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nathanology - the etymology of hip-hop lyrics

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hip+hop’s from the bronx; that’s where it’s born from

but what is the word ‘hip+hop’’s etymological origin?

a word’s etymology is how it was formed, and when —

and words are important — so you should be informed of them

so here’s an etymological lexical chronicle

wrought to give thought in full to its topical vocable:
hip+hop, a genre of audible, optical

thought and flow: get taught, ‘cause it’s part of hip+hop to know

…and so here it is: the etymology of hip+hop

‘hip’ comes first, but at first ‘hip’ was ‘hep’

which meant up+to+date, with it, and in+step —

which in 1914, first appears with that name

in the now+rare ‘vocabulary of criminal slang’ —

which claims that it came from a detective’s last name

who was, legend has it, always ‘hep to the game’

and so his name became a saying — he’s ‘hep’, like, ‘he’s heard of it’

— but some say that’s wrong. here are other alternatives:

some say it comes from ancient ploughmen and shep+
herds, who when herding would shout the word ‘hep’

to their herds. ‘hep hep’, like ‘tut tut’ — the kind of word you’re using

as you do in hip+hop, when you’re getting things moving

more likely sources, on the other hand, say that it’s

from the wolof language of senegal, mauritania

and gambia — ‘hepi’: ‘to open one’s eyes.’

— that’s eye+opening, and should come as no surprise

since west africa was the home of the griot, or jeli

who practiced the ancient art of tale and poem telling

and preserving a cultural knowledge by rapping it —

but some even that etymology is inaccurate

but where ever it came from, what matters is where it went —
it entered the vernacular of black americans

in the 30s and 40s, in what they call the jive era

50 years before jive and era+era+era

and its usage continued in the context of jazz

first among musicians, and then among the fans —

so a ‘hepcat’ went from being a jazz man, to later

being a white intellectual jazz appreciator

and ultimately as ‘hip’ made the transition from ‘hep’ —

if that was a transition you weren’t hip to yet —

and you still said ‘hep’ and not ‘hip’, then you’d fall

into the category of persons who were not hip at all

hop, as in jump, or a one+footed leap

first appeared in the 1500s, from a deep

proto+germanic root word, in modern form ‘hupfen’ —

to engage in a bouncing, springing forth movement

combining then ‘hip’, which means conscious and aware

and ‘hop’ which means making a leap up in the air

you have ‘conscious movement’ — that’s how krs explains it —

he’s the teacher of hip+hop. i teach ancient languages

a dj’s a disc jockey, that’s an established acronym;

less obvious, perhaps, the mcs that rap to them

can stand for master of ceremonies, or for

mic checka, or less known microphone controller

graffiti’s latin via greek, and via latin from italian

and even ancient romans wrote but not on iron stallions;

breaking is from ‘brecan’, old english, to shatter —

olde english 800 is a way to get plastered

rap, rap, rap, rap, rap is onomatopoetic —

and so whoever did invent it when they thought it and said it

made up a word that recreated some impression that came before

like the rap, rap, rapping edgar heard at his chamber door

it came from ancient danish, ere becoming a term of art —

and meant a ‘light, quick blow.’ it also meant ‘fart’

and that’s poetic justice, because it’s obvious there

are some rappers who claim to drop sh+t that’s just air

— that’s rap. but what about trap?

in the past ten years everybody’s feelin’ that

but where’s the word come from, and where’s the word at?

it refers to the spot where you’d drug transact

trap, deriving from ‘trep+‘

that in or onto which someone can step —

implying a movement that comes to a stop;

and some people don’t like it, some like it a lot. — why not?

i’m not really saying either way

i’m trying to say the way it went and whence it came

and since it came to get its name

and then became a way of statement that’s pervasive in the game —

and oftentimes it’s like a h0m+phone: it kinda sounds the same

i guess it’s aptly titled, ‘cause it’s everywhere of late —

i guess they call it trap ‘cause its hard to escape

hip+hop evolves and undergoes changes;

and yet somehow its essence transcends and stays changeless

and the line between who’s real, and who appropriates it

is whether you make it in such a way that no haters can say sh+t

that’s what i’m trying to do. and i recognize genre

is nothing more than a means to catalog an author

and i don’t care if what you call what i do is hip+hop or

historical essays masquerading as song words

what i care about is this: regardless of your origin

when a crowd hears your voice, be sure you inform them —

make them hip to what’s real, make them hop to what moves them

make them think, make them feel — give them thought, give them movement

for this is the function of language, and music

however you make it, whenever you do it —

‘cause words are just words, what’s real is just facts

and it’s not just where they’re from, it’s where they’re at

- nathanology lyrics

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