VI Международный конкурс научно-исследовательских и творческих работ учащихся
Старт в науке
Рэп как способ самовыражения
Автор работы награжден дипломом победителя II степени
Полная версия работы доступна во вкладке "Файлы работы" в формате PDF
Introduction
Nowadays, RAP is heard from every speaker not only in English, but also in Russian. Everywhere, in yards, playgrounds, on the street our peers practise in recitative. This is the most effective way to express your thoughts, emotions and be heard. And we decided to investigate the issue, what is RAP and the possibilities of realizing the creativity of the individual with its help. The online survey which was carried at school confirmed the relevance of the choice of the research topic.
The aim of our project is to present RAP as a tool for creativity, self-expression and final realization.
Objectives:
- to find out what RAP is and its terminology;
- to get acquainted with the history of the RAP;
- to carry out a survey on what students know about rap (appendix №1);
- to learn about the possibilities of self-realization in RAP;
- to create a leaflet with augmented reality including some pieces of advice: how to become a rapper and video with rap (appendix №2);
- present a project at the conference.
Etymology
Rap is one of the three currents of the Hip Hop subculture. The terms "rap" and "hip-hop" are often used as synonyms, it leads to a wrong understanding and confuses the reader. The first word designates the musical style, and the second one refers to the subculture as a whole.
"Hip-hop" as a cultural phenomenon of street art or the art of a megalopolis (underground, at least at the beginning of its history) includes three different directions:
1. Painting / design - "Graffiti"- "scratched" wall paintings and drawings;
2. Dance style - "break dance" - unique in its plasticity and rhythm, a dance, which laid the fashion for the entire culture of hip-hop - sportswear;
3. Musical style - "Rap" - rhythmic recitative with clearly marked rhymes and musical rhythm, given by DJ. Rap has three classifications: "Fast Rap" (one rapper is talking to another); "Vital" rap (often contains slang); "Commercial rap" (hip-hop, r`n`b and dance rap). Rap-Battle - a competition of two performers in the genre of rap with the help of a special rhyme.
Common roles in RAP:
"DJ" - "disk jockey". DJs are to program the rhythm on the drum machine and manipulate with vinyl records, create a musical background;
"MC" - "Microphone Controller" or "Master of Ceremony” - performer of rhyme;
Dancers - different dancers, which complement the performance of the MC.
RAP. Where and how it appears
The word “RAP” has two meanings: strike, hit (a hint of rhythm); talk. Rap as a genre came out of dance music. Its characteristic traits are: uneven rhythm, complex experiments with drums, presence of cycled music fragments. One of the main features of rap is the absence of signing voice, which is replaced by recitative. Rap is read like poem, but not sung. According to the official version, it is believed that rap as a musical genre appeared in Bronx among African Americans in the late 70's.
It was brought there by DJs from Jamaica. The rhymed sentences were read with fashionable music using a recitative. The new style was quickly picked up by black youth and spread in many countries. And now, on the streets of urban neighborhoods, the tradition of declarative duels, called battles, is preserved. Quite a useful lesson for someone who is looking for ways to become a rapper. Two MCs argue using rhymed phrases in a kind of battle, improving their skills. Judges in such events are spectators and fans of performers.
Among a large number of directions there are light (pop rap) and aggressive (horrorcore, hardcore rap), political (gangsta rap), anarchist, Marxist, black nationalistic.
The meaning of the text in rap is crucial, because it was originally formed as a subculture of protest, so the rap took the slogan forms. In fact, rap can be called melodeclamation. The main thing in rap is the rhythm of words and the text. The melody effect of the simple utterance (reading) of texts is achieved with the skillful selection of sounds in rap. With the apparent simplicity of the approach, it is very difficult to become a master, because reading texts should not be monotonous, but memorable, so the proper selection of rhymes, intonations, the principle of alliteration is enormously important. Actually, there is not only an English-speaking rap. French, German, Spanish performers are also widely known. Rap constantly gained popularity and now this trend has only intensified. For performers who prefer this unique way of expressing themselves, there are no definite limits or rules. The main thing is that the listeners believe the live texts. And to fill them with dark aggression or warm light is the author's business.
RAP in Russia
"Russian rap" is a young phenomenon, compared with Russian rock. Just like rock at a tender age, "Russian rap" has one major problem - imitation. Many people do not perceive "Russian rap" considering it as a tracing note from Western models, with all the inherent attributes of the style of "black brothers". However, a way out of the situation was found, and now the lyrics in the spirit of Russian rock adapt to new musical forms, that is, to rap. It’s also crucial to understand that Russian rap today comes from a society in deep economic and political crisis. The beats and the verse take on the huge gap between the rich and the poor, and the lack of understanding between the older generation and Russian youth. The market of Russian hip-hop, as an industry, was formed only in the late 1990s. Today, the faces of the Russian rap Timati, Ligalaise, Band'Eros, Bianca - are welcome guests at parties in clubs. It should be noted that hip-hop is no longer a music of streets, but a quite easy entertaining genre.
A vivid example of self-realization in rap is the story of Oxxxymiron. Myron Yanovich Fedorov was born on January 31, 1985 in Leningrad. When Miron was 9 years old, his family moved to Essen (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany), the first attempts to read rap Miron took at the age of 13 under the pseudonym Mif (short for Miron Fyodorov) and was sure that he was the first person reading rap in Russian (he did not have the Internet, and Russian-speaking immigrants who could shake his confidence was still quite small in Germany at that time.
In 2004, he submitted documents, passed the interview and entered the University of Oxford at the Faculty of English Language and Literature. In June 2008, he graduated from the university with a degree in Middle English literature.
After studying in Oxford, Miron moved in the East End and began to seek employment. He was not able to find a job because of his perceived overqualification and had to work as a cashier, a translator, a loader, a guide, a stallman, a tutor, an MC and an office clerk.
A new circle of communication, consisting of Russian-speaking immigrants, pushed Myron back to hip-hop. He began to study music under the pseudonym "Oxxxymiron".
In 2008, the track "London against Everybody" was released. At this time, he was noticed by Optik Russiarude - the German label of Russian-speaking immigrants. At the expense of the label Miron he earned the first wave of listeners, and also met with Dmitry Khinter, better known as Schokk, consisting in the same label. This year, Oxxxymiron published his first music video “I'm a Hater”.
In 2009 Oxxxymiron participated in the 14th independent battle on Hip-Hop.ru and reached the semi-finals. At the end of the year Oxxxymiron won several nominations (the Best Battle MC, the Breakthrough of the Battle, the Best Sparring of the Battle, the Best Track of the Battle) in the Hip-Hop.ru Awards 2009 public voting and also became the Invention of 2009.
Then he founded the label Vagabund and published Internet releases of his best songs. Starting with the third release, he participates in all Versus Battle, which later became the first video on the official Versus channel on YouTube, whose views exceeded 4 million. Oxxxymiron and Versus Battle league attracted the King of the Dot host Organik's and one of the best world battle rappers Dizaster's attention.
October 16, 2017 in the club Los Globos at the Canadian Battleground King of the Dot in Los Angeles in the international tournament World Domination 7 event held a rap battle between Oxxxymiron and Dizaster. Battle was not officially prosecuted, however, Dizaster and most Internet users recognized the victory of Oxxxymiron.
Oxxxymiron became the face of the brand Reebok Classic in Russia. In February 2017, Miron Fedorov headed the booking agency "Booking Machine", with which he cooperates since 2012.
Myron's life, his desire to realize his talent, led to success.
Dream, strive, dare ....
How to become a Rapper
Let's open a little secret: it turns out that you don’t need to have genius abilities to read a high-quality and popular rap. It is important to have a good sense of rhythm, which is easy to train, and diction. These qualities are the main difference between the natural talent and the other pretenders to fame in rapper society. Check yourself for abilities is very simple. You can become a famous rapper by following a set of guidelines:
Step 1: Download several songs without vocals (backing tracks) and start reading texts for them. After gaining the skill and experience, you should act further.
Step 2: Check the reaction of the closest friends, having acquainted them with your creativity in the field of rapper karaoke. If no one fainted, listening to your rhythm, poems and voice, then you can safely continue to move towards your goal.
How to become a rapper, if the experiment to search for abilities failed and read the lyrics to the famous music was more difficult than you imagined? Remember that there is nothing without effort and endeavors, and you should continue to train.
Step 3: Determine the style, manner in which you want to write and read texts. You can really become famous in one day. However, this requires a lot of work. Are there the abilities to create rhymes or are melodies created in the head? Excellent, but these are only the first steps towards the goal, to fame and recognition. Without concrete actions, unfortunately, nothing happens. All authors write their compositions in notebooks or notepads, but not everyone knows how to put them on music. There is the most simple and affordable option - to download one of the versions of the application "AvtoRep" to your mobile phone. For training skills of recording tracks in this way is quite suitable for those who are interested in how to become a rapper in 12 years. The principle of the program is: launch the application; turn on "Record"; start reading the recitative into the microphone; stop recording. The program will process the text independently, add musical accompaniment and save the finished track.
Step 4: Show your creation as many people as possible and get feedback in the form of likes. How to become a famous rapper, if the path has just begun? Spreading the created masterpiece among friends, acquaintances and other Internet users is an easy way to get the first glory, fans and admirers of your talent.
Conclusion
We would like to conclude our project with a quote by Shakespeare, “If music be the food of life, play on”.
We’re sure that music fuels the mind and thus fuels of our creativity. No matter how much evolved a form of music is or how sophisticated its approach, music touches everyone’s souls. If you do not connect to any music, you probably are losing a part of yourself. We have to admit that music helps people express their thoughts.
For performers who prefer rap as a form of expressing themselves, there are no definite limits or rules. The main thing is that the listeners believe the live texts. And to fill them with dark aggression or warm light is the author's business. We hope that our project and an interactive leaflet with some pieces of advice will help you to become a real rapper and gain popularity among the public. The work also can be used as a video tutorial for learning irregular verbs.
Do not stop at what has been achieved, improve yourself and your talent, set goals and achieve them - that's the axiom of a person's life striving to succeed.
References
Common music genres// Учебно- методический журнал Английский язык. – 2014. -№(7-8)- С.28
How to Become a Professional Rapper[Электронныйресурс] /( https://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Professional-Rapper)
Information about the Hip-Hop and Rap Music genre[Электронныйресурс] /( http://www.musicgenreslist.com/music-hip-hop-rap/)
Oxxxymiron [Электронный ресурс] /(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxxxymiron)
8 Emerging Russian Rappers You Need To Know [Электронныйресурс] /( https://www.highsnobiety.com/2017/11/07/8-russian-rappers-to-know/)
Writing about survey results [Электронныйресурс] /(http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/writing-skills-practice/writing-about-survey-results)
Appendices
Appendix №1
The Results of Public Opinion Poll
We carried out a survey on what teenagers in our school know about rap.
We asked 158 students. Here you can see the answers and the results of our poll.
From the graph we see that only about a quarter of teenagers haven’t watched versus.
Over half said they wanted to create a rap.
This pie chart shows that almost half of students want to become a famous rapper.
It can be seen that over 40 per cent of interviewees would love to rap about life and problems, almost a third of respondents would rap about love and friendship.
81 per cent of students answered that they would like the teacher to explain a new topic using a rap.
In conclusion it is evident that a large proportion of students think rap helps them understand the topic.
These figures may reflect that a significant number of teenagers are interested in rap and find it useful for learning and understanding new english words and topics.
Appendix №2
The leaflet with augmented reality