Lyrical Rap.
Lyrical miracle, I’m a spiritual individual. Get lifted, did you listen? I’m gifted — this is real rap that boom bap. Who’s that?
Lyrics and consciousness are intertwined with being the origins of rap music and stepping out of these principles retracts from its origins. However, I question why lyricism must be characterized as being conscious within rap. Other songs within the Black community are not lyrical but are characterized as conscious. For example, Marvin Gaye’s — What’s Going On or James Brown’s — Say it Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud. In comparison to rap, these songs are not as lyrical but they are conscious. Why is lyricism in rap considered the criteria to be conscious?
Lyricism and consciousness are real rap because it’s smart. Consciousness is defined in rap as being aware of social, political, and economic dynamics within the community. Lyricism is defined by the usage of terminology in clever ways such as similes, metaphors, usage of descriptive imagery, etc. — in short, poetic elements. The carrying of the English language characterized by social awareness brings forth the foundation of what is supposedly real rap — being smart.
Nas was interviewed by Harvard Professor Elisa New for his lyrics. In the interview, his reason as to how he got into lyricism, is as stated,
“When I was a kid, there was a guy named T La Rock who made this song called ‘It’s Yours.’ Commentating, illustrating, description giving, adjectives. He was saying words that a teacher would say, but there was a rhythm to it; winning the track, the beat underneath it was hard. It was hard. This guy was creating visuals in my head, and I said, ‘This guy’s amazing.’ It was guys like him that drew me in. I started to see the power of words especially with rhythm.”
Nas sampled T La Rock’s song called It’s Yours in his song titled The World Is Yours which exposes the criteria of how early rap was viewed as lyrical, poetic elements, clever, and smart.
It was a talent, during slavery and Reconstruction, the ability to read and write.
In Booker T. Washington’s Up from Slavery, he speaks about the time when he was in Malden, West Virginia working in the coal mines. An Ohio Black boy came and could read. He would gather around the former slaves at the end of the workday and read them the newspaper. Booker T. Washington, extremely taken aback by this skill, began to read himself. He states,
“I had learned from somebody that the way to begin to read was to learn the alphabet, so I tried in all the ways I could to think of to learn it — all of course without a teacher, for I could find no one to teach me. At that time there was not a single member of my race anywhere near us who could read, and I was too timid to approach any white people.” — Booker T. Washington
To read and carry words in the Black community brought you higher in stature. Instead of labor, you could read — you were smart. This was considered impeccable for Blacks; once they could read, they could understand the circumstances around them and spread it to their community.
The surroundings of the mid-80s and '90s rap is the description of low taxation and individualism for the last 20 years after the civil rights movement. Coined “Reaganomics” in the ’80s, deeply affected urban city neighborhoods, mostly consisting of Black people, more specifically, Black males. This led to extreme violence and advantageous efforts to maximize profits through crack cocaine. There was no explanation of this during the time amongst the Black community because, by the ’90s, most prominent Black leaders had been killed off. Education in the urban area was low, and to understand these surroundings, Black males turned to music and learned to describe these horrific circumstances. The ability to do this was smart, a technical capability. The ability to describe their circumstances in a rhythmic pattern through visual linguistics that aligned with how they spoke.
The lyrical rapper thus is the wise Black who can read and has a way of words in a descriptive rhymatic pattern. As they allude in their works,
Wisdom be leaking out my grapefruit troop. — Nas: It Ain’t Hard to Tell
Young bloods can’t spell, but they could rock you at PlayStation.
This New Math is whippin’ motherfuckers’ ass.
You wanna know how to rhyme? You better learn how to add.
It’s mathematics. — Mos Def : MathematicsI hold the microphone like a grudge.
B’ll hold the record so the needle don’t budge.
I hold a conversation ’cause what I invent.
I nominated my DJ for president.
When I emcee, I’ll keep a freestyle going steadily.
So pucker up and whistle my melody.
But whatever you do, don’t miss one.
There’ll be another rough rhyme after this one — Eric B. and Rakim: I ain’t no joke.
But combining it with the travesties of their community,
Ya twitchin’, don’t do that.
Ya makin’ me nervous, my crew.
Well they do pack, them dudes is murderers.
So please, would ya, put your hands back in sight.
They don’t like to see me nervous.
You can understand that, right?
You draw, better be Picasso, you know the best.
’Cause if this is not so, God bless .— Jay Z : Friend or FoeMoms had to entertain many men.
Didn’t wanna do it but it’s time to pay the rent again.
I’m gettin a bit older and I’m startin to be a bother.
Moms can’t stand me cause I’m lookin like my father. — Tupac : Papaz SongI make big money, I drive big cars.
Everybody know me, it’s like I’m a movie star.
But late at night, somethin ain’t right.
I feel I’m being tailed by the same sucker’s head lights.
Is it that fool that I ran off the block.
Or is it that nigga last week that I shot.
Or is it the one I beat for five thousand dollars.
Thought he had ‘caine but it was gold medal flour.
Reach under my seat, grabbed my popper for the suckers.
Ain’t no use to be lying, I was scareder than a motherfucker.
But they’re laughing at pow pies and buried that quick.
If it’s going down let’s get this shit over with.
Here they come, just like I figured.
I got my hand on the motherfucking trigger.
What I saw’ll make your ass start giggling.
Three black, crippled and crazy senior citizens/ I live by the sword.
I take my boys everywhere I go.
Because I’m paranoid.
I keep looking over my shoulder and peeping around corners.
My mind is playing tricks on me. — Geto Boys: Mind Playing Tricks On MeBroken glass everywhere
People pissin’ on the stairs, you know they just don’t care
I can’t take the smell, can’t take the noise
Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice
Rats in the front room, roaches in the back
Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat
I tried to get away but I couldn’t get far
Cause a man with a tow truck repossessed my car — Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five: The Message
These lyrics although explicit paint an image. By taking the verbiage of their local surroundings, these lyrical rappers helped others become conscious. Hence why, lyricism is intertwined with consciousness — it is the essence of what is hip-hop. Most importantly, the essence of a Sophist in the Black community. So, if growing up in this environment the closest thing to look to was hip-hop and copy it. This was for the Black male the first entrance to education. That be History and English as well as an explanation of their sense of self— their lyricism and consciousness.
This is lyrical rap. Proof that he carries the English language that is not primitive to his tongue; rhyme and reason to the horrific circumstances of history. Just like how the former slaves surrounded the Ohio boy to read the newspaper, how we today, gather around the lyrical rapper.
