The following Vox video Rapping, deconstructed: The best rhymers of all time, produced by Estelle Caswell, provides an introduction to the ways that rap musicians use rhyme and rhythm in their music and traces changes over time. (NOTE: The video contains language from some of the music that is not appropriate in many school settings). Take a look & listen and consider any connections you might make to existing or potential music curricula:
What implications might this have for music teaching and learning?
Watching the video above reminded me of how music education often ignores and even discounts rhythm and flow of much rap music, even when rap music is included in music programs. I made a similar point regarding the aesthetics and musical aspects of rap music and music education in the following excerpt from the article From Old School to New Schulwerk: Addressing sound worlds of contemporary popular music in the Orff Echo in 2011:
FROM BORDUNS TO BREAKBEATS? BROADENING AESTHETIC FRAMEWORKS
To expand our classroom practice, we might investigate new ways of understanding and listening to popular music. In the case of rap music, for example, we might consider an aesthetic of flow, layering, and rupture.4 Flow, or the way one performs over an instrumental part called the beat, encapsulates a rap artist’s rhythmic sensibility and interaction with the beat in ways that play with the feel of time, listeners’ expectations, sense of movement, tension, and release through sustained motion and energy.5 The layering of sounds, ideas, and images are also critical to rap music’s “sound” as are ruptures or breaks in movement created by producers, DJs, and MCs. Taken together, flow, layering, and rupture can be considered one way of understanding sonic aspects of rap music.
Using the familiar Schulwerk concept of elemental or simple rhythmic or pitched patterns in the context of this aesthetic may hinder students from developing a sense of flow and rupture given the holistic nature of how one uses phrasing, rubato, changing patterns, accent shifts, rhythmic cadences, and dramatic pauses when rapping. Similarly, a focus on functional harmony or intonation makes little sense in the context of most rap music. The disconnect between popular music sound worlds and those of elementary music classrooms may explain why much of the “rap” music published and performed in school contexts sounds metric, quantized, and curiously unlike rap music that has occurred over the past decade.
While this excerpt discusses popular music in the context of how people might use the Orff approach (since it was written for the Orff Echo), I think that it is accurate in other music education pedagogical and curricular contexts. This is particularly the case in elementary settings where rap music rhythms often parallel typical (and often decontextualized) rhythm patterns and sequences used in some programs.
[For those interested in critical frameworks, I won’t be addressing issues of cultural appropriation among other relevant themes in this post. However, I think a critical lens is needed when engaging in this work.]
As an experiment, compare and contrast the following examples of rap music. The first three examples are marketed to school music programs. The other examples are of rap music more representative of styles in the general public.
“Rap” music marketed to school music programs
Rap of the States – Teresa Jennings
*The Concert Etiquette Rap – Janet Gardner
Chicken Rap – John Riggio
Rap music in the general public
Before listening to these examples, consider watching and listening to the Vox video again.
[Note: Some of the lyrics contain language that might not be appropriate for some school settings.]
Momma – Kendrick Lamar (Genius.com lyrics, annotations, and analysis)
Hard to Choose – Rapsody (Genius.com lyrics, annotations, and analysis)
Worlds to Run – Busdriver (2nd verse) Featuring Milo (1st verse) & Anderson Paak (chorus) (Genius.com lyrics, annotations, and analysis)
[update 5/27/16 – For a slight detour, check out the Song Exploder episode on 5/26/16 featuring the creative process behind Worlds to Run ]
Renegade – Jay Z (verses 1 & 3) and Eminem (verses 2 & 4 ) both on chorus (Genius.com lyrics, annotations, and analysis)
Concrete Roses – Nitty Scott MC (Genius.com lyrics, annotations, and analysis)
Now, go back and listen to the prior examples that are marketed for school music programs (and the Vox video if you like).
What do you notice about how people use rhyming, rhythm, and flow in these different examples of rap music?
For those who wonder if young people are able to rap with a flow that is closer to rap music that we hear throughout society, consider Y.N. Rich Kids (of Hot Cheetos and Takis Fame)
or Baby Kaely (who has been sharing rap videos since around age 5)
or Cypress
Now compare these examples of young people performing rap music to the recordings of music marketed as rap to schools. I know there is much to unpack and discuss in relation to these different examples but for the purpose of this post, consider the differences in rhythm, rhyme, and flow in each song. What do you notice?
What implications does this have for the music we include or exclude in music programs?
Ideally, music teachers interested in addressing the use of rhyme, rhythm, and flow in rap music will listen to a lot of varied rap music by different artists across multiple sub-genres. Perhaps by becoming more familiar with the musicianship and rhythmic play (along with wordplay) in rap music, music educators might be more inclusive of rap music in music programs and in a manner that more closely reflects rap music outside of school (in ways that are appropriate for one’s context).
Plenty of resources exist for developing a better understanding of rap musicians’ use of rhythm, rhyme, and flow. These resources range from YouTube videos of MCs and other people deeply involved in Hip Hop music and culture discussing music to analyses by musicologists and music theorists.
For those interested in delving into rhythmic analyses, Rober Walser published Rhythm, rhyme, and rhetoric in the music of Public Enemy in 1995. Kyle Adams published On the metrical techniques of flow in rap music (available for free on Music Theory Online). Martin Connor, the music theorist featured in the vox video, analyzes rap music in ways that highlight these aspects of rap music on his blog Composer’s Corner and on his The Rapper’s Flow Encyclopedia on Genius.com. It is also interesting to read his perspective on listening to rap music as a trained classical pianist. It would be informative to find out how students listen to rap music and if or how they make meaning from the music. [I’ve included some additional resources at the end of this post.]
These types of analyses can deepen or broaden how we listen to or hear aspects of rap music. However, it takes creative pedagogical decisions to highlight such aspects of rap music in a way that can be engaging and meaningful to young people in music programs.
Why not address rap, rhythm, rhyme, and flow in your music program?
In many cases, issues of language and lyrical content may make some rap music inappropriate for school settings. However, by spending time with the music and tools such as genius.com music teachers can find great school-appropriate examples of skilled MCs.
Some educators have already started compiling lists of school-appropriate rap music. Consider these lists a starting point:
Examples of Clean “Hip Hop” Songs (Over 30 years) Compiled by Adam Kruse
Old School Hip Hop Spotify Playlist Compiled by Samuel Pena (ASU Music Education Alumn)
Expanding our understanding of rhythm, rhyme, and flow in rap music can go a long way to expanding our curriculum and pedagogy. We ought to do so thoughtfully.
Some additional resources:
Other posts on Hip Hop music and culture and music education on this blog.
Additional resources related to Hip Hop and music education.
[Some affiliate links are included below]
The books How to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC and How to Rap 2: Advanced Flow and Delivery Techniques by Paul Edwards include information similar to the Vox video (but in a more static form) that might be of interest for people who want to visualize how MCs flow.
Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop by Adam Bradley addresses similar issues but with a larger focus on the lyrics of rap music and their relation to poetry.
Also, consider watching the documentary Something from nothing: The art of rap to hear these aspects of rap music in a relevant context.
* The Concert Etiquette Rap, in particular, could make for a fascinating discussion (i.e. socio-cultural context, traditions, relationships between music and place, appropriation, etc.). Since it is beyond the scope of this particular post, I’ll just include this public analysis by emma the adventurous, reflecting on her own perspective of concerts in relation to the song she remembers performing in elementary school:
Footnotes from Old School to New Schulwerk: Addressing sound worlds of contemporary popular music
4. Tricia Rose, Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. (Hanover: University Press of New England, 1994), 3
5. Ibid.