Hip-hop Subculture as a Media Phenomenon

Lazutova Natal'ya Mikhailovna ORCID: 0000-0001-7524-1907 Senior Researcher, Department of Digital Journalism, Journalism Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University 9, Mokhovaya str., bld. 1, 121009, Russia, Moscow irma-irma@list.ru Other publications by this author     Semenova Varvara Sergeevna Postgraduate student, Department of Mass Communications, RUDN University 6 Miklukho-Maklaya str., Moscow, 117198, Russia 1132223754@pfur.ru Other publications by this author     Vodzinskaya Varvara Vasil'evna Graduate student, Department of Mass Communications, RUDN University 6 Miklukho-Maklaya str., Moscow, 117198, Russia varvara_smi@mail.ru

Tope Aranda Klara Milagrosa Graduate student, Department of Mass Communications, RUDN University 6 Miklukho-Maklaya str., Moscow, 117198, Russia 1032235133@rudn.ru

Language as a social phenomenon lives and develops in society. As a means of communication, it cannot exist outside of social relations. The changing world, the transformation of life forms, the enrichment and development of consciousness—all this is inevitably reflected in the style of oral and written speech. Rapid economic, political, and ideological changes have an impact on the creative nature of a language [Yarmina. 2004]. Among other things, we are talking about the formation of ethnic tolerance, the distribution and correlation of social communities, and professional and corporate groups.

The turn of the 1990s and 2000s were marked by the emergence of new and the revival of former subcultures—informal groups of like-minded people: hippies, punks, goths, emo, extremists, graffiti artists, beatniks, theosophists, computer scientists, metalheads and, of course, rappers [Slyusarevsky. 2002].

Generational cohorts and special layers of youth have their own subcultures, which are often associated with network activity [Algavi, Kadyrova, Rastorgueva. 2017], as well as professional groups [Sokolov. 1989]. Any informal association is distinguished by its behavior, community of interests, characteristic symbolic expressions (gestures), philosophy, uniform style of dress, musical preferences, and unique language (slang). Communication within a subcultural group is usually coded as understandable only to like-minded people.

Slang refers to a unique vocabulary used to communicate with a group of people with common interests; certain linguistic means acquire the functions of social symbols and markers of a particular subcultural environment. Slang is a tool and language code, a means of subcultural coding. The social conditionality of the language is expressed in the social labeling of subcodes. Such labeled vocabulary serves to encode the language of subcultures, as a result of which slang appears.

The slang borrowed through hip-hop culture and rap is particularly interesting. Socially conditioned linguistic means cannot manifest themselves in the entire linguistic space. Lexical and phraseological units are most susceptible to social labeling and, to a lesser extent, the morphological structure of the language [Ganneva. 2010]. Due to the popularity and spread of a particular subculture, lexical units have the opportunity to switch to higher registers of the language. Rappers, for example, have contributed to the non-standard form of existence of the national language with a large number of neologisms and slang formations. Hip-hop has become the language of intercultural and interethnic communication, through which the language barrier between representatives of different peoples within one multinational state is overcome [Khruleva. 2005].

Rap appeared in the late 1970s in New York City, in areas populated predominantly by African Americans, primarily in the South Bronx. Visiting DJs from Jamaica were the first to rap; DJ Kool Herc has been labeled the pioneer of rap. Since then, rap has spread worldwide and gained significant influence. This style of music, based on the use of rhythmic recitatives and beatbox, is associated with hip-hop culture. Hip-hop is a subculture that includes MCing (rap), breakdancing, graffiti, and DJing. Ideologically, its representatives profess anti-racism.

Hip-hop is also a successful trend in Russian music. Rap, as a style of hip-hop music, is increasingly being followed by the youth, influencing morals, manners of communication, and style. It is not difficult to explain the phenomenon of this popularity: each generation needs not only its own idols but also its own sound, sign system, and lexicon. A unique language is also characteristic of this culture, built from a whimsical mixture of slang, jargon, vulgarisms, and coarse language.

In Russia, hip-hop is represented by the old (English old school) and new rap schools. Unlike the USA or France, hip-hop in Russia immediately became an international culture. Russian rap initially expresses protest against the negative forms of the surrounding reality and not the racial stratification of society. The texts are based on juxtaposing meanings according to social, cultural, and ideological characteristics.

Rap culture began to develop in our country in the late 1980s and early 2000s. The first Russian-speaking rap groups appeared during this period, such as Casta, 4’ k, Ellipsis, Centr, Caspian Cargo, The Chemodan, Nevsky Beat, Frec, Bad Balance, and AK-47. The youth of that time’s idol was Kirill Tolmatsky (DeCl). The characteristic features of old-school rap are the social orientation of the texts, the presentation of serious thought, the simplicity of the structure of melodies and rhymes, and the street-style performance element. Old-school rap is characterized by its relatively simplified recitative as non-commercial street music. That is, it represented the underground.

Russian rap began to change rapidly in the 2010s, when not only a generation of performers changed but also a generation of listeners who grew up listening to the songs of American rappers like Drake, Black Hippy, Wu-Tang Clan, Nicki Minaj, and others. Representatives of the new school find new meanings and means of self-expression in rap music, changing many people’s ideas about Russian rap.

Young musicians do not neglect to use hard bits and samples (relatively small digitized sound fragments), and each rapper’s flow (fluidity, rhythm, rap-reading speed) is unique. Promising newcomers to rap are called freshmen, which today includes members of the Melon Music Association, as well as independent artists Heroinwater, Uglystephan, Young Plato, and YOLO TAG. If underground rappers were distinguished by their own unique sound, soulful lyrics, and depth of lyrics, then modern rappers are accused of imitating Americans.

Integrating foreign hip-hop culture into Russian-language rap lyrics has generated a high degree of foreign borrowing. First, this applies to English-language slang, as rap is concentrated in the West, primarily in North America, to the hip-hop industry.

The linguistic picture of rappers is based on extralinguistic facts already fixed in the consciousness but taking into account this subculture’s realities and value concepts. Despite the cultural and social differences between Russian and Anglo-American society, communication within rap communities at home and abroad and their texts is encoded. Moreover, the thematic directions of rap storytelling can be any, but the most frequent are love, friends, money, drugs, sex, the streets, and betrayal.

The reasons for Russian rappers’ use of foreign language vocabulary may differ. Borrowing is a natural process that allows you to become a part of modern culture and join the global music world. For most Russian-speaking writers, such inclusions (whether phrases or whole sentences) are used as expressive means, giving the lyrics a special contrast and meaning [Likhachev, 1964]. Often, English-language borrowings in song lyrics are used to provide color to the performance or for rhyming purposes when the performer is unable to find the appropriate rhyme for a given word in Russian.

The popularity of Anglicisms is explained, among other things, by the fact that the language of communication in global network resources is English. Through exoticism, rappers designate an object or phenomenon from the life of another people [Chemist. 2000]. Foreign language inclusions are most widely used to convey the meaning of certain socially significant situations.

Among the basic English-language terms that have appeared in the Russian rap listeners’ lexicon, the following stand out: homie—a close friend; shout out—greeting; session—a gathering of musicians to record a track; dandy—someone who dresses in fashion and with taste; swag—style; bae (bae)—beloved girl; shorty (shawty)—beautiful, attractive girl; drip (drip)—something cool (clothes, song, person); bankroll—a large amount of money; flow—the ability to skillfully rhyme on the beat; beef—a feud between different representatives of hip-hop culture.

Let’s not forget that rap is the language of contrast and often conflict: tolerance and hostility, trust and distrust, reconciliation and confrontation. In this case, the conflict is considered a violation of the act of communication and the opposition of “friend and foe.” The linguistic characteristics of rap lyrics are markers of conflict behavior of various social groups because they convey the features of the language of conflict as a means of intercultural communication [Kozhelupenko 2009].

In their tracks, rappers often behave like gangsters, shooting a set of criminal punches —a blow with a sharp phrase: choppa—automatic weapons; toolie—firearms, more often a pistol; shooter—an assassin, a man with a barrel; opp—enemy, rival; deebo—theft; bang—shot; mob (mob)—mafia, criminal group; clique—gang (the same as a gang). Rappers react acutely to any unfavorable changes and societal conflicts, so rap has several inherent universal and specific linguistic characteristics.

Speaking of slang, it is impossible not to mention the so-called “slang without words,” which uses sign language as slang. These are a kind of encrypted messages, all of whose roots go deep into the life of the ghettos in poor “black” neighborhoods. Now, it has become increasingly associated not with the culture of the streets. This is the alphabet of hip-hop culture, through which participants can communicate with each other. Some thus express belonging to a group or even a specific place, others demonstrate their superiority. Gestures can also have sexual overtones. Most of the gestures are commands to action understood only by members of one subculture: each has a set of their own gestures that mean very specific things.

Some rappers come up with their own labels for their labels or creative associations, and sometimes, they may be similar to existing ones. Increasingly, similar symbolic gestures appear in photographs and videos of Russian artists. It is believed that there are more than a thousand traditional ones. This allows rappers not only to communicate with each other without words and demonstrate their technicality but also to be creative in choosing them according to their style.

Rap is the universal music of the world. Slang serves as a means of subcultural coding. It allows you to create communication between members of the hip-hop subculture. This is a way of verbalizing modern rappers’ existence, used in both English-speaking and Russian rap lyrics. Rappers have significantly impacted the development of slang, both inside and outside their subculture. They have made slang more accessible to a mass audience. At the same time, new words and expressions have been created, which have become widely used in young people’s daily speech. This has expanded the spread of slang and its acceptance in society. Some slang words and phrases have become part of the general cultural vocabulary.

It can be said that slang texts of subcultures reflect fragments of a linguistic personality’s worldview. It displays not only the environment and the inner world in the context of their imperfections but also discovers another world of other people. Russian rap reproduces cultural meanings, being within the framework of language and the semantic boundaries outlined by it. In this regard, the adjective “Russian” marks any musical product played in our country, regardless of its genre and stylistic features.