Hip-Hop Rhyme Formation
For the past twenty years, hip-hop has been a major literary force, despite sometimes being misunderstood. This misunderstanding can be attributed to the fact that people don’t know how to correctly listen to it. They see it as the rambling of words with no coherent meaning when that isn’t true, as Morris argues. “The two main principles to keep in mind when listening to hip-hop are the patterns and intricacies of rhyme and what is called the flow” (Morris 223), which is the way the words fit the beat. This is particularly important in freestyle where poets can improvise rhymes and establish the beat (or beats). There is more importance placed on the flow than the actual content of the words.
In the early development of the hip-hop genre, most raps followed the rhyme scheme of abab or abcb, like other popular songs. However, hip-hop focused on unconventional themes despite using conventional poetic forms. What helped distinguish the music was the independent distribution network of it, for instance, word of mouth. In 1986, MC Rakim single-handedly changed rap to a more sophisticated form through intricate rhyme techniques and patterns. Playing assonance, consonance, and internal rhyme off against the music has now become a standard for many hip-hop artists as a result. Next came Biggie Smalls who manipulated the stresses of words and changed the scansions, which created steady patterns in end rhyme, another major shift.
What I found most interesting was this was a male-dominated form when it first emerged. Women did not have as legitimate access as men did to hip-hop and if they did, they were the exception. Frequently women who took a particular liking towards the hip-hop genre would channel their creative skills in poetry to “explore the voice in a more hospitable context” (Morris 226). Thinking back to the fact that this form originated only a little over twenty years ago, the sexism that was occurring could explain the fact that women had less encouragement to be a rapper rather than a hip-hop poet.
It is important to distinguish between rappers and hip-hop poets. First off, women are prominent in hip-hop poetry due to the history of the form as discussed prior. Also, “hip-hop poets generally work unaccompanied, and lyrical content can have less emphasis on the ‘I’” (Morris 226–227). Lastly, hip-hop poets tend to focus on more political topics than rappers.
Morris, Tracie. “Hip-Hop Rhyme Formations: Open Your Ears”. An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art. Eds. Anne Finch and Katherine Varnes. Ann Arbor: U. of Michigan Press, 2002. p 303.
