1991 No. 1 CONTENTS - Institute of Social and Cultural ...

JASO 2212 (1991): 129-149
RAPPING: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY
OF ORAL TRADITION IN BLACK URBAN COMMUNITIES
IN THE UNITED STATES
PIETER REMES
1. Introduction
'RAPPING' is part of the cultural heritage of Black ghetto life. According to Black
semantics it not only denotes ordinary conversation but also dermes specific ways
of communication. 10 the 1960s, many linguists, sociologists and psychologists
conducted thorough research on the behaviour and language-use of 'ghetto Blacks'.
The old, pathological interpretations of Black behaviour were discarded. A Black
culture concept was acknowledged. The Civil Rights movement changed the in-
This essay draws on research carried out during 1987 and 1988 for a 'licence' thesis and degree
in African History and Linguistics at the University of Ghent, Belgium. In September 1986 and
September 1987, I stayed in the LDwer East Side of New York City, collecting material. talking
to people and learning about the social and cultural context of rap perfonnances. Most of the
data was gathered through the transcription of recorded rap perfonnances (totalling some ISO
pages of transcription), which I then analysed using Dell Hymes's model (see Hymes 1972) as
a starting-point. I also recorded several radio broadcasts in New York City that specialized in
rap (notably DJ Red Alert's Saturday night show). In Belgium. I have benefited from the
assistance of Pierre Dockx, a DJ and passionate record collector, who let me use his extensive
collection and guided me through the stacks of 12" singles and albums that flII his apartment.
Along with this intensive immersion in old and new rap perfonnances, I have drawn on a variety
of literature dealing with African and African-American folklore and music genres, trying to
trace verbal and musical patterns that preceded the rapping of the 1970s and 1980s.