LANGUAGE AND SUBCULTURE By: Sjors Laurijsen

INTRODUCTION - a subculture can be thought of as “ a cultural group or class within a larger culture, esp. one having beliefs, interests, customs etc., - Hip hop - started in South Bronx in the 70s, includes break dancing, graffiti, DJs combining two songs and rap music The Main audience to this genre are teenagers and also young adults

RAP MUSIC  Rap music has got its own ‘Subculture’ over the years artists have made this type of music almost as a lifestyle and that is why we can refer to it as a Subculture.  The Langauge that the artists use create that livestyle, It is the ‘’language’’ of that particular sub culture  The language that is being used makes other people want to live they way they do and this is what creates the large subculture.

LANGUAGE OF THE RAP MUSIC Trends:  Money  Woman  Richness  Drugs  Partying  Pride  Showing off/impressing  Fashion; brands, jewelry, gold, Rich  Power  Aggressive nature

SLANG - IDENTITY  Most rappers have their own language. Within that language, words and phrases are made up and created.  ‘’Slang’’ is another word for the made up words. Slang can have a very large impact on language and also its culture.  a few examples of slang words;  YOLO  Bounce  Crib  Chillen

IMPACT OF LANGUAGE  Many of the songs that are made and sang by famous rap artists are main base of the large sub culture that ‘rap’ has.  An example of this is the Song Motto by Drake. This Song became very popular for only 4 letters, Y-O-L-O (you only live once) The main audience picked up this made up slang and decided to use it them, selves. It then became a huge thing.  This shows not only the impact of the song and rapper but the impact of the language that they create.

SUBCULTURE – WOMAN  In many rap songs woman are disrespected and looked at in a different way.  The language most rappers use to describe woman is very rude and it gives a bad representation of woman within that sub- culture that they have created.  Words like;  Bitch  Hoe  Skank The words that are used are describing woman in a negative way. This can create tension within a subculture and often make cultural differences.

SONG ANALYSIS  The motto – Drake ft. lil wayne

SONG ANALYSIS - Now she want a photo, You already know though. You only live once ‒ that’s the motto nigga YOLO (drake is a famous artists, here for he is cocky and he is proud of the city he loves which is Miami and You only live once and so he wants to live his life in Miami.) - Like we sittin’ on the bench, nigga we don’t really play Every day, every day, f*** what anybody say (Drake is to good for ‘playing around’ He is more laidback and he doesn’t need all the attention of playing, hell just sit. He also doesn’t care what anybody says because he lives his own live.

SONG ANALYSIS  Talk stupid? Of with your head! Nigga, money talks, and Mr. Ed (Lil wayne has power, he shows this by saying that if you talk stupid that he can make you stop. Lil wayne also refers to how rich he is by saying that his money talks because he has so much.)  I'm calling niggas out like the umpire ( This is another example of power, lil wayne calls other guys out because he's not scared of them.)