African American Vernacular English in Hip-Hop in the early 2000s and today. A (socio-)linguistic study

Seminar paper from the year 2022 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 3,0, University of Würzburg (Neuphilologisches Institut), course: Hauptseminar: Linguistics of theoretical orientation. Language and Music, language: English, abstract: For this paper, song lyrics will be examined more closely for typical features of African American Vernacular English. Based on the analysis of the findings, any differences and similarities in the use and frequency of African American Vernacular in the rap lyrics will be clarified and thus possible developments in the use of African American Vernacular English in Hip-Hop identified. If necessary, these will also be used to draw possible conclusions about American society. In the second chapter of this thesis, the theoretical background relevant to the understanding of the topic will be discussed. An overview of the music genre of Hip-Hop, the variety of African American Vernacular English and the selected artists is given. After that, the methodology of this thesis will be explained, which will be used for the investigation of the Research Question. This is followed by a comprehensive presentation of the results with a subsequent discussion and commentary on the findings. Linguists are constantly noticing a constant change in languages and their varieties. Thus, in the end, it is to be expected that the characteristics of African American Vernacular English have also changed in the rappers' texts of different ages and can be determined with the help of this mini-study. Since African American slang is still a stylistic device even in the works of white rappers, no significant changes are to be expected in terms of the total frequency of general language elements from the African American Vernacular English.