Sunday Times 2
Are rappers better linguists than Shakespeare?
The Oxford English Dictionary credits William Shakespeare with coining up to 2,000 words we use today.
But linguists from Manchester have found that rappers, such as Eminem and London-based Akala, are actually more adept at creating lyrics and prose than the 16th century poet.
Linguists from Manchester found that rappers, such as Eminem (pictured), are more adept at creating lyrics and prose than 16th century poets (Reuters)
By studying rap lyrics, the experts said that traditional and complex rhyming comes so easy to hip-hop artists, the skill is almost ‘second nature’ to them.
The research was led by Louise Middleton, a third-year linguistics student at Manchester University.
Lyrics were taken from Eminen’s ‘Rap God’ and Akala’s ‘Shakespeare’, as well as tracks by Public Enemy.
Ms Middleton found that while Shakespeare and poet John Keats, as examples, may have had a better style when it came to rhyming couplets and more traditional verse, modern rappers excel at rearranging sentences to make them fit. This includes creating so-called half rhymes, which are typically much harder to create because traditionalists view them as incorrect.
For example, in Akala’s Shakespeare track, he raps: ‘Its William back from the dead/But I rap bout gats [guns] and I’m black instead/ It’s Shakespeare, reincarnated/Except I spit flows and strip hoes [prostitutes] naked.’
Reincarnated and naked aren’t traditional rhyming couplets but sound similar enough for them to work for the purposes of the song.
The study said that while Shakespeare may have had a better style when it came to rhyming couplets and more traditional verse, modern rappers excel at rearranging sentences to make them fit. This includes pairing half rhymes, which are typically much harder to create (AFP)
Ms Middleton explained: ‘The high vocabulary score and high prevalence of ‘imperfect’ half rhymes and unique sentence structure, over and above the use of more traditional and deliberate rhyming couplets, show that rap music proves the theory that [its] biggest stars find their success in their ability to rhyme subconsciously. ‘My research found that more than 70 per cent of the time, artists used half-rhyme, such as ‘hop-rock’, rather than traditional rhymes like ‘cat-mat’.
Experts said imperfect rhymes do not typically come naturally when writing, but the study said the skill is ‘second nature’ for popular rap artists.
‘I think that hip-hop has the most sophisticated use of rhyme of any genre and when written down it reads just like poetry.
Manchester University said previous studies in the field have explored the similarities between the vocabulary of popular hip-hop artists with the words of Shakespeare.
Last year, New York-based data scientist Matt Daniels analysed 35,000 lyrics hip-hop and rap lyrics, and compared the number of unique words to those used in the first 35,000 words of Shakespeare’s plays and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.
In top spot was Aesop Rock who used 7,392 unique words, while DMX sat at the opposite end of the scale with 3,214 unique words.
Shakespeare sat at 5,170 unique words alongside Beastie Boys and Outkast and Daniels claimed to have found 16 artists with a stronger vocabulary than the Bard.
This suggested rappers today have a larger vocabulary than literary scholars.
© Daily Mail, London