Collective participation and audience engagement in rap music /
David Diallo.
- 150 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 21 cm.
- Pop music, culture and identity .
- Pop music, culture and identity. .
Why do rap MCs present their studio recorded lyrics as 'live and direct'? Why do they so insistently define abilities or actions, theirs or someone else's, against a pre-existing signifier? This text examines the compositional practice of rap lyricists and offers compelling answers to these questions. Through a 40 year-span analysis of the music, it argues that whether through the privileging of chanted call-and-response phrases or through rhetorical strategies meant to assist in getting one's listening audience open, the focus of the first rap MCs on community building and successful performer-audience cooperation has remained prevalent on rap records with lyrics and production techniques encouraging the listener to become physically and emotionally involved in recorded performances.