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and Rauber 2008). The structure of hip-hop verses often necessitates use of a greater number of words. A standard rap verse contains sixteen lines (or bars), though artists often experiment with this standard. Most hip-hop songs have three verses, so a standard song of four to four and a half minutes contains forty-eight lines of rap. Although it is an extreme example, the six-minute song “Rap God” (2013) by American rapper Eminem received a lot of attention because it contained over 1,500 words. Rudolf Mayer, Robert Neumayer, and Andreas Rauber (2008) compared hip-hop to genres such as country, pop, reggae, folk, metal, and R&B and found that hip-hop songs had significantly more words per minute. In a comparison of the top hip-hop and bongo flava artists in Tanzania, Fid Q and Diamond Platnumz, we see a definite difference in word count. Fid Q’s “I Am a Professional” contained 531 words and “Bongo Hip Hop” contained 558 words, respectively. “Kesho” by Diamond Platnumz, by contrast, has only 200 words, and “Nimpate wapi,” 230. As a whole, the songs in Fid Q’s catalog average more than twice as many words as the songs of Diamond Platnumz.

      In addition to word count, hip-hop songs must have a particular rhyme structure. A song cannot be considered a hip-hop song if there is no identifiable rhyme structure. There are various types of what are called end, perfect, or full rhymes, including monosyllable (masculine), dual-syllable (feminine), and antepenultimate syllable (triple) (Alim 2006).

      An example of a monosyllable rhyme: “We taking it back to the raw / The harder they ball / the harder they fall” (Blitz the Ambassador, Ghana, “Dikembe!,” 2013).

      A dual-syllable rhyme: Mali, Koutonou, Malawi straight to Las Gidi / Cash no aba me spendi holidays with Figi / Adesa e be we don’t wanna f***k’n city (Sarkodie, Ghana, “Dear Rap,” 2014).

      An antepenultimate-syllable rhyme: Siku hlasimlis’umzimba ibengath’ufak’iVibrator / S’qhushumbis’iz’speaker uve kukhal’iHand grenator (Driemanskap, South Africa, “S’phum’eGugs,” in Xhosa, 2009).

      In these rhyme schemes, the rhyme falls on the last syllable(s) of the line. In addition to full rhymes, other rhyme styles include slant or half rhymes, which play with the pronunciation of words to create rhymes. Chain rhymes and monorhymes are similar in that they include repetitive rhyme patterns, sometimes using the same exact rhyme word for several lines. There are also internal rhymes, where the rhyme occurs in different parts of the line. There are numerous other rhyme styles and techniques. Artists may employ only one in a song, or they may use multiple rhyme techniques in a song. Here are some examples of the use of rhyme techniques by African hip-hop artists.

      K’naan’s (Somalia) “Does it Matter” employs the use of internal rhymes. With internal rhymes the rhyme occurs not only at the end of the line, but in the middle of the line as well.

      They don’t expect me on this beat, the thunder on the street

      But I never turn the cheek, surrender or retreat

      You can bet that I am strong, trying to right what is wrong

      They say it won’t be long, keep on singing your song

      But ayo you need a single, single to make a mingle

      Something that’s kinda simple, I’d hate to call it jingle

      A single is a missile, takes you right to the middle of 106 and park and maybe Jimmy Kimmel

      You’ll need somebody famous co-signing for your anus

      Who you got on the album I don’t see where the name is.

      Ghanaian artist M.anifest mixes English, Pidgin English, and Twi in his lyrics. His song “Babylon Breakdown” uses more than one style; this excerpt highlights his use of both dual-syllable full rhymes and chain rhymes. In his full rhymes the last two syllables of the lines rhyme, and he uses the chain rhyme technique, repeating the same rhyme pattern in multiple lines:

      Black military represent for the ghetto youth

      Dem we slew them

      Pharisees and Babylon crew dem

      Free education, this generation could use ’em

      Shackles gotta lose ’em

      The pigs got egos, gotta bruise ’em

      A badge and a gun, try to confuse ’em

      Diallo never run, no gun, a wallet, why they shoot him?

      In the song “Neo.Vadar” Yugen Blakrok (South Africa) provides a good example of hip-hop’s emphasis on representation, as well as the use of hip-hop rhyme techniques. Yugen Blakrok’s 2013 album Return of the Astro-Goth uses imagery that blends Asian symbols (similar to the US-based hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan), African subjects, Black consciousness, and hip-hop lyricism. In the song “Neo.Vadar” Yugen Blakrok (seen in fig. 1.1 on the roof of her apartment building in Johannesburg) shows a lyrical style that uses the creative technique called slant rhymes. Unlike many full rhymes, in which the last words of a bar or line of rap have the same sound, slant rhymes have similar but not identical sounds.

      Planted these roots under the Transkei sky

      So when flowering, to shoot through the earth when the rains subside

      Command them “Grow and bear fruit to feed the hungry and wise”

      Divine sustenance, universal nature’s benign

      But when the light behind the eyes fails to focus

      And threats of rebel armies on your horizon just swarming like locusts

      My thoughts run with the speed of Hermes.

      Manifest these verses before the world of the mystic submerges. (Bradley 2009)

      The song title “Neo.Vadar” is a play on Darth Vadar, the infamous Star Wars villain. The song blends science fiction, metaphysics, and Greek mythology and locates itself within a Xhosa community. In the song Blakrok places her herself firmly in the Transkei, a former Bantustan for the Xhosa in the Eastern Cape. Her lyrics are often more like streams of consciousness and contain a lot of symbolism, with references to spirituality and metaphysics, including a reference to the Greek god Hermes. Yugen Blakrok shows lyrical creativity in the use of symbolism and lyrical word to create a narrative that differs from the narratives created by her counterparts.

      Figure 1.1. Yugen Blakrok in Johannesburg in 2016. Photo by author.

      All three artists represent distinct styles of emceeing. The use of specific rhyme techniques by African artists distinguishes their music as hiphop music, as separate from other music genres. While examples were given of English lyrics, similar defined rhyme techniques can be found in the music of hip-hop artists rapping in languages other than English.

      In “Dans mon rêve,” Senegal’s Didier Awadi rhymes in French and uses chain rhymes to repeat the same word in more than two lines.

      J’ai fait le rêve que le peuple se levera

      Dans mon rêve cette fille se lèvera

      Dans mon rêve ce fils se levera

      Main dans la main la mere se levera . . .

      Dans mon rêve Y’a pas d’homme qui est dominé

      Dans mon rêve Pas de peuple qui est dominé

      Dans mon rêve Pas de terre qui est dominée

      Et l’état c’est la haine qui est dominée

      Dans mon rêve des colons éliminés

      Dans mon rêve Colonies eliminée.

      Nikki Mbishi (Tanzania) rhymes in Swahili and uses internal rhymes in his song “Utamaduni.”

      Yo, vina punch na midundo, mafumbo na temithali

      Za semi, zisome tungo,

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