Jiang

” Accept to begin, that tradition is the creation of the future out of the past.”
-Henry Glassie

Students will select a rap song or songs that were released in the last 4 years.* Avoid R&B or pop songs. The emphasis is on rapping performances for this particular assignment. Identify four different African American oral traditions discussed in Chapter 4 and lecture: toasting, boasting, ritual insults/playing the dozens, and call-and-response technique. I stress that you should select a rap song (or songs) that has more rapping elements than R&B- or pop-singing styles. To complete the assignment you might have to use more than one song and more than one artist. Start looking for potential songs early but wait until you get a sense of how your instructor addresses these oral traditions in class. The assignment is not due for a while.
• (5 points each): Follow the template attached to these guidelines below. Select the specific lyrics that address the verbal art form in question. Explain your rationale in [brackets]. NOTE: if you use rapgenius.com or some other website or source, you must acknowledge whomever you are paraphrasing. Therefore, include a Works Cited page.
o LEARNING OUTCOME: Completing this portion of the assignment students will apply what they have learned about African American narrative and verbal art tradition recast in a modern context. Students will gain an understanding of the symbolic expressions and narrative conventions that are used in hip hop lyrics.
o Cultural Connections Work sheet will be due no later than Tuesday, Oct 27 before 2:00:00AM and not a second afterwards. NOTE: Students are responsible for submitting on ONCOURSE on time. Part of what you will be tested on is punctuality; therefore, submitted at 2:00:00 AM will be deducted 2.0points. Anticipate problems with server or wi-fi connection, or taking your sick kid to the hospital, or… I recommend submitting as early as possible so that you can check and see your document and date of submission. No Excuses!!! If you forget to submit or are not confident that your submission is 100% original, you may submit a 2nd version of the essay before 2:00AM Wednesday morning (Oct 28) BUT a 2.0 point deduction will be applied. If you miss both deadlines, then you will earn 0 points for this assignment. Part of what you will be tested on is punctuality; therefore, submitted AT 2:00:00 will be deducted 2.0points.
*Here is a suggestion. Students tend to neglect women artists. For the sake of diversity (and to make your essay stand out among the most commonly selected artists) examine the lyrics of female artists, for example, M.I.A.’s 2012 song, “Bad Girls.”
Template: A Very Generic Model Follows Below; I found 3 in one song.
You may draw from up to 4 different songs.

Example:
Boasting is typically the easiest. The others might be more cumbersome. While it is more manageable to find three different songs, I will give you an example in which Jay Z displays elements of three of these verbal art traditions in his 2013 song “Tom Ford”:
Name of song: “Tom Ford”
Name of artist or group: Jay Z
Recording details: Magna Carta Holy Grail (2013)
Boasting: The artist boasts of his prowess in the hook [“Number don’t lie, check the scoreboard”] referring to his records sales and perhaps his marketability, and in the verses “Hands down got the best flow, sound I’m so special/Sound boy burial [MC slang for “killing” the competition; also, sounding is another name for ritual verbal dueling (for example, “Your Momma” routines) andcould be understand as a ritualized insult.], this my Wayne Perry flow [a metaphor likening his lyrical skill to the notorious, killer gangster Wayne “Silk” Perry]” (Note to reader, I did not know the Wayne Perry Reference so I consulted RapGenius).
Name of song: “Tom Ford”
Name of artist or group: Jay Z
Recording details: Magna Carta Holy Grail (2013)
Toasting: The song’s title suggests that it is a song about Tom Ford, and it is in minor ways about the high-end fashion designer; however, the song can also be read as a celebration of all the baaaaaaad folks (not meant as a pejorative—quite the opposite) coming out of Houston, Texas including his wife Beyoncé and her family and even Tom Ford who live there as a boy: “Riding clean fix your hair in my Crown/ Bad Bitch [Complimenting his wife Beyoncé’s prowess], H town [Houston]/ Keep it trill [referring to Beyoncé as “Third Ward Trill” in the credits of this song]”
Name of song: “Tom Ford”
Name of artist or group: Jay Z
Recording details: Magna Carta Holy Grail (2013)
Ritual Insult: The song, in its entirety targets, trap music artists; i.e. southern trap music rappers that reinforce stereotypes: “Clap for a nigga with his rapping ass/Blow a stack [he can afford to spend money frivolously] for your niggas with your trapping ass [those behaving like minstrels]” The song does not really fit the definition of a “dis rap” because he is not calling out any one artist in particular, but “trapping” suggests an attack at Trap Music-makers like T.I. and Rick Ross and frivolous songs like “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)” (2010) . Call-and Response: The call-and-response technique appears in the chorus: “[Call] Bossin’ up, [Response] add it up/[Call] Bossin’ up, [Response] add it up.” The chorus functions to add to the boasting lyrics of the song that celebrate Kid Ink’s prowess.

Name of song: “Bossin’Up”
Name of artist or group: Kid Ink feat. A$AP Ferg and French Montana
Recording details: Almost Home (Kid Ink EP) (2013)
Call-and Response: The call-and-response technique appears in the chorus: “[Call] Bossin’ up, [Response] add it up/[Call] Bossin’ up, [Response] add it up.” The chorus functions to add to the boasting lyrics of the song that celebrate Kid Ink’s prowess.
WORKS CITED
Jay Z. “Tom Ford.” *Rap Genius*. Genius Media Inc. Web. 10 February 2015.

HOW TO SUBMIT THIS ASSIGNMENT
Since this assignment is 100% paperless, you do not need to type your name, your GA’s name, or your professor’s name on the document since it will be archived here. It is your responsibility to make sure that your Microsoft Word document or PDF is uploaded correctly. Uploading a blank document will result in a grade of zero. Naming your document should look like your log in formula. Name and save your document with your virtual classroom name followed by the assignment name. For example, if my name were Jane Doe then I would type EXACTLY:
Doe_Jane_CulturalConnections.docx
If you submit another copy, be sure to let the Grader know which one to grade; for example, rename the document: Doe_Jane_CulturalConnections_FINAL.docx
Things to keep in mind.
• Follow the guidelines. The strict guidelines, like everything in this particular class, are to help train students for the future in which employers will be testing prospective employees on their ability to follow instructions (which includes anticipating uploading problems and problem solving) as much as their ability to write original, rich and concise content.
• If you use an outside source for some reason (lyrics from rap.genius.com, a quote from the film Style Wars, etc.), you mustinclude it in your work cited page. Need help with Work Cited page? Take a look at MLA Style Guide online: (Links to an external site.)https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

Cultural Connections Work sheet will be due no later than Tuesday, Oct 27 before 2:00:00AM and not a second afterwards NOTE: Students are responsible for submitting on time. Part of what you will be tested on is punctuality; therefore, submitted at 2:01:00AM will be deducted 2.0points. Anticipate problems with server or wi-fi connection, or getting sick, or anticipate whatever. I recommend submitting as early as possible so that you can check and see your document (the correct document) and date of submission. No Excuses!!! If you forget to submit or are not confident that your submission is 100% original, you may submit a 2nd version of the essay before 2:00AM Wednesday morning (Oct 28) BUT a 2.0 point deduction will be applied. If you miss both deadlines, then you will earn 0 points for this assignment.