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Hip-Hop: Mix Rhymes and Beats
Songwriting Activity
Add Current Cultural Reference
to Your Verse
- Listen to rap
example 2 and rap
example 3 again. Notice how both contain references to pop culture.
References such as these are common in hip-hop music.
- Building on what you learned in Section 3, write
new rap lyrics that reference current topics. You might consider politics,
television, popular music, technological developments, video games,
and so on. As with rap example 3, you might even want to incorporate
a date or year into your rap to give your audience a context for time
and place.
- Listen to the other two rap example tracks for ideas
on ways to vary the rhyme schemes and rhythmic patterns.
- Perform your rap lyrics along with your chosen rap
track.
Advanced Songwriting Activity
- Listen to rap
example 4. Notice how the Caribbean dialect adds color to the story.
Think of a specific dialect, or a style of speaking, that you want to
include in your song. Think of a character who will speak the lyrics.
- As this character, write a set of rap verses that
tells a story for your chosen track. Incorporate a beginning, a middle,
and an end in your story.
Web Links Extension
http://www.redhotjazz.com/cooke.html
Although it is a popular musical style, hip-hop is not the first example
of words spoken in a musical manner over music. Visit this site to read
about Doc Cooke, an early jazz musician. Then click on "Doc Cooke and
his 14 Doctors of Syncopation" and listen to "I Got Worry." The spoken
verses are recited in a musical style. The words are not exactly sung,
but there is a melodic quality to the pitch of the voice.
When you have a feel for the musical way in which the
verses are rapped, go back to your chosen hip-hop track. Rap your verses
in the older, melodic style you heard on the Doc Cooke recording.
You may now choose another Performance Activity.
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