Hip Hop and Rhyme

I was able to take away a few things about the form of Hip Hop and the use of rhyme that make it a very unique form. Hips Hop uses patterns and intricacies of rhyme and it is something they refer to as “flow”. This also means moving and vibing to the beat. According to “An Exaltation of the form” the form of the early patterns in most raps include, “…the classic abab or abcd pattern of blues and or other types of popular songs” (Morris pg 223). It also mentioned how slant rhymes were occasionally incorporated on the line. It wasn’t until 1986 that the leap of rhyme technique included internal rhyme, assonance, and consonances as well as end rhymes. These forms of rhymes can be seen in Rakim’s song when he includes end rhyme on his second and final line of the first stanza, “Dig em I Neva dug em… so I drug em”( Morris pg224). After Rakim’s debut with internal rhyme hip hop artists began to explore sexual themes in nature and refrain from using convectional themes. These artists still maintained the usage of rhyme and repetition in their pieces. An example of this can be seen in Rakims other songs where it states, “It’s our first time together and I’m feeling kinda horny, conventional methods of making love bore me”(Morris 224). Repetitions are seen in the following stanza where it states the word “off” after the first three lines. Hip hop has been a very big literacy force over the last twenty years and it has made a very big impact around the world.

Finch, A. R. C., & Varnes, K. L. (2002). An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art (1st ed.). University of Michigan Press.