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Talking 'bout your mama : the dozens, snaps, and the deep roots of rap
Book:
English.
Library collection
- Author(s)
- Wald, Elijah
- Title
- Talking 'bout your mama : the dozens, snaps, and the deep roots of rap / Elijah Wald.
- Publication
- New York: Oxford University Press, 2014
- Subjects
- The Dozens
- Physical description
- xi, 244 or. : ir. ; 24 cm
- Type of material
- Book
- Localization
- XDZ - Xenpelar Dokumentazio Zentroa
From Two Live Crew's controversial comedy to Ice Cube's gangsta styling and the battle rhymes of a streetcorner cypher, rap has always drawn on deep traditions of African American poetic word-play, In Talking About Your Mama, author Elijah Wald explores one of the most potent sources of rap: the viciously funny, outrageously inventive insult game known as "the dozens."
So what is the dozens? At its simplest, it's a comic chain of "yo' mama" jokes. At its most complex, it's an intricate form of social interaction that reaches back to African ceremonial rituals. Wald traces the tradition of African American street rhyming and verbal combat that has ruled urban neighborhoods since the early 1900s. Whether considered vernacular poetry, aggressive dueling, a test of street cool, or just a mess of dirty insults, the dozens is a basic building block of African-American culture. A game which could inspire raucous laughter or escalate to violence, it provided a wellspring of rhymes, attitude, and raw humor that has influenced pop musicians from Jelly Roll Morton and Robert Johnson to Tupac Shakur and Jay Z.
Wald goes back to the dozens' roots, looking at mother-insulting and verbal combat from Greenland to the sources of the Niger, and shows its breadth of influence in the seminal writings of Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston; the comedy of Richard Pryor and George Carlin; the dark humor of the blues; the hip slang and competitive jamming of jazz; and in its ultimate evolution into the improvisatory battling of rap. From schoolyard games and rural work songs to urban novels and nightclub comedy, and pop hits from ragtime to rap, Wald uses the dozens as a lens to provide new insight into over a century of African American culture.
A groundbreaking work, Talking About Your Mama is an essential book for anyone interested in African American cultural studies, history and linguistics, and the origins of rap music.
So what is the dozens? At its simplest, it's a comic chain of "yo' mama" jokes. At its most complex, it's an intricate form of social interaction that reaches back to African ceremonial rituals. Wald traces the tradition of African American street rhyming and verbal combat that has ruled urban neighborhoods since the early 1900s. Whether considered vernacular poetry, aggressive dueling, a test of street cool, or just a mess of dirty insults, the dozens is a basic building block of African-American culture. A game which could inspire raucous laughter or escalate to violence, it provided a wellspring of rhymes, attitude, and raw humor that has influenced pop musicians from Jelly Roll Morton and Robert Johnson to Tupac Shakur and Jay Z.
Wald goes back to the dozens' roots, looking at mother-insulting and verbal combat from Greenland to the sources of the Niger, and shows its breadth of influence in the seminal writings of Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston; the comedy of Richard Pryor and George Carlin; the dark humor of the blues; the hip slang and competitive jamming of jazz; and in its ultimate evolution into the improvisatory battling of rap. From schoolyard games and rural work songs to urban novels and nightclub comedy, and pop hits from ragtime to rap, Wald uses the dozens as a lens to provide new insight into over a century of African American culture.
A groundbreaking work, Talking About Your Mama is an essential book for anyone interested in African American cultural studies, history and linguistics, and the origins of rap music.
Preface and Acknowledgments ...vii
A Half-Dozen Definitions ...x
One A Trip Down Twelfth Street ...3
Two The Name of the Game ...19
Three Singing the Dozens ...31
Four Country Dozens and Dirty Blues ...43
Six Studying teh Street ...79
Seven The Martial Art of Rhyming ...101
Eight Around the World with Your Mother ...121
Nine African Roots ...135
Ten Eleven Slipping Across the Color Line ...153
Eleven Why Do They (We) Do That? ...169
Twelve Raping, Snapping, and Battling ...183
Notes ...201
Selected Bibliography ...227
Index ...233
A Half-Dozen Definitions ...x
One A Trip Down Twelfth Street ...3
Two The Name of the Game ...19
Three Singing the Dozens ...31
Four Country Dozens and Dirty Blues ...43
Six Studying teh Street ...79
Seven The Martial Art of Rhyming ...101
Eight Around the World with Your Mother ...121
Nine African Roots ...135
Ten Eleven Slipping Across the Color Line ...153
Eleven Why Do They (We) Do That? ...169
Twelve Raping, Snapping, and Battling ...183
Notes ...201
Selected Bibliography ...227
Index ...233
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