Standard language in urban rap: Social media, linguistic practice and ethnographic context

TY - JOUR

T1 - Standard language in urban rap

T2 - Social media, linguistic practice and ethnographic context

AU - Stæhr, Andreas

AU - Madsen, Lian Malai

PY - 2015/1/1

Y1 - 2015/1/1

N2 - This article focuses on a case that compared to previous studies of hip hop language, is surprising; a group of adolescents in Copenhagen increasingly use more monolingual, standard linguistic practices in their hip hop productions on YouTube. We argue that to fully understand this development, it is necessary to take into account the local, socio-cultural meanings given to particular linguistic resources, and that this cannot be fully captured without attention to the ethnographic and sociolinguistic context. We find that the hip hop language and literacy practices in this context are related to both traditional educational norms and artistic aspirations.

AB - This article focuses on a case that compared to previous studies of hip hop language, is surprising; a group of adolescents in Copenhagen increasingly use more monolingual, standard linguistic practices in their hip hop productions on YouTube. We argue that to fully understand this development, it is necessary to take into account the local, socio-cultural meanings given to particular linguistic resources, and that this cannot be fully captured without attention to the ethnographic and sociolinguistic context. We find that the hip hop language and literacy practices in this context are related to both traditional educational norms and artistic aspirations.

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0271-5309

VL - 40

SP - 67

EP - 81

JO - Language & Communication

JF - Language & Communication

ER -