Tanya Reyes

Scott Kneece
10 April 2016
Writing Project 1
I went back and studied all the legends, developed my craft and then made Kendrick
Lamar Just as Kendrick studied what it was to become an impacting rap artist all sharers of
information must learn their genre. In this day and age realistically everything is a medium of art,
expression, and information. To a certain extent, both the receiver and giver of informationthe
readers and the writersmust aesthetically choose a style that best encompasses their purpose as
individuals and purpose as developers of information Therefore a genre has been contrived and
assembled throughout history to best speak to a specific audience. Specific stylistic conventions
are chosen to construct a genre, which best represents an audience, shares information, and
obtains an individual goal.
In societal stereotypical terms of respectability rap music and open letters are on separate
sides of a spectrum. Therefore, the spectrum on which their audience and context lies is also
wide. Although these two genres may take upon the same purpose for sharing a same topic of
information, they take on a different set of particular rules, structure, and conventions to
efficiently bring their point across.
Rap lyrics and open letters are both connecting to a large audience. Their context is
different, but can have a similar purpose. Although rap songs have an ulterior purpose of selling
and keeping consumers interested. Rap songs have to be considered good in order to sell,
therefore, word selection must be chosen wisely. Music has to sell according to corporate ideals
because without corporate support a rappers message will not reach a large audience. In order to

comply, rap music must hold a superb standard of diction and structure. The general purpose of
the artist is to share what is believed to be good music and speak about their opinions. Letters do
not have this same initiative and are not held to a similar standard. The writer of a letter does not
know how many people have read their information and the success of the letter is not based on
sales. Rap songs are distinctively ranked on how well they sell, but the success of both a letter
and rap song can be expressed through reviews, interest in sharing, and responses.
To begin, Specifically targeted at urban members who understand growing up in the
particular way rap songs depict. Rap songs speak about being surrounded by negative influences,
but also about overcoming these situations or making the best of what it is. Because these topics
are broadcasted through many easily accessed mediums the targeted audience could be broad,
but mostly captivates the attention of people dealing with similar issues. Millennial audience
appeal to blunt language and aggressive tones, therefore adults can be more hesitant to appreciate
the consistent usage of curse words in rap lyrics, and more conservative audiences may interpret
some messages as inappropriate. Rap music is particular in its ability to use their voice of lyrics
freely and unconstrained to reach freethinking audiences. Rap songs have more specific
conventions further than the actual structure. Rap lyrics have a wider set of conventions to follow
in order to avoid being confused with other types of music genre. These conventions also work
to captivate their audience. Rap lyrics rely on audience base that must be captivated, surprised,
and amazed by the flow of words.

The context of living in an urban setting can be very similar through the rap genre,
however; the background of writers of open letters can vary widely. Letters do not tend to have a
very specific audience. The audience of an open letter will typically vary wider than the audience

of a rap song. Musical taste and standardization play a huge role in audience. Whereas letters
may uphold a standard that is acceptable to share in educational institutions, Rap music
audiences usually stay within avid listeners and their companions. Rap songs have to uphold
their particular conventions to hopefully widen the amount of people who enjoy listening to this
genre. The material of a letter varies widely, but rap songs tend to stay within a margin of
speaking on matters that pertain with issues rappers have grown with such as drugs, money,
women, inequality, racial discrimination and violence. Therefore in order to compare and
contrast how these genres convey their message racial discrimination and inequality can be a
common topic of discussion.
Integrated within the tendency to use blunt language, rhyming, assonance, repetition, and
punctuation differentiates rap songs far from other genres. Rap songs use repetition to increase
the likeliness of the audience remembering their message. Repetition is used to emphasize an
idea by making it memorable and easy for the audience to keep in mind. Rhyming allows rap
lyrics to easily and memorably release a flow of ideas. To explain, in Love Yourz by J Cole his
strongest verse is also the strongest structurally. In order to emphasize this particular statement
with strategic sentence formation, He shares with listeners that although life is a struggle it is
important to see the beauty in it be appreciating even small blessings. He emphasizes his point
by mastering an art-like sentence structure. J Cole states, Its beauty in the struggle, ugliness in
the success hear my words or listen to my signal of distress I grew up in the city and though
some times we had less compared to some of my niggas down the block man we were blessed
This keeps his audience captivated and shows the similarities in words. His play on words can
allow the audience to further analyze his point. The audience is now aware that contradicting
words such as success and distress and less and blesses rhyme accordingly to each other.

Therefore they can continue to ponder a further message. In All falls Down by Kanye West uses
the same strategy by stating, Without some ones thats clean and a shirt with a team It seems we
living the American dream But the people highest up got the lowest self esteem The prettiest
people do the ugliest things for the road to riches and diamond rings We shine because they hate
us, floss cause they degrade us Words such as dream and esteem work in harmony to increase
the likeliness of his audience reading further into his belief that the people who seem to have it
all are still lacking happiness. Raps songs often have a hidden message, which is repeated to
increase understanding.
Hooks flow a transition in tone. A majority of rap songs feature other artist or a different
tone or style in the hook of the songs. Verses are the primary part to share the message; they can
be described as strategic and rhythmic flow of thoughts. The hook in a rap song produces a
change in ambience from usually aggressive to a lighter feel. Many artists contrast their
aggressive or blunt verses with a melodically apt artist. Kanye West uses a gospel choir to deliver
his hook in Ultralight Beam, the choir harmonically sings, "Head up high, I look to the light Hey,
cause I know that you'll make everything alright And I know that you'll take good care of your
child Oh, no longer am afraid of the night Cause I, I look to the light. This same message is
expressed in the verses but amplified by the hooks in a different manner of expression. Most
songs in most music genres contain a variation of intro verses, hooks, and outro. Therefore in
order to differentiate a rap song syntax and tone is very important.
Another convention used in rap music is strategic usage of punctuation. Rap music is
speaking to an audience and to achieve a personal level the use of questions is often used. Rap
music provides the audience with a call to action. A majority of rap audiences are
demographically underprivileged young adults so rap lyrics become a medium , which provides

knowledge for those who are deprived. Therefore rap lyrics maintain a common style by bringing
attention to important social issue and questioning the audiences involvement. This level of
intimacy can connect audiences through a common struggle. This is reflected as rap artist share
their experiences and offer their advice through the lyrics. In Mortal Man by Kendrick Lamar, he
shares advice by repeatedly questioning his audience. He states, Like who got your best
interest? Like how much are you dependent? How clutch are the people that say they love you?
And who pretending? How tough is your skin when they turn you in? Do you show
forgiveness?" Rap lyrics are unrestrained and therefore their influence on their audience has
great power. Rap lyrics are known for passing the normative boundaries of freedom of
expression. This ability to bluntly speak and create art through rhyme strategies differentiates the
genre of rap songs.
To contrast, Letters can obtain a larger audience because the conventions followed
provide a less constricted view. While writing a letter the author does not need to preoccupy
much thought worrying about captivating an audience with a particular liking. The size of a
letters audience also increases with the importance of the information. Letters and Rap songs do
not have the same level of urgency. Open Letters are more likely to be acknowledged than are
rap songs because they are personally addressed. However, although they can be addressed
personally they are still meant to circulate through a larger audience. Letters have much more
room to freely use speak on different issues from personal, social, political while still
maintaining their genre. Letters have much more room to expand the constraints of their
conventions as long as the writers include an opening greeting, a concluding farewell, and
maintain a direct dialogue.

To continue, Letters have the following conventions. They have a formal greeting
followed by the person or organization they are addressing. For example in Martin Luther Kings
Letter from Birmingham Jail he opens his letter by stating, My dear Fellow clergymen: there
may be a variation in punctuation; such as comas or colons, but the opening makes the desired
audience clear and establishes a respectable tone. The letter is followed by their argument and
ends formally with their signature for example, in the Letter from Birmingham Jail King
concludes by stating, Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood, Martin Luther King, Jr..
This formal conclusion also serves to end with a respectable tone, establish the author of the
letter, and finalize an argument. King ends with his purpose, but usually a proper and formal
farewell is all that is needed in an open letter.
In the body the typical conventions found in letters are use of emotional diction,
quotations from both outside sources and from the person being addressed, short quoted words,
questions, first person usage, and repetition of phrases to begin new paragraphs. Never have I
witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by
people of all colors and races in this Ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and
all the other prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless
and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors.
Malcolm X begins his letter on a personal level. He introduces himself to the audience by
insightfully stating his own experiences and describing the emotions he felt. He establishes a
personal level by directly addressing the audience.
To elaborate, paragraphs in letters are typically short. In Malcolm Xs Letter from Mecca
his twelve paragraphs range from one to two sentences. Each sentence usually segments a
singular point. For example, Malcolm X states, You warmly commended the Birmingham

police force for keeping order and preventing violence This allows their argument to have a
personal level. Letters use these conventions in order to avoid the intended audience to be
forgotten. The audience can then be given a certain responsibility. In a few short sentences the
author can make a broad, lasting, and impacting point specifically by addressing the readers
personally. Similar to a rap song questioning their audience, a letter takes a personal tone to bring
their audience towards a call to action.
In conclusion, genres are developed to best fit an audience. A genres purpose is to share
their information as effectively as possible. However in order to achieve maximum effectiveness
they must follow the particular conventions that have been set overtime. Although the formality
of a medium can range widely the conventions are still chosen and followed critically.

Works Cited
""All Falls Down" Lyrics." KANYE WEST LYRICS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. "Letter from Mecca." Letter. Apr. 1964. MS. N.p.
"Kanye West." - Ultra Light Beam Lyrics. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." Letter. 16 Apr. 1963. MS. N.p.
""Love Yourz" Lyrics." J. COLE LYRICS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
""Mortal Man" Lyrics." KENDRICK LAMAR LYRICS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
"3 SUCCESS RULES FROM KENDRICK LAMAR." N.p., 12 Apr. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.