In this song, 2Pac and Dr. Dre celebrate the unique and vibrant culture of California. They acknowledge and give props to several California cities that have influenced West Coast hip-hop, including Los Angeles, Compton and the San Francisco Bay Area.

California knows how to party.
In the city of L.A.
In the city of good, old Watts.
In the city, the city of Compton.
We keep it rocking.

Grammar: The Verb ‘Let’

Use the verb let for suggestions, orders or for permission. 

For permission, use: Subject + let + object + base verb.

• I sometimes let my friends borrow my car. In other words, I allow them to borrow my car. 
• My wife doesn’t let me eat junk food. She wants me to eat a lot of fruit and vegetables.
• Our teacher lets us work together in class. I like this more because our other teachers want us to be quiet all the time.

For group suggestions or orders: Let’s + base verb. Let’s not + base verb. 

Let’s (informal) = Let us (formal)

• Let’s go to the restaurant. I’m starving!
  
• Let’s buy our tickets as soon as possible. I really want to go to the concert.
• Let’s not go to that neighborhood after dark. I hear it’s dangerous at night.

For instructions to yourself: Let me + base verb. Think and see are common.

Let me = Lemme (informal pronunciation)

• Do you know where my coat is? ~Let me see… I think it’s in the other room.
  
• What is the best dish in this restaurant? ~Let me think… The lobster ravioli is very good!
• Excuse me for one minute. Lemme answer this phone call from my mother.

For instructions to another person: Let + him / her/ it / them + base verb

• Let him eat all of the candy. He will be sorry when he gets a stomachache!
  
• Let her borrow my CD. She should definitely listen to it!

Examples from Song

Now let me welcome everybody to the wild, wild West.

Worldwide, let them recognize from Long Beach to Rosecrans.

Let me serenade the streets of L.A.

Let’s show these fools how we do it over on this West Side.

Discussion Questions

2Pac and Dr. Dre are proud to be from California. Where are you from? Are you proud to be from your country, province and city? Why are you proud to be from there? Please write your comments below!

The post Let: LET me welcome you to the Wild West! appeared first on ESL Hip Hop.

poetic justice (noun) – a situation in which something bad happens to somebody, and you think that this is what they deserve.

You live life on an everyday basis
With poetic justice, poetic justice
If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it?
I mean, I write poems in these songs dedicated to you.
When you’re in the mood for empathy, there’s blood in my pen.

Grammar: Second Conditional

If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it?

Use the second conditional for unreal or hypothetical situations in the present or future.

If + subject + simple past verb, subject + would + base verb

If + subject + simple past verb, would + subject + base verb?

• If I had $10,000,000, I would quit my job. I don’t have ten million dollars, and I probably won’t have that money soon. This situation is unreal.
• If I lived in Colombia, I would learn  Spanish very quickly. I live in California with my wife. She loves California, and she will be upset if we leave. 
• If I were President of the United States, I would listen to international students. I am not the President, and I will probably never be one!
  • Normally, I was / You were / She was / We were / They were
  • In the second conditional, always use were, even if the subject is first or third person.

Vocabulary

• high maintenance (adjective) – needing a lot of attention or effort. My last girlfriend was very high maintenance. She constantly texted me, and she always demanded expensive gifts.
  
• poetic justice (noun) – a situation in which something bad happens to somebody, and you think that this is what they deserve. He left his wife and children to join a band, and he died during his first performance. It’s poetic justice!
• game (noun) – one’s ability to attract a man or a woman. He has so many girlfriends because his game is tight! 
• test someone’s patience (idiom) – to make somebody feel impatient. I was sitting next to a man, and his nagging questions during the flight were really testing my patience.
• one-off (adjective) – made or happening only once and not regularly. Her boyfriend is not very honest. He always has these one off romances with other women!
  
• taboo (noun) – a cultural or religious custom that prohibits certain behavior or beliefs. Working on a Sunday is a taboo in California. 
• fatal attraction (noun) – being attracted to the wrong person for you; the consequences of an attraction will probably cause problems.

Discussion Questions

Do you know somebody who has experienced poetic justice? If something bad happened to your friends or family, what would you do? Have you ever had a high maintenance relationship? Did this relationship test your patience? Please write your comments below!

The post Learn English Grammar: Second Conditional with Kendrick Lamar appeared first on ESL Hip Hop.

And since we all came from a woman,
Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman,
I wonder why we take from our women,
Why we rape our women. Do we hate our women?
I think it’s time to kill for our women,
Time to heal our women, be real to our women.
And if we don’t, we’ll have a race of babies
That will hate the ladies that make the babies.
And since a man can’t make one,
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one.
So will the real men get up
I know you‘re fed up ladies, but keep your head up.

 Vocabulary

• give a holla (expression) – to greet or acknowledge somebody; a public expression of thanks; a shout out. 2Pac gives a holla to the women on welfare. They have very difficult living situations, and 2Pac has empathy for them.
• put down (phrasal verb) – to say something that makes a person look and feel stupid. Unfortunately, many men put down women and insult them. This has negative consequences on women’s confidence. 
  • also a noun. an insult.
• let up (phrasal verb) – to become weaker; to make less effort. 2Pac understands that many women have difficult lives, but he does not want them to let up.
• Keep your head up! (expression) – Stay strong! Don’t give in!
• to be real (expression) – to be honest and trustworthy. It’s time to heal our women and to be real to our women. 
• fed up (adjective) – bored or unhappy, especially with a situation that has continued for too long. Women are getting fed up with inequality and sexism. It’s time for things to change!
• pay the price (expression) – to suffer because of bad luck or making mistakes. If we don’t respect women today, the next generation will pay the price. 
• pipe dream (noun) – a hope or plan that is impossible or impractical to achieve. If women do not have the same opportunities as men, world peace will only be a pipe dream.
• blowing in the wind (expression) – If you are unsure about a person, you can say they are blowing in the wind. 2Pac cannot find his friends because they are probably blowing in the wind. Maybe some of them have died or have gone to prison.
• When it rains, it pours. (expression) – when one bad thing happens to you, many bad things happen soon after. My wife divorced me last week. My dog died last night. And I lost my job this morning. When it rains, it pours, right?
• make it (expression) – to become successful. You need to work hard in order to make it in this world. 
• to deal with (phrasal verb) – to solve a problem or perform a task; to tolerate something. I have a very bad cold, but I have to deal with it and go to work.
  • also, to put up with
• take it (expression) – to endure; to stay strong during difficult problems; to tolerate. There is too much inequality in the world, and I can’t take it anymore!

Discussion Questions

Do you think men treat women well? Does society treat women and men equally? How can brothers, sons, fathers, husbands and boyfriends praise and value their sisters, mothers, daughters and wives? What can we do to prevent violence against women? Please write your comments below!

The post 2Pac Fridays: Keep Ya Head Up appeared first on ESL Hip Hop.

In “I Used to Be a Vegan” The Grouch and Zumi criticize the vegan lifestyle and remember their vegan days.

I used to be, used to be, used to be vegan.
But I felt lightheaded and I almost regret it.
I used to be, used to be, used to be vegan.
Once was unhealthy. Now I’m breathing.
I used to be, used to be, used to be vegan.
Once was a skater. Never been a hater.
I used to be, used to be, used to be vegan.
But you can’t be a foodie if you only drink smoothies.

Grammar: past habits with ‘used to’

Used to implies a past habit. If you used to smoke cigarettes, it means you have smoked many cigarettes in the past, but you do not smoke anymore. If you have smoked only one cigarette in your entire life, you didn’t use to smoke because one cigarette is not a habit.

Subject + used to + base verb

Subject + didn’t use to + base verb

Did + subject + use to + base verb?

• I used to read Word Up Magazine. Biggie Smalls read Word Up Magazine for inspiration. After he became famous and wealthy, he stopped reading it. 
• I used to eat sardines for dinner. Sardines are very cheap and inexpensive fish. When Biggie was poor, he often ate sardines. He ate lobster and drank champagne when he became successful.
• Girls used to diss me. When Biggie Smalls was poor, girls did not like him. They disrespected him. After Biggie Smalls got a lot of money and fame, girls and women adored him. 
  
• We used to fuss when the landlord dissed us. Biggie and his family complained many times after the landlord dissed them. Not anymore. 

Pronunciation of ‘used to’

Many Americans pronounce used to like /justə/

Common Error: ‘used to’ & ‘be used to’

Used to is for habitual actions in the past. Be used to means something is familiar and you are accustomed to it.

I was used to packing gats and stuff.

Subject + be verb + used to + noun
Subject + be verb + not + used to + noun

Subject + be verb + used to + ~ing verb
Subject + be verb + not + used to + ~ing verb

• I was used to packing gats and stuff. I was familiar and comfortable with guns, but I am not accustomed to guns now.  
• I am used to waking up very early in the morning. I have woken up early many times. In the beginning, it was difficult to wake up early. Now, it easier to wake up early. 
• She is not used to listening to hip-hop music. She usually listens to R&B and rock. Hip-hop music is too fast, and she is not familiar with it. 

Vocabulary

• vegan (adjective, noun) –  a person who does not eat any animal products like meat, milk and eggs. She can’t eat sushi, steak or chorizo because she’s a vegan. 
• pee (verb, informal) – to urinate. I drank three cups of coffee, and I really have to pee now!
  • also a noun
• Mickey Deez (slang) – a nickname for McDonald’s fast-food restaurant.
• FDA (acronym) – the Food and Drug Administration. The US government department that inspects the quality and safety of food and medicine.
• lightheaded (adjective) – slightly faint. After running 20 kilometers, I began to feel very lightheaded.
• foodie (noun) – a person who is very interested in cooking and likes eating different foods. My father tries many new restaurants because he is a foodie.
• preservative (noun) – a chemical used to prevent food from spoiling and decaying. Foods with a lot of preservatives are unhealthy. We should eat more fruit and vegetables.
• vegetarian (adjective, noun) -a person who does not eat any meat.
• PETA (acronym) – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization.

Picture Dictionary

“I Used to Be a Vegan” has a lot of food words. Use the picture dictionary on Pinterest to learn new food words.

Discussion Questions

Are you a vegan or vegetarian? Are there any advantages or disadvantages of being a vegan or vegetarian? Is it ethical for humans to eat meat? Please write your comments below!

The post Learn English: Past Habits with Zion I & Grouch appeared first on ESL Hip Hop.

We’ve been spending most our lives
Living in the gangster’s paradise.
We keep spending most our lives
Living in the gangster’s paradise.

Grammar: Present Perfect Progressive

Use the present perfect progressive for actions that started in the past and continue to the present. 

Subject + has/have + been + ~ing verb

Subject + has/have + not + been + ~ing verb

Has/Have + subject + been + ~ing verb?

• I have been studying for two hours. It is 2pm now, and I started studying at 12pm. 
• You have been listening to the same song all day. I think you should listen to something different.
• He has not been exercising. He looks flabby, and he is sweating.
• How long have you been watching TV? I think you have been watching TV for too long. You should go outside and get some fresh air.

Parody of “Gangster Paradise”

At one time, there was controversy surrounding Coolio’s song. He claimed that Weird Al Yankovic did not ask for permission to parody it, and there was a brief dispute between the two artists. Eventually, Coolio and Weird Al made up and became friends again, and “Amish Paradise” is as equally as famous as the original. 

Discussion Questions

Tell us about your personal life. How long have you been studying English? How have you been studying English? What have you been doing for the last two years? Where have you been living? Please write your comments below!

The post Present Perfect Progressive with Coolio appeared first on ESL Hip Hop.

I see no changes. All I see is racist faces
Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
We under. I wonder what it takes to make this
One better place. Let’s erase the wasted
Take the evil out the people. They‘ll be acting right
Cause both black and white are smoking crack tonight

Grammar: Future Progressive

The future progressive (also called the future continuous) has several meanings:

• a future action that is in progress
• a future action that is interrupted
• 2 or more future actions that are happening at the same time

Using Will

Subject + will be + ~ing verb

Subject + will not be + ~ing verb

Subject + won’t be + ~ing verb

Will + subject + be + ~ing verb?

Using Be Going To

Subject + am/is/are + going to be + ~ing verb.

Subject + am/is/are + not going to be + ~ing verb

Am/Is/Are + subject + going to be + ~ing verb?

Example Sentences

• I will be driving to the concert tomorrow afternoon. I will start in the morning and continue driving until the evening. 
  
• She will be studying all day tomorrow, so we should visit her after she takes her test.
• He is going to be waiting for her at the airport. Her flight arrives at 7pm, but he will start waiting at 6:30 pm.
• I will meet you at the restaurant. Where will you be sitting? 
  
• She is very sick, so she won’t be traveling with us to the conference. 
  
• Wish me luck tomorrow. I am going to be giving presentations all day.

Idiom from the Hook: ‘The Way It Is’

The track’s hook samples “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range.

That’s just the way it is
Things’ll never be the same
That’s just the way it is
Aww yeah

• That’s just the way it is. (idiom) – That’s the normal way of things. That is fate.
  • That’s just the way it goes. 
  • That’s just how it goes. 

Run-D.M.C. is another classic hip-hop group. They also use this idiom in their song “It’s Like That”

It’s like that, and that’s the way it is.

Discussion Questions

What will you be doing tomorrow at 9pm? Will you be working or studying? Will you be relaxing or watching TV? Please write your comments below!

The post Future Progressive with 2Pac appeared first on ESL Hip Hop.

But right now, yo, we gonna up you on how we just chill

-Tajai, Souls of Mischief

Vocabulary

• chill/max (verb, slang) – to relax instead of feeling worried and anxious. If you’re maxing with your friends, you are having a good time. A lot of people chill out on the weekends. 
• dope (adjective, slang) – very cool and really good. Souls of Mischief are really dope! Their music is perfect for chillin’ on a Saturday afternoon in California.
• going to up you (phrase) – to inform or give somebody information. If you’re going to up someone on how to dance, you are going to teach them how to dance. Souls of Mischief are going to up us on how they chill. 
• crew (noun) – a group of close friends. If you are in a crew, you have a group of very close friends. You will help each other at any time, and you are always reliable and supportive. Of course, you got to have fun with your crew and max out! 
• grub (verb, noun) – food; to eat food. If you grub, you are eating food. When you hang out with your crew, what kind of grub do you like to eat?
• props (noun) – respect and support for someone. If you give someone props, you are publicly acknowledging and respecting them. Friends give each other props.
• fresh (adjective) -a very cool style.

Pronunciation

• Instead of saying chilling and maxing, many rappers say chillin’ and maxin’. It is common not to make the final /ng/ sound.
• Instead of saying going to up you, you can also say gonna up you. 

Discussion

When you are with your friends, what do you like to do? How do you chill out with your crew? Where do you go and who do you see? Can you up us on your crew? Who’s in it, and who is the leader? Please write your comments below!

The post Learn How to Chill with Souls of Mischief appeared first on ESL Hip Hop.

Up early in the morning, dressed in black
Don’t ask why? Cause I’m down in a suit and tie
They killed a homie that I went to school with
I tell ya life ain’t shit to fool with
I still hear the screams of his mother
While my nigga laid dead in the gutter
And it’s getting to my temple
Why is that the only time black folks get to ride in a limo?

-Ice Cube

The senseless violence in Ice Cube’s neighborhood is really bothering him. He reminds us that life is very valuable and precious and ponders why there is so much violence in the first place. Here are 9 vocabulary words and phrases that you’ll need to understand the song:

• dressed in black (poetic phrase) – Most Americans wear black or dark clothes to funerals.
  
• homie (slang, noun) – a friend
• getting to my temple (idiom) – If something is getting to your temple, it is getting to your head. It is a problem that bothers you. You cannot think about anything else, and it is bugging you out.
• pay my repsects (phrase) – to honor somebody after their death, usually by going to the funeral.
• shed a tear (verb) – to cry, especially because you are very sad.
• get blitzed (idiom) – to get very drunk or intoxicated. If you get very blitzed, you might go to the hospital.
• be six feet deep (idiom) – to be dead and buried underground. If you are six feet deep, you are no longer alive.
• dressed up (adjective) – wearing fancy or dressy clothes. Many people get dressed up for funerals.
• messed up (adjective) – unhappy, confused, disorderly, shocking. The high crime rate is so messed up! They need to do something about it!

How can society solve the problem of violence? Do you think humans can ever be 100% peaceful? Will there always be fighting and conflict? What is the cause of violence in big cities? Do we need stricter laws to prevent violence, or more education programs? Please write your comments below!

The post Quickly Pick Up 9 New Words with Ice Cube appeared first on ESL Hip Hop.

Complete Lesson Plan with The Pharcyde’s “Passin’ Me By”

By the end of this lesson, students will have: discussed stories of unrequited love, listened for and identified word stress and rhythm in sentences, read and transcribed lyrics into simple English, and shared their interpretation of lyrics in a jigsaw activity.

• Level: Intermediate to Advanced (B1 – C1)
• Time: 50-75 minutes with homework and followup
• Activity: Reading; Listening; Speaking
• Topic: Broken hearts; unrequited love
• Language Aims: 
  • Word stress and rhythm (primary aim)
  • keeps on + gerund (secondary aim)
• Materials: 
  • Music Video for The Pharcydes “Passin’ Me By” http://youtu.be/QjsPG0Kspxo
  • Instrumetals Only http://youtu.be/v8UH1kuZ57s
  • Lesson Plan and Workseets – PDF
  • mobile devices optional

Procedures:

1. Write the following sentence on the board: She keeps on ____________. Elicit the meaning of keeps on. (It is a inseparable phrasal verb which means to continue.) Have students complete the sentence in pairs, writing as many different examples as possible.
2. Ask for volunteers to share their ideas and write them on the board. As your write down ideas, disregard any errors at this point. Explicit correction might interrupt the flow of this warm-up, but a less intrusive form of corrective feedback is recast, which means to repeat your student’s utterance without the error. For example:
   1. Student, “She keeps on to study English.” Teacher, “Good idea! She keeps on studying English. Next idea please?”
   2. The advantage of recast is that it doesn’t disrupt the lesson very much, and it is less teacher-centered than explicit correction. However, students usually do not notice the corrected language in recast, so it may not be a reliable form of error correction
3. Tell Ss that the chorus (often called ‘the hook’ in hip-hop) is She keeps on passing me by. Have students discuss these questions in small groups and then conduct whole class feedback:
   1. What verb comes after ‘keeps on’ ? A gerund always follows the phrasal verb ‘keep on.’ I will keep on studying. I kept studying. He keeps studying every day. etc
   2. This is a love a song. The singer says, “She keeps on passing me by.” Is it a happy or sad love song?
4. At this point, your students will probably have decided that it is a sad love song. Tell a personal anecdote of an unrequited love from your youth (or just invent one, or tell a story about your “friend”). For example:
   1. In high school, I had a very big crush on a girl who was two years older than me. I really wanted to hold her hand and give her a hug. She broke my heart one day when she told me she didn’t love me… 
   2. Have one or two students share similar stories to the class and write down any incidental vocabulary on the board. Drill and follow-up new vocabulary with personalized questions. In my experience, students usually giggle when revealing old childhood romances, but there’s always a few students who don’t mind sharing. Creating a very positive rapport and atmosphere of trust is essential for a topic of this kind!
5. Setting up and running the jigsaw:
   1. Form 3 groups, each with 3-5 students. Ideally, your class size is a multiple of 3, but you may have to adjust the group size depending on the number of learners in class.
   2. Give each member in a group one of the worksheets (attached as a PDF) and have them discuss the lyrics together. Have them discuss the gist meaning of their excerpt by writing a short 1 or 2 sentence summary in plain English. They may use dictionaries or access the web on mobile devices, but be available to assist students with any problematic language. Run this discussion for about 5 minutes.
   3. Take one student from each group and have them form a new group. Students will present their summaries and interpretation from the previous discussion to the new group for another 5-10 minutes.
   4. Conduct whole class feedback and have groups share their summaries and interpretations.
6. Language Presentation: Rhythm
   1. Write this sentence on the board, and have all students read it aloud, very slowly, one word at a time: Some of the rappers should’ve made the tracks. Ask students to make a judgement: did their slow reading sound like natural speech? Why not? Try to elicit the word rhythm. 
      
   2. Explain that English has rhythm, just like music. In order to maintain the rhythm, the stressed words in a sentence occur in regular intervals, or beats. Illustrate this point by snapping your fingers and repeating these sentences. Do it slowly at first so that students notice that your snapping is synced to the stressed words. Repeat the drill again and have students repeat after you.
      1. Rappers make tracks.
      2. The rappers make tracks. 
      3. The rappers make the tracks.
      4. Some of the rappers make the tracks.
      5. Some of the rappers should‘ve made the tracks.
   3. Ask students to determine what words are stressed based on the snapping drill, in small groups. Conduct whole class feedback.
   4. Explain or help students discover that the nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs usually take the stress in a sentence. Prepositions, articles and auxiliary verbs are usually unstressed and become reduced in order to maintain the rhythm.
7. Language Practice: In groups, have students identify the stressed words from the excerpts in the jigsaw activity. Once groups decide which words are stressed, listen to the song as a whole class and have students listen for the rhythm. I usually encourage snapping or tapping at this point because it makes learners more aware of the measurement of time.

Variation with Social Media

Instead of listening to the song as a whole class, have students use mobile devices (e.g. smartphones and tablets) to access a class website with “Passing Me By”. I recommend setting up a Facebook group page for your class because it’s easy to share YouTube videos.  Have students leave comments in response to the song. You can set any number of comprehension questions or tasks for your students to complete on Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites.

Possible Followup 

For homework, have your students practice reading their excerpts aloud to the beat of the instrumentals. There are instrumental versions of most hip-hop songs on YouTube. When students return to class, you can have students read aloud the excerpts in groups to the music.

The post Intermediate Multiskilled Lesson Plan, Options for Social Media and Mobile Tools appeared first on ESL Hip Hop.

How many brothers fell victim to the streets?
Rest in peace young nigga. There’s a Heaven for a ‘G’
Be a lie if I told you that I never thought of death
My niggas, we the last ones left
But life goes on!

-2Pac

 Irregular Verbs in the Hook

Use the simple past for actions that started and finished in the past.

Regular verbs in English simply add ed, d or ied to the endings.

• play – played
• like – liked
• study – studied

Irregular verbs do not have a consistent ending. You must memorize the new forms because the past forms are irregular. In the hook, there are 3 irregular verbs in the simple past tense.

• fall – fell
• tell – told
• think – thought

There are other irregular verbs in the verses, too. Listen to “Life Goes On” and pay attention to these verbs:

• get – got
• blow – blew
• give – gave
• choose – chose

Making Questions in the Simple Past

Did + subject + base verb (no ed/d/ied ending)

• Did 2Pac live in California? Yes, he did.
• Did 2Pac like Biggie Smalls? No, he didn’t.
• Did 2Pac sing “All Eyez on Me”? Yes, he did.

How many/Who/What/When/Where/Why/How + Did + subject + base verb

• Where did 2Pac live? He lived in California.
• Where did 2Pac pass away? He died in Las Vegas, Nevada.

If the question word (who/what) is the subject of the answer, then do not use did.

Who/what/How many ____ + past verb

• How many brothers fell victim to the street? Many brothers fell victim to the street.
• Who killed Tupac? A gang killed Tupac.

How do you deal with difficult situations? If you have problems or anxiety, what do you do? Has a close friend ever died? How do you have a normal life after friends and family pass away? What helps you? Please write your comments below.

The post Level 1 Lesson 11: Simple Past appeared first on ESL Hip Hop.