Comments on: Rap lyrics and hip-hop slang resources; or, online translation from hip-hop to standard English

Question: Rap lyrics and hip-hop slang resources; or, online translation from hip-hop to standard English

matteo — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 14:51:51 -0800

Rap lyrics often leave me quite baffled -- my English is clearly not good enough to get them 100%. Are there any good (online or dead-tree) resources to learn more American street/hip-hop slang? And what about websites offering translations of rap lyrics into plain English?

By: trey

trey — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 14:54:46 -0800

You might try urbandictionary.com.

By: mrbill

mrbill — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 14:54:54 -0800

There's Urban Dictionary.

By: the cuban

the cuban — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 14:59:19 -0800

hip hop dictionary

By: skwm

skwm — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 15:19:37 -0800

don't forget to check out Urban Dictionary

By: Jairus

Jairus — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 15:42:05 -0800

Also, there's the Dictionary of Urban Language.

By: matteo

matteo — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 15:43:49 -0800

OK, thanks everybody.
I also heard from a friend about this "UrbanDictionary" site, is it any good?

By: sbutler

sbutler — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 15:52:06 -0800

I've spoken American English my entire life, and rap lyrics still baffle me. I wouldn't fault your English skills for your inability to understand.

By: Gortuk

Gortuk — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 16:04:06 -0800

This is my favourite rap lyric translation site - if you want them broken down in to 'plain' english, look no further!

Was herbin' em in the home o' the Terrapins
Got it dirt cheap for them
Plus if they was short wit' cheese I would work wit' them
Boy and we...got rid of that dirt for them

becomes

Don't forget my friend, at one time in my life I dealt narcotics in the state of Virginia
Well, not necessarily narcotics, but I did sell marijuana there
I got a good price from my distributor, so I was able to reduce my overhead,
And when my customers still couldn't afford my prices, I'd still find a way to complete the transaction
Through compromise and savvy business practices, we both got what we wanted

Clear now?

By: rxrfrx

rxrfrx — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 16:04:08 -0800

this isn't a quick fix, but if you try to listen to a fair amount of rap music, from different eras/regions/styles, after a few weeks you'll probably have picked up a lot of the meanings from context and such. and whenever you're really stumped, there's always good online dictionaries.

and listen to Big L's "Ebonics" for a quick primer.

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 16:25:13 -0800

Rap lyrics (especially 'underground' or 'backpack' Hip-Hop's lyrics) are often so self-referrential and solipsistic that it takes a freakin' PhD to decode them. Many to most words and phrases reference so many other layers of reference to one's own clique that it can be daunting, to say the least, to decipher what's going on.

Case in point: Today I was listening to Copywrite's new (horrible) "mixtape" where there is a reference to "KMD droppin' Mr. Hood" which is a reference to a former outfit of a current star of indie Hip-Hop (MF Doom).

I guess what I'm saying is... listen for the beats and cadence, let the lyrics you can understand be easter eggs that reveal themselves upon repeat listenings.

By: Big Fat Tycoon

Big Fat Tycoon — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 16:34:49 -0800

Ehyo, this rap is like ziti, facin' me real TV
Crash at high-speeds, strawberry, kiwi
As we approach, yo herb, the Gods bail
These Staten Island ferryboat cats bail
Fresh cellies, 50 thief up in the city
We banned for life, Apollo Kids live to spit the real

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 16:41:15 -0800

oh Ghostface! *sigh* <3

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 17:02:22 -0800

I assume that any word I can't define in a rap song either means a gun or marijuana. So far, this has stood me in good stead.

By: Ufez Jones

Ufez Jones — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 17:29:50 -0800

Was herbin' em in the home o' the Terrapins

becomes

Don't forget my friend, at one time in my life I dealt narcotics in the state of Virginia

Shouldn't that be Maryland?

By: smackfu

smackfu — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 17:41:03 -0800

Any given noun might be a brand you've never heard of. That makes it a little tougher.

By: rxrfrx

rxrfrx — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 18:26:32 -0800

Any given noun might be a brand you've never heard of. That makes it a little tougher.

try google

By: glenwood

glenwood — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 19:53:50 -0800

not to mention, Virginia is a commonwealth.

By: ikkyu2

ikkyu2 — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 22:27:31 -0800

Ha, you guys slay me.

The Original Hip-Hop Lyrics Archive has served me in good stead for some years, although I see they're using annoying Flash ads now.

By: box

box — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 08:30:40 -0800

I am also a big fan of OHHLA, but I would caution that there doesn't seem to be any fact-checking whatsoever.

Fave example: Blackalicious' 'Passion' contains the lyric "I did it without plaques." ('Plaques' is used here as a reference to gold/platinum records. Guest vocalist Rakaa Iriscience is telling us that he's not in it for the money.)

OHHLA, however, reports the line as 'I do without blacks.' This is not a common sentiment in the world of hip-hop.

By: dmt

dmt — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 09:13:13 -0800

Not trying to derail - the question seems fairly comprehensively answered at this point - but your question made me smile.

I'm currently playing Grand Theft Auto San Andreas and - even as a native English speaker - I'm really struggling to decipher the spoken dialogue in the early stages of the game. Practise and increased exposure seems to be helping however...

By: fishfucker

fishfucker — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 10:03:55 -0800

um, maybe i can be the first to speak *out* against urban dictionary?

while some of the entries are correct, i'd put the accuracy at well under 100% -- let's say 75%.

a lot of the entries are laughably wrong, and either someone's having a good chuckle at their computer or is just totally clueless.

that's what happens when they let even people like me add entries to supposedly canonical texts.

(but UD's a good start, you know.)

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 11:00:34 -0800

Yeah, use Urban Dic with caution -- check against other sources.

And include me among the native speakers often utterly baffled by rap lyrics (though I greatly admire the poetic energy).

By: xil

xil — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 11:41:24 -0800

I'm currently playing Grand Theft Auto San Andreas and - even as a native English speaker - I'm really struggling to decipher the spoken dialogue in the early stages of the game.

I had the same problem, and turning on the English subtitles helped a lot. (But I figure most of the dialogue is pretty superfluous anyway... the game tells you everything you really need to know.)