial (sex, money)

12

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Downtown

14

WM

Circumstantial (relationships)

13

Drake & Future

Jumpman

14

BM

Circumstantial (money)

14

Wiz Khalifa

See You Again

13

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

15

Travi$ Scott

Antidote

12

BM

Circumstantial (drugs)

16

Post Malone

White Iverson

12

WM

Circumstantial (drugs)

17

Flo Rida

I Don’t Like it, I Love It

10

BM

Entertainment (party)

18

T-Wayne

Nasty Freestyle

9

BM

Diss

19

Rae Sremmurd

This Could Be Us

9

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

20

DeJ Loaf

Back Up

8

BF

Circumstantial (relationships)

21

Kid Ink

Be Real

7

BM

Circumstantial (self)

22

Meek Mill

R.I.C.O.

7

BM

Circumstantial (self)

23

Drake & Future

Big Rings

7

BM

Circumstantial (relationships, money)

24

Dlow

Bet You Can’t Do It Like Me

7

BM

Diss

25

Pitbull

Fun

6

WM

Entertainment (dance)

26

Missy Elliot

WTF (Where They From)

6

BF

Diss

27

Nicki Minaj

The Night is Still Young

5

BF

Entertainment (party)

28

Big Sean

Blessings

4

BM

Circumstantial (self)

29

G-Easy

Me, Myself & I

4

WM

Circumstantial (self)

30

Future

Commas

3

BM

Circumstantial (money)

31

Pitbull

Time of Our Lives

2

WM

Entertainment (party)

32

Drake

Energy

2

BM

Circumstantial (self)

33

K Camp

Comfortable

2

BM

Circumstantial (relationships, sex)

34

Yo Gotti

Down in the DM

2

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

35

N.W.A

Straight Outta Compton

1

BM

 

36

Eazy-E

Boyz-N-The Hood

1

BM

 

37

Drake

Right Hand

1

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

38

Drake & Future

Diamonds Dancing

1

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

39

Rae Sremmurd

Come Get Her

1

BM

Circumstantial (relationships, money)

40

Ty Dolla $ign

Blasé

1

BM

Circumstantial (self)

41

Young Thug

Best Friend

1

BM

Circumstantial (relationships)

  1. Note. The lyrics to N.W.A’s “Straight Outta Compton” and Eazy-E’s “Boyz-N-The Hood” were not included in the analyses as neither of these were contemporary releases (1988 and 1987, respectively). They both charted for one week in September 2015 following the theatrical release of the N.W.A biopic “Straight Outta Compton” four weeks earlier
  2. a BF Black female, BM Black male, WM Non-black male

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Racine, J.P. (2018). The Death of Dissent and the Decline of Dissin’: A Diachronic Study of Race, Gender, and Genre in Mainstream American Rap. In: Ross, A., Rivers, D. (eds) The Sociolinguistics of Hip-hop as Critical Conscience. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59244-2_10

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