Word!
Peepin’ Hip-Hop National Language and its Influence on Popular Culture
Hip
Hop National Language is a sublanguage of African-American Language. The vernacular
is re-birthed in Urban America and spreads
through America’s suburbs. Much of this lends itself to Hip-Hop music and the
various rappers who keep the language it incorporates fresh. In his
2010 book Decoded, Hip-Hop artist Jay-Z says that “Everything Hip-Hop touches
is transformed by the encounter, especially things like language which leaves
itself open to constant re-definition” (qtd. in Chelsey 1). For example, as long as I can remember, the
word “cool” has been a part of the American lexicon. In HHNL, one may hear the word cool here and
there, but more often you will hear words with the same definition but hidden
behind newer words, such as chill.
Other
terms such as “dope” and “phat” are prevalent in HHNL. H. Samy Alim writes “Graffiti writers of Hip
Hop Culture were probably the first coiners of the term “phat”…although phat in
obvious contrast to fat, the former confirms that those who use it know that
“ph” is pronounced “f” (“Probably the most oft-studied feature of AAL is habitualor invariant be” par 12). The intentional
change in spelling shows that HHNL is not an ignorant language; instead, it is
a creative language full of complex linguistic features. The creativity is partially what appeals to
people of all cultures, and the reason why everyone, from celebrities, to major
corporations, to even country musicians have jumped on the AAL/HHNL bandwagon. *
At
the same time, there are still those (e.g., English teachers, grammar snobs)
who discount the positive impact of AAL and HHNL. Alim points out that such negativity is
“enacting Whiteness and subscribing to an ideology of linguistic supremacy
within a system of daily cultural combat (165).
In the U.S, there is obvious importance in standard English fluency, but
as we become more culturally diverse, it is important to be culturally aware. In addition, educators need to recognize that
30 something years later, since its inception, it’s pretty safe to assume that
Hip-Hop and its language are here to stay.
I
grew up with the initial generation of Hip-Hop and the early stages of HHNL. I
also grew up in the 1980s and attended a predominately White school district
where kids were using words such as rad,
totally, awesome and like. I had the unique experience, at the time, of
witnessing the transformation of the language of White kids, whom some, by the early1990s
spoke more HHNL than most of my Black friends did. “A
speaker’s vocabulary grows dramatically during adolescence and adulthood…during
these stages, various media forms are used for socialization purposes…given
enough visual and linguistic context, a speaker appear to acquire vocabulary
from watching movies or television shows” (Chesley 1). This probably does well to explain how some
White kids who have grown up in upper middle-class environments have come to
speak HHNL. A good example is the 1981
establishment of Mtv. While I have
often heard that Mtv was not initially intended to expose the work of Black
artists, there were two musical occurrences taking place that could not be
ignored: 1) the birth and spread of Hip Hop, and 2) Michael Jackson. With the
release of Jackson’s Thriller in 1982 and the overall growth of hip-hop, it was
only necessary to cater to the population of people who were the hardcore fans
of this sort of music. Mtv had no choice but to cave in and add Black artists
to its video roster. In turn, Hip-Hop became mainstream and subsequently
changed the way that people, of all races, use language.
In
this day and age, there are other media outlets that allow for one to become
fluent in the language of Hip-Hop. “Websites devoted to slang, such as Urban
Dictionary and to hip-hop/AAE vocabulary in general such as Rap Dictionary,
allow for explicit of words with unclear meaning…”(Chesley 2). According to
Emmett G. Price III (2009) “words such
as “bling bling” have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2003.” (“The
Impact of Hip-Hop Culture” par. 2). The
craziest evidence of HHNL’s impact for me, is hearing coworkers utilize slang such
as “benjamins”, or “cray-cray” as part of their speech. I measure how played-out a slang term is
against its usage amongst some of my White colleagues who seem far removed from
urban culture. This always serves as a signal that it is time for HHNL slang
reinvention. This just may actually make me a HHNL grammar snob!
-Andrea Thompson
*The photo above was
taken in a Target and is some sort of exercise device being marketed to women. The
box cover uses the phrase “GO GIRL”, which can be traced back to AAL. In the African-American environment, one
would often hear “Go head Girl!” as a source of encouragement. In the 90’s Martin Lawrence popularized the
term “You Go Girl” on his sitcom and it became an instant catchphrase. Interestingly enough, it seems that currently
more White people use the term and very few Blacks use the term.
Works
Cited
Alim, Samy H. “Critical Hip-Hop Language
Pedagogies.” Journal of Language, Identity,
and Education. (6)2, (2007): 161-176. Eric. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.
Alim,
Samy H. “Hip Hop Nation.” pbs.org Language
in the USA. Web. 25 March 2014 <http://www.pbs.org/speak/words/sezwho/hiphop/reprint/
>
Chesley, Paula. “You Know What It Is:
Learning Words through Listening to Hip-Hop.” PLosONE, Vol. 6, Issue 12 (2011): 1 EBSCOhost. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Price
III, Emmett G. “Hip-Hop: An Indelible Influence on the English Language.” eJournal USA
(2009) Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.afrik-news.com/article16254.html >
(2009) Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.afrik-news.com/article16254.html >
