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

Rapping 149
buyers are· warned of the explicit nature of the lyrics by a label on the album
cover.2
Conclusion
Rapping is a varied and rich activity. It has produced an abundance of material
that needs to be examined further by researchers from such several disciplines as
anthropology, sociology and linguistics. Wben one examines the phenomenon, one
is fascinated by the immense output from Black communities in the United States
(and though not dealt with here, in the United Kingdom). At the same time, we
are confronted with the living conditions of the Black population, which have
deteriorated since the Civil Rights Movement of the 19605. Hip-hop is a
successful, creative attempt to provide Black youth with a positive future. The
young members of Black communities have developed their own independent,
often loud and rebellious alternative to what society had in store for them.
2. This is in response to an initiative of Parents Resource Music Center, a group of
conservatives. who consider this music a threat to the moral standards of American youth.
REFERENCES
BAUGH, J. Black Street Speech: Its History. Structure and Survival, Austin: The
University of Texas Press.
FOLB, E. 1980. Runnin' Down Some Lines: The Language and Culture of Black
Teenagers, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
GATES, H. L. 1988. The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary
Criticism. New Yark: Oxford University Press.
HyMES, D. 1972. 'Models of the Interaction of Language and Social Life', in J.
Gumperz and D. Hymes (eds.), Directions in Sociolinguistics: The Ethnography
of Communication. New York: Holl
KOCHMAN. T. 1981. Black and White Styles in Conflict, Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press.
LEVINE, L. W. 1977. Black Culture and Black Consciousness. New York: Oxford
University Press.
SHAW, A 1986. Black Popular Music in America, New York: Schinner.
SMlntERMAN. G. Talkin' and Testifyin': The Language of Black America, Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Toop, D. 1984. The Rap Attack: African Jive to New York Hip Hop, London: Pluto
Press.