Rappers stepping to me. They want to get some.
But I’m the Kane, so yo, you know the outcome.

Wordplay

Instead of examining new grammar in this lesson, let’s look at the song’s wordplay. What exactly is that? According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, wordplay is:

making jokes by using words in a clever or amusing way, especially by using a word that has two meanings, or different words that sound the same.

Rappers and hip-hop musicians are notoriously gifted at writing intelligent lyrics laced with witty wordplay. Big Daddy Kane was one of the earliest lyrical geniuses that elevated hip-hop to a new level.

Pick a BC date because you’re history.

Rappers stepping to me. They want to get some.
But I’m the Kane, so yo, you know the outcome.
Another victory.
They can’t get with me.
So pick a BC date because you’re history.

In this song, Big Daddy Kane is boasting that he is the best rapper in the world (and correctly so!) He is warning other rappers that they will be history if they try to challenge him. If somebody is history, they are dead or not important anymore. So what is a BC date?

In the Gregorian calendar, BC is the era before the birth of Christ and AD is the era after the birth of Christ. Of course, most governments and organizations today use BCE and ACE (before/after common era), which is more secular.

Big Daddy Kane is warning his competitors that they will be history! Not just the recent history, but really, really old history! In other words, he will destroy their reputations and make them unimportant because BDK is the best rapper in the world.

Competition I just devour like a pit bull against a Chihuahua

For you to beat me, it’s going to take a miracle.
And, stepping to me, yo, that’s the wrong move.
So what you on, Hobbs, dope or dog food?
Competition I just devour
like a pit bull against a Chihuahua.

Once again, Big Daddy Kane lets us know that he is the best MC in the world. His talents and abilities are so good that it would be unfair for most rappers to challenge him. In his words, it would be like a Chihuahua, which is a very small, frightened dog, challenging an aggressive pit bull.

You’re a butter knife. I’m a machete.

So when I roll on you rappers, you better be
ready to die because you’re petty.
You’re just a butter knife. I’m a machete
that’s made by Ginsu. Wait until when you
try to front, so I can chop into your body.

In this extract of the song, Bid Daddy Kane is comparing his lyrical style to knives. In other words, he is making knives symbolic of his rapping abilities. He derides his opponents by comparing their emceeing skills to a butter knife, which is very dull and unable to cut most things.

On the other hand, a machete is a very large knife that is capable of cutting through a lot of things. And not just any machete, but one made by Ginsu, a popular company in the 1980s that produced sharp knives. Symbolically, BDK will cut through any amateur opponent because he is a hip-hop master.

Vocabulary

• laid-back (adjective) – relaxed and worry-free; very comfortable. You don’t have to dress up at this restaurant. It’s very laid-back and casual. 
• mellow (adjective) – calm, gentle and relaxing. This music is very mellow, but I’m falling asleep to it. 
• step (up) to somebody (phrasal verb) – to approach somebody and challenge them to a competition. Some weird guy stepped up to me at the gym. It was so annoying because I only wanted to exercise.
• dope (adjective) – very cool. The San Francisco Bay Area has some really dope hip-hop music. 
• emcee/MC (noun) – a person who raps and sings hip-hop songs. It stands for master of ceremonies. Many people today consider Kendrick Lamar as one of the best MCs.
• def (adjective) – excellent. The Def Jams recording company represents many great artists. I guess they live up to their name!

Writing Task

I hope you enjoyed the lesson! Do you have a favorite hip-hop song with interesting wordplay? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Wordplay and Vocabulary with Big Daddy Kane appeared first on ESL Hip Hop.

My chick bad. My chick hood.
My chick do stuff that your chick wish she could.

What is wordplay?

Instead of examining new grammar and vocabulary in this lesson, let’s look at the song’s wordplay. What exactly is that? According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, wordplay is:

making jokes by using words in a clever or amusing way, especially by using a word that has two meanings, or different words that sound the same.

Rappers and hip-hop musicians are notoriously gifted at writing intelligent lyrics laced with witty wordplay. But to be honest, Ludacris and Nicki Minaj are not the best hip-hop artists, but their song has a few examples of interesting wordplay… and it’s great for parties, too!

Wordplay #1

My chick bad. Tell me if you seen her.
She always brings the racket like Venus and Serena.

In this line, Ludacris is explaining that his girlfriend is not a nice, polite woman. She is loud, boisterous and makes a lot of racket. This words has two meanings:

1) racket is a loud, unpleasant sound. If somebody makes a lot of racket, they are being very noisy and loud.

2) a racket is also the sports equipment used in tennis. The players hit the tennis ball with a racket.

Venus and Serena are two famous American tennis players. So Ludacris is saying that his girlfriend is bringing the racket like two tennis players, which probably means his girlfriend is a very rambunctious and wild woman!

Wordplay #2

Test her and guns get drawn like cartoons

Ludacris is warning us that we should not bother, or test, his girlfriend because she might become violent and use a weapon such as a gun. So what is the double meaning?

1) If you draw a gun, it means you take it out in order to attack somebody. You can also draw a sword for the same reason.

2) The other meaning of draw is making pictures with pencils and pens, such as cartoons.

Wordplay #3

Trash talk to them then I put them in a Hefty

In this lyric, Nicki Minaj acknowledges that many people want to be her friend, but she would rather insult them. So what’s the wordplay?

1) If you trash talk somebody, it means you say something insulting in order to make your enemies feel less confident and upset. Political opponents are  guilty of trash talking, especially during an important election.

2) Hefty Bags are a popular, name-brand trash bag in the US. So Nicki is trash talking so much that she needs a trash bag!

Writing Task

I hope you enjoyed the lesson! Do you have a favorite hip-hop song with interesting wordplay? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Wordplay with Ludacris and Nicki Minaj appeared first on ESL Hip Hop.

Real Gs move in silence like lasagna

A “g” is a gangster, which is a criminal in a gang. A gang is an organized group of criminals. So… Real Gs, real gangsters, move in silence. That’s not very difficult to understand. They move quietly and silently because they do not want to get caught and arrested by the police.

But lasagna is food like spaghetti. How can a gangster movie quietly like food? Scroll below for an explanation. 

• Many letters in English words are silent. For example, the word dumb has a silent letter. Do not pronounce the final “b”
• Lasagna also has a silent letter. The letter “g” is silent, and we do not pronounce it. Pronounce it like /lasanja/
• In other words, Gs or gangsters, do their crimes silently. They move in silence like the letter “g” in the word lasagna.

Pretty cool, right?! Do you listen to hip-hop music often? Are there words or lines that you do not understand, even with a good dictionary? Write your questions or hip-hop riddles here, and I will answer them! 

The post English Riddle with “6 Foot 7 Foot” appeared first on ESL Hip Hop.