Hip Hop Language: Function and Dysfunction

Via You Tube, an illustrative panel of perspective opposites chopped and diced Hip Hop, dissecting its contributory core to a societal enhancement or erosion. In the end, London’s “Weighing Hip Hop on Trial Debate” confirmed the genre’s limited strength in striking a harmonic chord between old and new school. Sure, Hip Hop has scored that very success musically, with its occasional merger of classic chart topping samplings, but the day when the spoken or spat word is granted old school’s fat stamp of approval is futuristic. Reality is, it may never come because that’s the way rebellion music typically plays, spinning a generational divide.    

BLING BOOM

As a writer, what piqued my interest was the banter surrounding the language, a consistent sticking point that dominated the discussion. Although a far cry from your grandfather’s genre, Hip Hop deserves major credit for language innovation. Take ‘Bling,’ for instance. The coinage caught mainstream fire when “Bling, Bling,” the brainchild of New Orleans rapper B.G. and the Cash Money Millionaires cracked Billboard’s Top 40 in 1999.  

‘Bling’ reigns as my all time fave and its universal flair swiftly boarded big-brand advertisers like Sprint and Cadillac to name a few. Sure, a handful of other terms are fitting for the enhancement category, but ‘bling’ to describe the art of ostentation or over-the-top fabulosity is unquestionably brilliant. Still, folks aspire to bring bling in some shape, form or fashion over a decade after the word gained pop culture traction.   

DEROGATORYBOMB.COM

On the flip side, the impaneled brainiacs seemed to be fixated on three words which weren’t Hip Hop-invented: The B-word, the N-word and the H-word (slang for ‘whore’). Demeaning and derogatory, these words, by design, are vile and signal societal erosion based on massive consumption. Frankly, I suspect more youth and young adults are capable of rattling these politically incorrect lyrics with a precision that’s not applied to constructing a crafty sentence. Yet, lips blaring opposition to vulgarity’s invasion of reality TV and other entertainment mediums are largely zipped. Where’s the national outcry? If we’re going to call out Hip Hop for its non-innocuous language, the least we can do is spread the dysfunctional jam evenly.           

Tech & Pop Culture Are Killing Communication Skills

Last month, I read an editorial focusing on education and employability that has never left my craw. Regarding the frequent cry that students aren’t learning what they need to compete for the jobs that do exist, Washington Post Columnist Kathleen Parker also observed “the common experience of employers who can’t find applicants who can express themselves grammatically.”

While Parker’s statement trumpets truth, employers, in turn, have been quick to shift the unemployment blame to the educational system for its lack of technical skill preparedness. But what purpose does technical competence serve when basic communication skills are absent? I mean, how far can one go if unable to articulate his or her thoughts effectively?

Instead of books, parents today are supplying the latest gadgets to their techno-obsessed youth with Twitterspeed. Textersations lined with mistakes have replaced old-fashioned conversations, and what passes youthful muster as music contains lyrics egregious enough grammatically to render an English professor punch drunk.

Technology deserves ample applause, but there’s the potential to be both friend and foe.  After all, the “Keeping up with the Joneses” electronic premium erodes in value when a simple sentence cannot be crafted.  Spoken in the Rodney King vein, can we please get back to the communication basics!?