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Rhymes in the Flow: How Rappers Flip the Beat
Macklin Smith and Aurko Joshi
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Despite its global popularity, rap has received little scholarly attention in terms of its poetic features. Rhymes in the Flow systematically analyzes the poetics (rap beats, rhythms, rhymes, verse and song structures) of many notable rap songs to provide new insights on rap artistry and performance. Defining and describing the features of what rappers commonly call flow, the authors establish a theory of the rap line as they trace rap's deepest roots and stylistic evolution—from Anglo-Saxon poetry to Lil Wayne—and contextualize its complex poetics. Rhymes in the Flow helps explain rap's wide appeal by focusing primarily on its rhythmic and thematic power, while also claiming its historical, cultural, musical, and poetic importance.
Fig. 6. Te average length of rap lines from 1979 to 2009, showing maximum, minimum,
and median lengths. Averaging about thirteen syllables, rap line length has remained
roughly stable, ticking up slightly in recent years, but range has expanded, as has the
variation within these lines. (Note: the graph includes non-syllabic vocal events.)
Fig. 9. Comparing dip lengths of ten West Coast rappers. Te bar at the left shows the averages of all ten. Shaded regions represent average dip
lengths; they are stacked here but do not sum to represent lines as a whole.
Fig. 10. Comparing average dip lengths of Los Angeles-based rappers (solid line) with
New York City-based rappers (dotted line), with range of average dip length from .5 to
2.0 syllables. Length from the center signifes the number of syllabic events within the
dip > 0.
Fig. 11. Comparing Biggie (dashed line) with other New York City-based rappers (dotted
line), with range of dip length from .2 to 1.5 syllables. Length from the center signifes the
number of syllabic events within the dip > 0.
Fig. 12. Biggie: A closer look at “Who Shot Ya” (solid line) through the lens of average dip
length. Biggie is represented by the dotted line; New York City-based rappers by dashed
line. Range of dip length from .2 to 1.8 syllables. Length from the center signifes the
number of syllabic events within the dip > 0.
Fig. 13. Tupac: A closer look at “Hit ’Em Up” (dotted line) through the lens of average
dip length. Tupac’s overall style is represented by the contiguous black line; Los Angelesbased rappers by the dashed line. Range of dip length from .5 to 2.5 syllables. Length from
the center signifes the number of syllabic events within the dip > 0.
Fig. 14. Average dip length of “Who Shot Ya” (solid line) versus “Hit ’Em Up” (dotted
line). Range of dip lengths from .5 to 2.5 syllables. Length from the center signifes the
number of syllabic events within the dip > 0.
Fig. 15. Lil Wayne’s varied style (indicated by the dashed gray line) compared to Los
Angeles-based rappers (dotted line), New York City-based rappers (dashed line) and
Atlanta-based rappers (hybrid dashed and dotted line). Range of dip length from .5 to 2.5
syllables. Length from the center signifes the number of syllabic events within the
dip > 0.