Hip Hop Poetic Techniques

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Hip Hop is more than music; Hip Hop is a culture. The Hip Hop culture is filled with diverse ways that allow different artists to express oneself. The Hip Hop culture was created by rap artists that incorporate ethnicity, art, politics, fashion, technology, and urban life. It includes many types of expressions, for example, rapping, deejaying, dancing, and graffiti paintings. Popularized in the late 1970s, Hip hop emerged predominantly in the African American South Bronx section of New York City (Tate, Light). Hip hop music diverged from Jamaican reggae and dancehall music that was popularized in the 1960s. Over the past three decades, Hip Hop has influenced and uplifted America, speaking up for generations, and providing a voice to those who are trying to deliver a message.
Similarly, rap is like a modern form of poetry, and the lyrics are what distinguish good rappers from great ones. Raps are written around rhymes. Rhymes connects to lines so that they would flow smoothly together, pulling the listener through the song. The overall song should be organized into a rhyme scheme. Both rap and poetry use literary devices like assonance and alliteration as a format …show more content…

Hip Hop music was limited to very few musical instruments; “Most of the sound is synthetic which comes out of synthesizers, drum machines, turntables, samplers and much more such machines (Music Genres List).” The beat consists of a bassline, drum loops, dubs, and sips. The beat allows the music to flow together and differentiate from other hip hop songs. Nearly every rap song consists of three basic parts: intros, hooks, and verses. Most songs contain two to four verses of 16 to 32 bars each. The importance of having a hook is that it allows listeners to enjoy music since they will be hearing it often. Secondly, the hook should advance the main idea of the song. Take this example from Jay-Z on a track where he basically just

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