ESL Hip Hop

Learn English with hip-hop and rap.

New York Slang with Jay-Z

by

Guest Introduction This post is a guest article written by Paul Martin. Paul is an English teacher who’s from New York and is currently based in Buenos Aires. A music lover, he tries to incorporate music from all different genres into his lesson plans. He teaches with Listen & Learn, which offers English courses in New York, in […]

Get Educated with Hip Hop Apps

by

Contributed article by Boo Smith Songs are known to be powerful memory devices, and through the genre of hip hop, we can discover meanings of idioms and slang, learning about the English language at a deeper level. Music is one of the most entertaining and effective ways to learn a new language because it keeps […]

You best believe I’m the illest!

by

You best believe I’m the illest! My name is Steve. You best believe I’m the illest English teacher that you’ve ever seen! I’m going to break down (explain) my lyrics very quickly. We can use “You had better” in order to give very direct advice or warnings. For example, “You had better shut up. You’d better leave me alone!” […]

Oh snap! It’s hella cold outside!

by

Hip Hop Slang Oh snap! It’s hella cold outside! If you are very shocked or surprised by something, you can say “Oh snap!” If something is very cold or really cold, you can say hella. “It’s hella cold!” Oh my god! It’s so cold in Korea right now. I’m hella angry because I’m hella cold right now! Oh snap! — Use […]

Getting Into Trouble with Afroman

by

The hip-hop genre has many talented artists who discuss important social issues, such as poverty, racism, and violence… Afroman is not one of those artists! He is known as a “one-hit wonder” because he became famous for only one song that he wrote in 2000. “Because I Got High” is a story about a man whose […]

Imperatives: Do the Stanky Leg!

by

The GS Boyz were a group of rappers from Arlington, Texas who made their first big break with the single “Stanky Legg” in 2008. Although they are no longer performing as a group anymore, the Stanky Legg dance is still used at parties and by athletes at sporting events today. It’s a simple, multi-step dance […]

Catch a Break with Kurtis Blow!

by

Kurtis Blow is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major record label. “The Breaks“, a single from his 1980 debut album, is the first certified gold record rap song (taken verbatim from Wikipedia). “The Breaks” is a song about bad luck and misfortune. Everybody has ups and downs in life, and when we are experiencing difficult […]

MENU