Rhymes and Lyrics

For the most part I was unimpressed with the readings for this week. However, that is only because they didn’t really tell me much that was new, especially the excerpts from the Book of Rhymes. That entire reading just seemed like it was my 12th grade English class put into hip-hop’s perspective. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy them. I actually gained a fair amount from this week, even if it was not a ton of factual knowledge. I did take away more information about rappers in general, which is always good since my knowledge base was weak to begin with.
The quote I most enjoyed from this week’s readings and felt like it described hip-hop the most was out of Book of Rhymes. This quote was, “It’s not what he’s saying, it’s how he’s saying it.” The author was saying this in response to being questioned about the vulgarity in hip-hop language, but it could also be interpreted to describe rhyming. While you won’t find many people who question language more than I do, the quote really spoke to me. It makes you understand that even though some people may find the rap lyrics offensive; they are usually not being used for the sole purpose of their vulgarity. They are being used because that is the language of the medium. If a rapper were to not use the language it isn’t likely that he would be popular at all, if for very long. While I may not approve of or believe that rappers should believe in what they say, I understand the need for them to say it.
For the most part I thought it was a waste of time when reading about the different types if rhymes. While it did give me a little technical knowledge in that I now have all of the names of the different types of rhymes, I could (for the most part) describe the different rhyme forms without doing the reading. The best thing it did was give me a feeling for how different rappers used different rhyme schemes in their rap.