AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

THE USE OF CONTRACTED FORMS IN THE HIP HOP SONG LYRICS AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

AGUSTINA IKE WIRANTARI

  Student Number: 034214130

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

  A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis ii

THE USE OF CONTRACTED FORMS IN THE HIP HOP SONG LYRICS

  By

AGUSTINA IKE WIRANTARI

  Student Number: 034214130 Defended before the Board of Examiners on January 21, 2008 and Declared Acceptable

  BOARD OF EXAMINERS Name Signature Chairman : Secretary : Member : Member : Member :

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to address all my thanks and praise to God for all His

kindness, love, patience and etc. I feel that I just nothing compared with His

  

Greatness. He is always accompanying me and giving me power to face all the

obstacles in front of me.

  I owe so much thanks to my advisor Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A., for all

his advise so I can finish my thesis, and also for my co-advisor Dr.B.Ria Lestari,

M.S. for her ideas and supports in making my thesis. Thanking is also given for

Ms. Sri Mulyani, for her ideas and the sources that can support my thesis, and for

all the English Letters Department staffs for all their help in our study.

  I would never forget to address my gratitude, love, and thanks for all the

supports to my family especially for my Dad, I Ketut S.W., my Mom, Lestari, and

my lovely sister, Putri. Thank you very much for all of your pray for me, so I can

finish my thesis.

  Finally, my true love and happiness are also given to all my friends in

English Letters Department 2003 especially for my best friends Maya, Sondang,

Csil, Agnes, Dean, Abit and Tyo. Thanks, guys, for making my days so colorful

and meaningful. My warm love and true happiness are also addressed to my

friends in Bromo 2B especially for Tuta, Entin, Wulan, Nunung, Novi, Kak

Bertha and kak Hota. For my friends, Ivan and Hendri, I want to thank so much in

supporting me.

  Agustina Ike Wirantari

  TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE……………………………………………………………………. i APPROVAL PAGE…………………………………………………………….. ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE………………………………………………………. ...iii LEMBAR PERNYATAAN……………………………………………………..iv MOTTO PAGES………………………………………………………………....v DEDICATION PAGES………………………………………………………....vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………….. .vii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………….. viii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………...ix ABSTRAK……………………………………………………………………......x

  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………….....1 A. Background of the Study……………………………………………….1

B. Problem Formulation…………………………………………………...3

C. Objectives of the Study………………………………………………...3

D. Definition of Terms…………………………………………………….4

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE…………………………………8 A. Review of Related Theories……………………………………………8

  1. Contracted Forms in Standard English…………………………8

  2. Contracted Forms in Black English…………………………...11

  

3. Hip-Hop Lyrics………………………………………………..15

  4. Contracted Forms in Hip-Hop Lyrics…………………………19

  

5. Phonological Processes………………………………………..19

  

B. Theoretical Framework……………………………………………….22

  CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY…………………………………………...24 A. Object of the Study……………………………………………………24

B. Approach of the Study………………………………………………...25

C. Method of the Study…………………………………………………..25

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS…………………………………………………....25 A. The Contracted Forms in the Lyrics…………………………………..27

B. The Influence of The Fans…………………………………………….49

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION………………………………………………...56 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………58 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………..………60

  

ABSTRACT

AGUSTINA IKE WIRANTARI. The Use of Contracted Forms in Hip Hop

Song Lyrics. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters,

Sanata Dharma University, 2007.

  This research is aimed to find out the kinds of the contracted forms in the

hip hop song lyrics and formulate the formulation of English contracted forms.

The lyrics of the hip hop songs usually use sentences without subjects and only

verbs phrases. The uses of contracted forms are also found in hip hop lyrics. The

problems that will be discussed are what kinds of contracted forms, and what are

the influences of the fans toward the use of the contracted forms in hip-hop song

lyrics.

  The kind of the research is a library study or a desk research and some of

the data for this research comes from the internet research. After the researcher

found the data then, the data are ready to be analyzed. The steps in analyzing the

study areselecting the data, transcribing the data, identifying the data, classifying

the data and finding the factors that influence the use of the contracted forms in

hip-hop song lyrics.

  Based on the research result, several conclusions can be drawn as follows :

(1) The kinds of the contracted forms that are used in the hip hop lyrics are the the

contracted forms of the operators, the contracted forms of negations, wanna

contraction, the contracted forms of gemination, the contracted forms of aphesis,

the contracted forms of the consonant sounds [r] and [l], and the contracted form

of let’s, y’all and c’mon and (2) The factors that influence the use of the

contracted forms in the hip-hop lyrics are the fans’ social class, the fans’

personality, the fans’ cultural background and the fans’ sex.

  ABSTRAK AGUSTINA IKE WIRANTARI. The Use of Contracted Forms in Hip Hop Song Lyrics. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2007.

  Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui jenis-jenis penyingkatan di lirik lagu-lagu hip hop dan memformulasikan struktur dari penyingkatan-penyingkatan Bahasa Inggris. Biasanya bentuk lirik lagu hip hop menggunakan kalimat-kalimat tanpa subyek dan kata kerja. Penggunaan penyingkatan dapat ditemukan lebih banyak di lirik lagu-lagu hip hop. Masalah-masalah yang akan dibahas antara lain: macam-macam bentuk penyingkatan dan pengaruh fans terhadap penggunaan penyingkatan dalam lirik lagu hip-hop.

  Jenis dari penelitian ini adalah studi perpustakaan atau penelitian di atas meja dan beberapa data dari penelitian ini berasal dari internet. Setelah si peneliti menemukan data dan data siap untuk digunakan. Cara-cara menganalisa thesis

dengan menyeleksi data, menyalin data, mengidentifikasi data,

mengklasifikasikan data dan mencari faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi

penggunaan penyingkatan dalam lirik lagu hip-hop.

  Berdasarkan hasil penelitian, beberapa kesimpulan dapat diambil sebagai berikut: Jenis- jenis penyingkatan dalam lirik hip hop adalah (1) Penyingkatan kata kerja bantu, penyingkatan negatif, penyingkatan wanna, penyingkatan

geminasi, penyingkatan aphesis, penyingkatan konsonan [r] dan [l] dan

pennyingkatan let’s, y’all dan c’mon dan (2) faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi penggunaan penyingkatan dalam lirik lagu hip-hop adalah kelas sosial fans, kepribadian fans, latar budaya fans, dan jenis kelamin fans.

  

You’re so precious in My eyes, I love you and I had chosen you as My

children. I had given to you My greatest wealth, My Son, so that you

can live.

Love you always,

Jesus Christ

  

When I feel afraid, think I lost my way, still You there right besides

me, nothing will I fear as long as You are near,please be near me to the

end.

(Thy word is a Lamp)

  I dedicated this for my Love, Jesus Christ for all His Blessing and Love, and also for my parents and my sister for their support and love.

  For all my friends that always accompany me .

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY As a means of communication, language makes the process of interaction

  

among the people easier to do. By having language, an understanding and the

peace among people can be created because each people can express his/her

feeling. People from different countries can be united also if there is a similarity

that can bind them together, for example the use of English as an international

language. Language eases people to share their ideas or feelings by providing

them many referents which explain the things. Because of this reason, language is

also dealing with the other fields such as arts, politics, economics, music, and

many more. In the process of the use of the language in those fields, language can

be divided into two kinds, formal language and non-formal language. Formal

language is usually used in the governmental office especially in official

situations, business letters and etc. On the other hand, the non-formal language is

used in colloquial, informal situation and many more. The non-formal language

contains slang words, contracted forms, and etc.

  Music is one of the ways to communicate feeling, beauty, idea and

sympathy. As an entertainment for people, music has been developed all around

the world whether in its form and in its variety such as classic, pop, rock, reggae,

R&B, hip-hop, and etc. However, music also reflects the condition of the society.

  

For example, in the globalization era, the condition of the society is changed to be

more dynamic, free, individual, independent, creative, innovative, and rebels for

the static condition. People try to find music which can express those things, and

hip-hop is the best choice for them. Hip-hop is the music that combines rapping,

dancing and the music itself. Hip-hop also can promote the spirit of life. Hip-hop

is popularized by West African and African American people. The hip hop music

for the first time is introduced by Kool DJ Herc and Grandmaster Flash, who

create more “danceable” music in 1970’s in New York. Today, hip-hop has been

combined with rock music, reggae, techno and other music styles. The example of

hip-hop music which is combined with rock music is Run-D.M.C. collaborates

with rock band Aerosmith, and etc. (http://www.jam2dis.com/j2dhiphopdef.htm).

  As a rap core, the lyrics of hip-hop get a great influence from the African

American language as the origin of the hip-hop music. Rap core also takes part in

making the hip-hop more alive and so do the other parts. In rap core, the rapper

usually uses the contracted form to make it more stylish , cool and also to show to

the people the identity or the culture of African as the place where the hip-hop

music was originated. The contracted form is one of the style of hip-hop lyrics as

the part of the music hip-hop itself.The example of the use of the contracted forms

are the use of the wanna contractions i.e. gonna, wanna, and etc, the reduced or

lost r such as do’, and the deletion such as ‘cos, ‘bout and etc.

B. PROBLEM FORMULATION

  In this research, there are two problems that will be discussed. Those are:

1. What contracted forms are found in the hip hop lyrics?

  2. What are the influences of the fans toward the use of the contracted forms in the hip-hop lyrics?

C. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

  The study about the use of the contracted forms in the hip-hop lyrics are to

find out what contracted forms that are usually used in the hip-hop lyrics and what

are the influence of the fans toward the use of the contracted forms. The first is to

find out the contracted forms in the lyrics means to find out what the function and

structure of the contracted forms that are found in the hip-hop lyrics. It includes

the research about the characteristics of the contracted forms.

  The second is to identify the influence of the fans toward the use of the

contracted forms in hip-hop music. The fans of hip-hop have great influence

towards the choice of words especially the use of the contracted forms in hip-hop

music as long as the aim of making the hip-hop is to entertain people.

D. DEFINITION OF TERMS

  In this part, the researcher explains first about each definition that is very

important for the topic that the researcher is going to be discussed. The definitions

are:

  1.Contracted Forms They are shortening word or words of which one or more letters have been

omitted. There are many examples of the contracted forms that are mostly used

such as I’ve, she’d, we’ll, they’ve, can’t, he’d, won’t and etc. Swan (1995:132) in

his book entitled Practical English Usage explained that contractions are common

and correct in informal writing and usually they represent the pronunciation of the

informal speech. In relations with black dialects, Wolfram and Christian (1989:

40) explained further in their book entitled Dialects and Education: Issues and

Answers. They describe Black English as a variety of English that has combined a

number of the nonstandard English forms in a unique way and the contracted

forms belong to the nonstandard English. The contracted forms that can be found

are consonant blends such as lil’ for little, and the reduced or lost of r such as

ca’ol for carol.

  2. Music It is the language of emotions. By having music, human can express their

feeling freely. Through music as the universal language, people can understand

each other’s feelings or conditions. Machlis (1955: 8) in his book entitled The

  

Enjoyment of Music says that a song is the most natural form of music. Machlis

explains that singing has been the most widespread and spontaneous way of

making music. Actually, a song is the brief composition written or adapted for

singing which also contains music and lyrics and the definitions of the lyrics

themselves are the words of a song.

  3. Hip-hop According to Davey D, hip-hop songs are the songs that include the act of

DJ –ing (cuttin’& scratchin’), emceeing/rapping, break dancing and grafitti art.

(http://www.jam2dis.com/j2dhiphopdef.htm). Hip-hop is also defined as a

lifestyle with its own language, style of dress, music and mind set. Hip-hop has

become the culture that can not be separated from the hip-hop music itself

including the activities of break dancing, which started with b-boying with little

dance steps and then develop with “popping”, “locking”, “freezing”, and

“spinning”; graffiti art, which is usually done by spraying painted hip-hop on

walls and subway cars; the use of slang, which is famous as international hip-hop

slang and it is affected by regional slang; and “bling-bling” lifestyle as the

symbols of wealth and status such as money, jewelry, cars, and etc.

(http://www.answers.com/topic/hip-hop) The hip-hop lyrics covers the lyrics

about political issues, the social changes, the life and the culture of the rappers’

himself.

  4. Stylistics The use of the contracted forms in hip-hop lyrics may have several effects

from the stylistics. According to Verdonk (2002:4) in his book entitled Stylistics,

stylistics is the analysis of distinctive expression in language and the description

of its purpose and effect. Stylistics as a study of style is also dealing with the use

of the language in any different types of text such as prose, poetry, novel,

newspaper and etc. Music is also the field that stylistics is dealing with. Lyric in

the music has similarities as poems in its characteristics. In hip-hop, rap takes an

important role besides the music itself, the break-dance, and the graffiti art. In

relations with stylistics, rap has some elements that can be observed further such

as word choices, slang words, rhyme styles, metaphors, similes, prosody,

enunciation and wordplay. The form that mostly used in hip-hop lyrics is the

contracted forms. From the word choices, rap uses contracted forms because the

form of rap is just the same as the everyday conversation which uses contracted

forms, slang words, and many more. The examples are the use of the words

wanna, gonna, ‘coz, and etc. From the explanation above, it can be seen that the

lyrics of the hip-hop is just the same as the poems which has rhyme styles, and

word choices.

CHAPTER II THE REVIEWS OF LITERATURE In this chapter, the researcher will discuss the following: the review of the

  

related theories, and the theoretical framework. The related theories will discuss

about the theory of contracted forms and the hip hop itself. Finally, the theoretical

framework will discuss about the use of the theories in answering all the

problems.

A. Review of Related Theories

1.Contracted Forms in Standard English

  a. Definition of Standard English The definition about Standard English has brought so many contra

versions in defining the Standard English itself. Peter Trudgill in Bex and Watts

(1999) Standard English will make it clearer by explaining first one by one about

the definitions about Standard English.

  1. Standard English is not a language Standard English is one of the variety of English Language not the English language itself. Standard English is a variety used in writing, a variety associated with the education system in all the English speaking countries, a variety spoken by those who are referred to as “educated

people”, and a variety taught to non-native learners. ( Ibid, 1999:118)

  2. Standard English is not an accent Standard English has nothing to do with pronunciation. In British perspective, Received Pronunciation (RP) is a high status and widely described accent but actually it is purely social accent which is associated with speakers in all parts of the country or at least in England from upper class and upper middle class background. RP is a standardized accent of English and not Standard English itself. ( Ibid, 1999: 118)

  3. Standard English is not a style The definitions of styles are varieties of language which can be arranged on a continuum ranging from very formal to very informal. Formal styles are employed in social situations which are formal, and informal styles are employed in social situations which are informal.

  Trudgill explains further that speakers of Standard English have a full range of styles open to them, just as speakers of other varieties do, and can swear and use slang just like anybody else. It means that there is no need for speakers of non-standard varieties to switch into Standard English in order to gain the formal styles. ( Ibid, 1999:119-121).

  4. Standard English is not a register The register here has a relation with the matter of lexis especially in education system. It is regarded as having one of its tasks as the transmission of particular registers to pupils- those academic, technical or scientific registers. They are not likely to have had contact with outside education system and it is important for the study which acquires the registers. Actually there is no necessary connection between Standard English and the technical registers. ( Ibid, 1999: 121-123) From the above explanation, it can be concluded that actually Standard

  

English is not a language, not an accent, not a style and not a register. Trudgill

explains that Standard English is a social dialect or a sub-variety of English which

is distinguished from other dialects of the language by its grammatical forms. ( Ibid, 1999:123-125)

  b. The Contracted Forms in Standard English Contracted forms are squeezing word or words of which one or more

letters have been omitted. Contracted forms usually happen in the non-standard

written representation of spoken forms and in the casual speech. According to

Swan (1995: 143) in his book entitled Practical English Usage, the contractions

are common and correct in informal writing and not generally used in a formal

style. He also explains about the kinds of contracted forms such as I’ve, hasn’t,

didn’t and many more. Based on the Standard English as a dialect, the contracted

forms that are included in the Standard English are those which are grammatically

correct but they are used in the informal situations. The contracted forms are:

1. The contracted forms of the operators such as be, the modals and have.

  The examples are I’m, she’s, they’ll, where’s, how’s, that’s, there’s and many more. (Ibid, 1995: 143)

2. The contracted forms of negation such as didn’t, doesn’t, don’t, hadn’t,

  haven’t, and wasn’t for the primary verbs and can’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t, won’t and wouldn’t for the modals. (Ibid, 1995: 144- 145)

2. Contracted forms in Black English

  a. Definitions of Black English Black English has a very great role in the hip-hop music especially

because the hip-hop for the first time appears amongst the Black People. Black

English also attracts so much controversy in defining its definition. Some of the

definitions will be explained by Wardaugh, Bough and Cable, Christian and

Wolfram, and Lesley Milroy.

  1. Black English According to Ronald Wardaugh (1986) in his book entitled An

Introduction to Sociolinguistics, there are three definitions about Black English.

  

First, Black English is another dialect of American English. When Black speakers

produce greater quantities of certain non-standard usage, it is simply a peculiarity

of the style of speaking they have adopted. (Ibid, 1986: 325).

  Second, Black English is a creolized variety of English and its speakers

use it in a post-creole continuum. The Black English has features that are the same

type as creole, certainly the zero copula, some residual Africanism and certain

styles of speaking ( such as rapping, sounding, signifying, rifting and fancy talk),

which look back to an African origin.( Ibid, 1986: 325).

  Lastly, Black English is a variety of English related systematically to all

other varieties of English. Black English is just the same as the other varieties of

English which have their special rules to produce their unique varieties.( Ibid,

1986: 326).

  Wolfram and Christian (1989) in their book entitled Dialects and

Education: Issues and Answers explain that Black English is a variety of English

that has combined a number of the nonstandard English forms in a unique way.

  

They also explain about the history of the Black English which is a creole (mixed)

language of Carribean at that time.

  Now, Black English is not a creole but still has its creole past combined

with many features of Southern English. Black English as dialect is an important

ethnic dimensions that combined with the social class parameter characterizing

those who spoke this variety. They underline that not all Blacks speak Black

English.

  2. African American Vernacular English (AAVE) Bough and Cable (2002) in their book entitled The History of The English

Language explain about the Black English which is also called as African

American Vernacular English (AAVE). The variety here is not a geographical

dialect and also not the dialect of all African Americans. The term vernacular

refers to non-standard features of variety.

  The term African American does serve to identify a coherent linguistic

situation on the west coast of Africa and in the Carribean during the days of the

slave trade. Some phonological features of African American Vernacular English

are the reduction of final consonant clusters such as lis’ for list, the loss of post

vocalic r for example ca’ for car, deletion before a vowel such as lif’ up for lift

up, deletion of a word-final single consonant after a vowel like ma’ for man, and

etc.( Ibid, 2002: 382-384) According to Lesley Milroy in Bex and Watts’(1999) Standard English ,

the African American Vernacular English based on the race and ethnicity is

essentially a working class black variety and the speakers of the African American

Vernacular English comes from the bitter economic, political and social cleavages

created by slavery and the Civil War.( Ibid, 1999: 178, 196)

  From those explanations, it can be concluded that Black English is another

variety of English and also a kind of dialects. The speakers of Black English are

not Blacks only because not all Blacks speak Black English and many whites can

speak Black English.

  b. The Contracted Forms in Black English As the definition of contraction says that the contracted forms are the

squeezing word or words of which one or more letters have been omitted, the

Black English have so much contracted forms. The contracted forms in the Black

English have so much influence from the phonological variation in the Black

  

English as a dialect. Wolfram and Chistian (1989: 31) in their book entitled The

Dialects and Education: Issues and Answers explain that pronunciation

differences are the major key to the Black English. In addition, pronunciation is

related to the phonological forms. Most of the contracted forms in Black English

are related to the phonology. Bough and Cable (2002:384) in their book entitled

The History of The English Language give further explanation that in AAVE, the

phonological and morphological features occur almost exclusively. Some of the

examples are:

  1. The gemination such as in the words gimmie for give me, and lemme for let me .

  2. The Aphesis as seen in the words ‘cause for because, ‘round for around , ‘fore for before, ‘head for ahead and many more.

  3. r and l contracted forms for example fo’ for for, mo’ for more, yo’ for your, do’ for door and coup’ for couple.

  4. The contracted forms of the words let’s for let us, y’all for you all and c’mon for come on.

  5. The wanna contraction as seen in the words wanna for want to, gonna for going to, gotta for got to, usedta for used to, oughtta for ought to, and hafta for have to can be found in Murcia and Freeman (1983:87) in their book entitled The Grammar Book.

3. Hip Hop Lyrics

  a. Definition Hip-hop music is derived from the acts of hip-hopping on the turntables

from one turntable to another to create “The Breaks”. In hip hop music, the

performers usually begin to speak (rap) in rhyming with the beats.

  The performers also must have ability to make the stressed words in the

lyrics sounds rhyming with the beats of the percussion. The Hip-hop music

depends on the performers’ ability to deliver the raps. In addition, hip-hop is not

only talking about the music itself but also talking about the culture that it brings.

  (www.wikipedia.com)

  b. Characteristics Hip-hop music is divided into four elements that cannot be separated from

each other which developed as the characteristics of hip-hop culture. The five

elements are the DJ-ing, B-boying (break-dancing), the MC-ing, the graffiti art

and beatboxing. The first element is DJ-ing. DJ (Disc Jockey) is the strange

sounds that are produced by the manipulation of a record over a certain groove.

  

DJ is usually found in the night club as someone who influences the mood of the

audience with his skills in music.

  The second element is the b-boying or break-dancing. Break-dancing is an

innovative and acrobatic style of dance. The kinds of the movements in break-

dancing are headspins, backspins, popping, locking, freezing, spinning, tickling

and boogaloo. The “b” stands for break-boy (or girl). Usually the break dancing is

  

showed in the break section of the song and then the b-boy will get in front of the

audience to dance.

  The third element is MC-ing. MC stands for Mic Controller. The MC in

the hip-hop music is also called as a rapper. An MC or a rapper should match the

stressed words with the beat of the percussion to make the rhyming sound more

musical. Some factors that the rapper should master are the vocal presence,

enunciation and breath control. Vocal presence is the uniqueness of the rapper’s

voice on record. Enunciation is also known as the articulation which is needed to

flow the rap and to exaggerate the artistic effects. Breath control which takes in air

without interrupting one’s delivery is very significant to master by the rapper.

  The fourth element is graffiti art. The art of making graffiti that usually

masters the rapper. It is considered as the additional skill of the rapper. The

graffiti art is usually made in the public properties in America, but now the

graffitti art spreads widely in many countries. The fifth element is beat boxing.

  

Beat boxing is an art of creating beats, rhythms, and melodies using the human

mouth. Usually beat boxing is used to replace the music instruments.

  c. The Hip-hop The old school hip-hop was started in 1970 to 1985. One of the first

rappers of hip-hop was also the first Hip-hop’s DJ, Kool Herc. He is a Jamaican

immigrant in the South Bronx who started delivering simple raps at his party in

the early 1970’s. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_culture)

  Hip-hop spreads widely in New York in the end of 1970s and the rappers

try to mix the rap with the pop music. One of the rap innovators is Melle Mel. Hip

hop music at that time is influenced by the funk , soul, R&B, and disco music. In

1980s, hip-hop begins to diversify and develop into more complex form. The

techniques in music develops also including scratching and electronic recording.

  Hip-hop musicians try to collaborate with rock bands for example Run

DMC collaborates with rock bands, Aerosmith in the song “Walk This Way” in

the album Raising Hell. The kinds of hip-hop are also developed into conscious

hip-hop, jazz-rap and gangsta-rap.

  The golden age of hip-hop era begins in 1985 to 1993. Rap changes in

direction especially in the style of rapping. In 80s, the rap has verses which

constrained straight forward structures and rhyme scheme but in 90s, the rapper

try to explore the basic form to more free-flowing in lyrics, more fluid and

complex in the style and the like. The style of rap at that time differenciates

between the West Coast with its funky and smooth rap and the East Coast with its

aggressive rap. Both groups compete each other and it causes the prolonged

confrontation.

  d. Functions and Significance The function of the hip hop music for the first time is as a medium to

reduce the gang violence by channeling their anger and aggressions in the shape

of art, and then it has developed until now as the opportunity for the young urban

to express themselves freely. Boyd in his book entitled Am I Black enough for

  

you? says that rap or hip-hop has become big business that attracts the young

people to create more hip-hop to succeed in business as it is stated bellows: The venue of rap serves as a means of upward mobility and social legitimation, allowing Biggie Smalls to describe the dismal choices faced by those who attempt to rise up out of the ghetto….Thus basketball and rap become the primary vehicles for the articulation of an underclass aesthetic here associated with the nigga. (1997: 34) The hip hop music is an entertainment for the people who loves the

freestyle music and as a medium where the creative and dynamic person can

explore their skills and potentials.

  e. The Hip Hop Lyrics

Hip-hop music includes the music itself and the lyrics. The music in hip-hop

contains the beats, the tempo, sounds of instruments of music and many more.

The lyrics in hip-hop involve word choices, slang words, rhyme styles, metaphors,

similes, prosody, enunciation and wordplay.The theme of the hip-hop song

includes political issues, crime, religion, culture, and love. The shape of rap is

almost the same as poetry especially classical poetry such as having consonance

such as in The story untold, about to unfold , assonance such as in Get up on my

booty, tutti-fruiti on the rooty, slant rhyme such as in Yeah, you need to worry,

like Jason, it gets scary , internal rhymes such as in Lay another finger on this big

bad one miss lady rap singer, and also complex and lengthy rhymes for example:

  Paul, 'the way you make me feel' with these calls You should really take a look at the 'man in the mirror' And tell him to 'beat it' because I 'won't stop till I get enough'

Do you 'remember the time' we were watching the 'Billy Jean' video?

  Well he'll always be that Michael to me And it doesn't matter if he's 'black or white'

Because I 'can't stop loving him' and I hate plastic surgeons (Em Calls

Paul- Eminem) The rap uses the elements of the poetry in its lyrics such as alliterations,

wordplays, similes and metaphors for example for the use of the word honey,

pussy and etc. Besides that, hip-hop has its own vocabularies from the

international hip-hop slang to the local or regional slang.

  4. Contracted Forms in Hip Hop Music The contracted forms that are commonly use in writing a lyric are the

contracted forms that are included to the informal Standard English for example

don’t, it’s, you’re, and can’t. The example is:

  They don’t always happen when you ask And it’s easy to give in to your fear But when you’re blinded by your pain Can’t see you way safe through the rain Thought of a still resilient voice Says love is very near. ( When You Believe by Mariah Carey feat Whitney ) It is clearly seen that pop songs, rock songs and the likes still use the

standard forms of English. On the other hand, hip-hop song lyrics use Black

  

English. Many reasons can be uttered in relation to the use of Black English. One

of them is the origins of the hip-hop in the West-African and African American.

  

The Africans want to show to the world about their existence and to rebel from the

Western colonialism, and the African Americans are also proud of their own

languages. The hip-hop music uses the contracted forms of the Black English. It