“Now if our presupposall be true that the Poet is of all
other the most auncient Orator, as he that by good & pleasant perswasions
first reduced the wilde and beastly people into publicke societies and
civilitie of life, insinuating vnto them, vnder fictions with sweete and
coloured speeches, many wholesome lessons and doctrines, then no doubt there is
nothing so fitte for him, as to be furnished with all the figures that be Rhetoricall, and such as do most
beautifie language with eloquence & sententiousness.”
Chap. XIX – Of Figures
sententious, otherwise called Rhetorical. ‘The Arte Of English Poesie’ (1589). George Puttenham.
“You gonna curate your art, n***a
You better tell these n****s why
you do what you do
‘Cause, they ain’t nobody gonna be
there that
Explain that s**t
You need rhetoric
Who told you rhetoric was a bad
word?...”
Outro –
‘Flygod’ (2016). Westside Gunn.
“You need
rhetoric”, so says Westside Gunn on the Outro to his 2016 debut album Flygod. But
what exactly is rhetoric, and why might a rapper need it?
Simply put, “rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive
speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other
compositional techniques.” From alliteration to repetition to metaphors,
creative writing in any form is made up of rhetorical devices. These rhetorical
devices, from the minutely subtle to the glaringly obvious, help to define and
structure a piece of writing, and layer it with intent, meaning and purpose. Persuasive
writing is not solely useful for argumentative language and debating, where the
direct aim is to convince someone to your line of thinking, but also serves a
wider creative purpose. The ability to manifest and subvert rhetorical devices
are skills necessary for any great writer, from Homer to Andre 3000. This is a
manuscript to highlight the rhetorical devices in use throughout history, as
defined by George Puttenham in his influential 1589 work The Arte of English Poesie, but in the context of the most popular
form of contemporary poetry: hip-hop.
Now, that is a deliberately controversial statement.
Classical poetry scholars have historically denied hip-hop and the wider canon
of black art as being deemed literary (see Alex Mason for Media Diversified
),
or as worthy of study, but their racist, colonialist prejudices are no longer
concrete, their word is no longer bond. By the same token, however, this cross
cultural-historical comparison is not an attempt to suddenly validate hip-hop
as an art form by offering it a token place in the white canon. Hip-hop and
poetry do not exist in a binary, though they are two art forms that share a
wealth of DNA, they are ultimately their own unique specimens. If I have spent
this second paragraph contradicting the statement made at the end of the first
paragraph, then you may be questioning why even undertake this task?
Well, it’s quite simple. For education purposes. Through his
work with
The Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company, UK rapper, activist and writer Akala
has already begun to explore the connections between the traditional standard
bearers of English Literature and contemporary hip-hop. As a company they teach
young people about theatre, hip hop, poetry, creative writing, history, music
and more, and help them to develop “new skills in performing arts by creating
excitement around words and rhyming”. In my own small way I hope this fusion
manuscript can offer another resource to this exciting venture. In studying and
learning about different rhetorical devices we can rediscover the brilliance of
works past, and discover new ways to play with and utilise linguistic
techniques in our own creative writing. The aim of this piece is,
fundamentally, quite simple: it is to continue to encourage young people all
over to engage with language and the performing arts, to continue to push
against the barriers of what is considered ‘worthy’ by academia, and,
ultimately, to continue to celebrate writing and it’s infinite beauty in all
forms.
George Puttenham’s Rhetorical Devices for the Hip-Hop Generation
Anaphora, or the figure of Report:
Repetition in the
first degree we call the figure of Report according to the Greek original, and
is when we make one word begin, and as they are want to say, lead the dance to
many verses in suit, as thus:
“Tired of running,
Tired of
hunting…”
“How many sins? I’m running out,
How many sins?
I lost count…”
Kendrick Lamar – Sing About Me, I’m
Dying of Thirst
Antistrophe, or the Counter-Turn:
You have another sort of repetition quite contrary to the
former when you make one word finish many verse in suit, and that which is
harder, to finish many clauses in the middle of your verses or rhymes.
“Man f*ck them n*ggas I come home
and I don’t tell nobody
They gettin’ temporary dough and I don’t tell nobody
Lord will you tell me if I changed, I won’t tell nobody
I
wanna go back to Jermaine, and I won’t tell nobody”
J.Cole – G.O.M.D.
Symploche, or the figure of Reply:
Take the two former figure and out
them into one, and it is that which the Greeks called symploche, the Latins
complexio, or conduplicato, and is a manner of repetition, when one and the
same word begin and end many verses in suit and So wrap up both the former
figures in one.
“Ya
mom is so fat (How fat is she?)
Ya mama is so
big and fat that she can get busy
With twenty two burritos…”
“Ya
mom is so fat (How fat is she?)
We rode up on her back to get some
burgers from Wendy’s…”
The Pharcyde – Ya Mama
[Not quite a perfect example, but
the figure of Report and then reply is clear in the question-answer joke format
repeated throughout the song.]
Anadiplosis, or the Redouble:
You have another sort of repetition when with the word by
which you finish a line, you begin the next line with the same, as thus:
“Writing rhymes, tryna
find our spot off in that light,
Light
off in that spot, knowing that we could rock”
Outkast (Andre 3k) – Elevators (Me and
You)
Epanalepsis, or the Echo sound, otherwise, the slow return:
You have another sort repetition, when you make one word
both begin and end your line.
“Picture perfect, I paint a perfect picture”
2Pac – 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted
Or,
“Everything is everything”
Lauryn Hill – Everything is Everything
Epizeuxis, or the Underlay, or Coockoo-spell:
You have another sort of repetition when in one line or
clause of a line, you iterate one word without any intermission, as thus:
“Keep your glory, gold
and glitter,
For half, half
his n*ggas’ll take him out the picture”
Madvillain – Accordion
Ploche, or the Doubler:
Yet have you one sort of repetition, which we call the
doubler, and is as the next before, a speedy iteration of one word, but with
some little intermission by inserting one or two words between.
“No question; Jay-Z
got too many answers,
I been around this block too many times,
Rocked too many
rhymes, cocked too many nines”
Jay-Z – 22 Two’s
Or,
“If Faye have twins
she’d probably have two Pacs
Get it?... Tu-Pac’s”
Jay-Z ft The Notorious B.I.G. –
Brooklyn’s Finest
Prosnomasia, or the Nicknamer
You have a figure by which you play with a couple of words
or names much resembling, and because the one seems to answer the other by manner
of illusion, and does, as it were, ‘nick’ him, I call it the Nicknamer.
“I destroy average rappers, it’s just practice”
Joey Badass – Five Fingers of Death
(Freestyle)
Traductio, or the Translator:
Then you have a figure which the Latin’s called Traductio,
and I the translator, which is when you turn and translate a word into many
sundry shapes like the tailor does to their garment, and after that do play
with in your verse, as such:
“Harlem Shake? Nah, I’m in Harlem shaking
awake,
Shaking
to bake, shaking the jakes,
Kill you, shoot up your funeral and
Harlem Shake at your wake”
Cam’Ron – Down and Out
Antipophora, or the Figure of Response:
You have a figurative speech which the Greeks call
Antipophora, I name it the Response, and it is when we will seem to ask a
question to the intent that we will answer it ourselves, and is a figure of
argument and also of amplification. Of argument, because proposing such matter
as our adversary might object and then to answer it ourselves, we do unfurnish
and prevent our adversary of such help as they would otherwise have formed for
themselves. Then because such objection and answer spend much language it
serves as well to amplify and enlarge our tale.
“Have you ever been hated or discriminated against?
I have,
I’ve been protested and demonstrated against,
Picket signs for my wicked rhymes, look
at the times,
Sick as the mind of the motherfuckin’
kid that’s behind
All this commotion…”
Eminem – Cleanin’ Out My Closet
Synteiosis, or the Cross-Coupling:
You have another figure called the Cross-couple, because it
takes two contrasting words, and ties them together as it were in a pair of
couples, and so makes them agree like good fellows.
“Bought a nightmare,
sold a dream”
Danny Brown – Rolling Stone
Or,
“Imagine life at its full peak,
Then imagine lying dead in the arms of your enemy”
Scarface – I Seen A Man Die
Atanaclasis, or the Rebound:
You have another figure which by its nature we may call the
rebound, alluding to the tennis ball which being hit with the racket rebounds
back again, and where the last figure before played with two words somewhat
alike, this plays with one word written all alike but carrying different
senses.
“Got more sole than a sock with a hole”
Madvillain – Rhinestone Cowboy
Or,
“Mad h*es, ask Beavis, I get nothing but head!’”
Big L – ’98 Freestyle
Clymax, or the Marching Figure:
You have the marching figure for after the first step all
the rest proceeds by double the space, and so in our speech one word proceeds
double to the first that was spoken, and goes as it were by strides or paces.
“Cause if you told Ms. Mattie, she
went and told Gladys
And once ya Mama
got it it was all on the wire,
And when the word got back they set yo ass on fire”
Scarface – On My Block
This is not quite the right example, but the sense of a
marching/climbing progression in the storytelling is clear in the movement of
the message through Face’s neighbourhood. If we were to follow Puttenham’s
directions exactly, it would read something like this:
“Cause if you told Ms.
Mattie, she went and told Gladys,
And once Gladys
told ya Mama it was all on the wire,
And when the word got back ya Mama set yo ass on fire”
Antimetauole, or the Counterchange:
You have a figure which takes a couple of words to play with
in a verse, and by making them change and shift one into other places they very
prettily exchange and shift the meaning.
“We used to fight for building blocks,
Now we fight for blocks with buildings
that make a killing”
Jay-Z – D’evils
Insultatio, or the Disdainful:
You have another figure when, with proud and insolent words,
we do upbraid a man, or ride him as we term it.
“That’s why I f*cked your b*tch you fat motherf*cker”
2Pac – Hit ‘Em Up
Or,
“Yella boy’s on your
team so you’re losing
Ay yo Dre, stick to producing”
Ice Cube – No Vaseline
Antitheton, or the Encounter:
You have another figure very pleasant and fit for amplification,
which to answer the Greek term, we may call the encounter, but following the
Latin name by reason of a contentious nature, we may call it the quarreller,
for so be all such persons as delight in taking the contrary party of
whatsoever shall be spoken.
“B*tch I wanna party like Chris Farley
Shot of Hennessy spike that with some molly
Tell mommy I’m sorry, God bless my soul
But life is
so sublime going out like Brad Nowell
I got that Kurt Cobain type of mind
frame”
Danny
Brown – Die Like A Rockstar
Erotema, or the Questioner:
There is a kind of figurative
speech when we ask many questions and look for no answers, speaking indeed by
interrogation, which we might as well say by affirmation.
“First
of all who’s you’re A & R? A mountain climber who plays an electric guitar?
GZA – Protect Ya Neck
Or,
“If
I wasn’t, then why would I say I am?
Rakim – As The Rhyme Goes On
Ecphonisis, or the Outcry:
The figure of exclamation, I call
it the outcry because it utters our mind by all such words as do show any
extreme passion, whether it be by way of exclamation or crying out, admiration
or wondering, cursing, taking God and the world to witness, or anything like a
declaration of an impotent affection.
“Then
I pause… And ask God why
Did he put me on this Earth just so I
could die
I sit back and build on all the things
I did wrong
Why I’m still breathin’ and all my
friends gone
I try not to dwell on this subject for
a while
Cause I might get stuck in this corrupt
lifestyle
But my heart pumps foul blood through
my arteries
And I can’t turn back it’s a part of me
Too late for crying I’m a grown man
strugglin’
To reach the next level of life without
fumblin’
Down to foldin’ I got no shoulder to lean
on but my own
All alone in this danger zone”
Mobb Deep (Prodigy) – Up North Trip
Brachiologa, or the Cutted Comma:
We use sometimes to proceed all by
single word, without any close or coupling, saving that a little pause or comma
is given to every word. This figure for pleasure may be called in our vulgar
the cutter comma, for that there cannot be a shorter division then at every
words end. The Greeks in their language call it short language, as thus:
“Stop
being rapper racists, region-haters
Spectators, dictators,
behind door dick-takers”
Lil Wayne – Shooter
If this loose language be used,
not in single words, but in long clauses, it is called Asindenton, and in both
cases we utter in that fashion, when either we be earnest, or would seem to
make haste.
Parison or the figure of Even:
You have another figure which we may call the figure of
even, because it goes by clauses of equal quantity, and not very long, but yet
not so short as the cutted comma: and they give good grace to a song.
“Scientific, my hand kissed it,
Robotic
let’s think optimistic,
You
probably missed it,
Watch me Dolly Dick it”
Ghostface
Killah – Nutmeg
Sinonimia, or the Figure of Store:
When so ever we multiply our speech by many words or clauses
of one sense, the Greeks called it Sinonimia, as who would say like or
consenting names: the Latins having no fit term to give it, called it by a name
of event, for (said they) many words of one nature and sense, one of them do
expound another. And therefore they called this figure the Interpreter, I for
my part had rather call it the figure of Store, because plenty of one manner of
thing in our language we call the Interpreter.
“Well I shall take 1000 razor blades and press them in the flesh
Take my pitchfork
out the fire soak it in their chest
Through the ribs,
spines, charcoal the muscle tissue
And send what’s
left back to yo mammy
Cause that bitch might miss you
But first, I want to slowly pull off all your
skin
Get grease and
boil it, hot pour it on you and and your
dead friend
I probably outta be not be so horribly slaughtering the body
I am so naughty because I am moderately
in to photography
Following through the autopsy
But man, f*ck it, pour some acid on them too”
Three Six Mafia (Lord Infamous) – Live
By Yo Rep (Bone Diss)
In the red – instruments of torture –
and the blue – images of the body/bodies –
we have words belonging to one effect in each, allowed to us by the figure of
store.
Metanoia, or the Penitent:
Other times we speak and be sorry for it, as if we had not
well spoken, so that we seem to call in our word again, and to put in another
fitter for the purpose: for which respects the Greeks called this manner of
speech the figure of repentance: then for that upon repentance commonly follows
amendment, the Latins called it the figure of correction, in that the speaker
appears to reform that which was said amiss.
“I hope we feel like this forever
Forever,
forever ever, forever ever?
Forever never
seems that long until you’re grown”
OutKast (Andre 3k) – Ms. Jackson
Antenagoge, or the Recompenser:
We have another manner of speech much like the repentant,
but does not as the same recant or unsay a word that has been said before,
putting another fitting in its place, but having spoken any thing to deprave
the matter or party, we deny it not, but as it were help it again by another
more favourable speech and so seem to make amends, for which it is called by
the original name in both languages, the Recompencer.
“You don’t wanna be my age and can’t read and write,
Begging different women for a place to
sleep at night,
Smart boys
turn to men and do whatever they wish”
Nas – I Can
Epithonema, or the Surclose:
Our MC in their song, will often use an Epigram to close a
verse or two, spoken in such sort, as it may seem a manner of allowance to all
the premises, and that which a joyful approbation, which the Latins call
Acclamatio, we therefore call the figure the surclose or consenting close.
“I’m trying to right
my wrongs,
But it’s funny them same wrongs helped
me write this song.”
Kanye West – Touch the Sky
Auxesis, or the Advancer:
It happens many times that to urge and enforce the matter we
speak of, we go still mounting by degrees and increasing our speech with words
or with sentences of more weight one then another, and is a figure of both
great efficacy and ornament.
“Yeah, I’ll f*ckin,
Yeah, I’ll f*ckin lay your n*ts on a
f*ckin dresser,
Just your n*ts layin on a f*ckin
dresser,
I’ll f*ckin pull your tongue out your
f*ckin mouth
And stab the sh*t with a rusty
screwdriver, BLAOWW!!
I’ll f*ckin hang you by your f*ckin
d*ck
Off a f*ckin twelve story building out
this motherf*cker
I’ll f*ckin
I’ll f*ckin
Sew your assh*le closed, and keep
feedin you
And feedin you, and feedin you, and
feedin you”
Wu-Tang Clan – Method Man
Meiosis, or the Disabler:
After the advancer follows the abaser working by words and
sentences of extenuation or diminution. Whereupon we call it the disabler or
figure of extenuation: and this extenuation is used to diverse purposes,
sometimes for modesties sake, and to avoid the opinion of arrogance.
“Where was the influence you speak of?
You preached in front of 100,000, but
never reached her,
I f*ckin tell you, you f*ckin failure -
you ain’t no leader
I never liked you, forever despise you
– I don’t need you!”
Kendrick Lamar – U
It may also be done for spite to bring our adversaries in
contempt.
“You a fan, a phony, a fake, a p*ssy, a Stan”
Nas - Ether
We also use this kind of extenuation when we take in hand to
comfort or cheer any perilous enterprise, making a great matter seem small, and
of little difficulty. We use it again to excuse a fault, and to make an offence
seem less than it is, by giving a term more favourable and of less vehemence
than the truth requires, as to say of a great robbery, that it was but a small
matter.
Merismus, or the Distributer:
You have a figure for orators or eloquent persuaders, when
we may conveniently utter a matter in one entire speech or proportion and will
rather do it piecemeal and by distribution of every part for amplifications
sake.
“Just waking up in the morning gotta thank God
I don’t know but today seems kinda odd
No barking from the dogs, no smog
And momma cooked a breakfast with no hog
I got my grub on, but didn’t pig out
Finally got a call from a girl I want to
dig out
Hooked it up on later as I hit the do’
Thinking will I live another twenty fo’
I
gotta go cause I got me a drop top
And
if I hit the switch, I can make the ass drop
Had
to stop at a red light
Looking
in my mirror not a hacker in sight
And
everything is alright
I
got a beep from Kim and she can f*ck all night
Called
up the homies and I’m asking y’all
Which
park are y’all playing basketball?
Get
me on the court and I’m trouble
Last
week f*cked around a caught a triple-double
Freaking
brothers every way like M.J.
I
can’t believe, today was a good day.”
Ice
Cube – It was a Good Day
On Ice Cube’s classic hit song ‘It
was a Good Day’, each verse ends with the line, ‘it was a good day’, and is
preceded by a verse detailing why. This figure of Merismus serves for
amplification, and also for ornament, and to enforce persuasion mightily. For
although the message of the song would have been the same with just the ending
line, it is the preceding verses that truly define it.
Epimone, or the Love-Burden:
The Greek poets who made musical ditties to be sung to the
lute or harp, did used to link their stanzas together with one verse running
throughout the whole song by equal distance. They called such linking verse
Epimone, and we may term it the Love-burden, following the original, or if it
please you, the long repeat: in one respect because that one verse alone bares
the whole burden of the song according to the original: in another respect, for
that it comes by large distance to be often repeated.
In hip-hop we can consider the love-burden to have been
replaced by the hook, a repeated chorus that ties the themes of the song
together. Consider this from Mos Def:
“I start to think, and
then I sink
Into the paper, like I was ink
When I'm writing, I'm trapped in
between the lines
I escape, when I finish the rhyme”
Mos Def – Love
The hook ties together
the central theme of the song, Mos’ love for MCing/hip-hop, through the
physical connection he has to the act of writing. Each verse explores this
theme in a slightly different way, and the return to the hook allows the
listener to reflect on how said hook and the verses interact.
Paradoxon, or the
Wonderer:
Any times our MC is
carried by some occasion to report of a thing that is marvellous, and then they
seem not to speak it simply, but with some sign of admiration.
“I wonder
if I’ll ever discover a passion like you and recover”
Kendrick Lamar – Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst
Aporia, or the
Doubtful:
Not much unlike the
wonderer have you another figure called the doubtful, because oftentimes we
will seem to cast perils, and make doubt or things when by a plain manner of speech
we might affirm or deny it.
“When a
dude's getting bullied and shoots up his school
And they blame it on Marilyn and the heroin
Where were the parents at?”
Eminem – The Way I Am
Epitropsis, or the
figure of Reference:
This manner of speech
is used when we will not seem, either for manner sake or to avoid tediousness,
to trouble the judge or hearer with all that we could say, but having said
enough already, we refer the rest to their consideration.
“The
South got something to say, and that’s all I got to say.”
Andre 3k – 1995 Source Awards
Parisia, or the
Licentious:
The fine and subtle
persuader when their intent is to sting their adversary, or else to declare
their mind in broad and liberal speeches, which might breed offence or scandal,
they will seem to bespeak pardon beforehand, whereby their licentiousness may
be the better born with all.
“I'm usually homeboys with the same n*ggas I'm
rhymin' with
But this is hip-hop, and them n*ggas
should know what time it is
And that goes for Jermaine Cole,
Big K.R.I.T., Wale
Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky,
Drake
Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler,
Mac Miller,
I got love for you all, but I’m
tryna murder you n*ggas”
Big Sean ft Kendrick Lamar –
Control
Anachinosis, or the
Impartener:
Not much unlike to the
figure of reference, there is another with some little diversity which we call
the impartener, because many times in pleading and persuading we think it a
very good policy to acquaint our judge or hearer or adversary with some part of
our counsel and advice, and to ask their opinion, as who would say they could
not otherwise think of the matter as we do.
“If you had 24 hours to live just think
Where would you go?
What would you do?
Who would you screw?
And who would you wanna notify?
Or would your ass deny that your
ass about to die?”
Mase ft Puff Daddy – 24 Hrs. To
Live
Paramologia, or the
figure of Admittance:
The good orator uses a
manner of speech in their persuasion and is when all that should seem to make against
them being spoken by the other side, they will first admit it, and in the end
avoid all for their better advantage. When the matter is so plain that it
cannot be denied or traversed, it is good that it be justified by confession
and avoidance.
“Why are
men so weak?
I ain’t got the answer”
Akala – A Message
Dichologia, or the
figure of Excuse:
Sometimes our error is
so manifest, or we be so hardly pressed with our adversaries, as we cannot deny
the fault laid unto our charge: in which case it is good policy to excuse it by
some allowable pretext.
“I'm sorry Grandmama
for mistakes I have made
When I aired family business, how you
put me in my place
Even my baby mama, I can't look you in
the face
Cuz I can't do enough, you a symbol of
God's grace
So I place you in the flower bed,
porcelain shower heads
Throughout the house and keep the
youngin's mouthes fed
And when I'm gone, I hope it is said
I gave structure to the youth by
the example I lead..huh”
Clipse (Malice) – Momma, I’m So
Sorry
Commoratio, or the
figure of Abode:
It is said by manner
of a proverbial speech that they who find themselves well should not wag, even
so the persuader finding a substantial point in their matter to serve their purpose,
should dwell upon that point longer then upon any other less assured, and use
all endeavour to maintain that one, and as it were to make their chief abode
thereupon, for which cause I name it the figure of abode.
We might consider a
number of rap diss tracks to make use of the figure of abode, taking aim, or
rather, perching upon a particular place, to frame an entire track around.
Everyone has their personal favourites, and many have made the list already.
Metastasis, or the
Flitting figure, or the Remove:
Now as art and good
policy in persuasion bids us to abide and not to stir from the point of our
most advantage, but the same to enforce and tarry upon with a possible
argument, so does discretion will us sometimes to flit from one matter to another,
as a thing meet to be forsaken, and another entered upon, I call it therefore
the flitting figure, or figure of remove, like as the other before was called
the figure of abode.
“Once
joined a rap clique – Midgets into Crunk”
MF DOOM – El Chupa Nibre
In the wider context
of this song, this essentially throwaway line would lead to a painful beef with
MF Grimm and the Monsta Island Czars. In perhaps even more impressive fashion,
Biggie’s ‘Kick in the Door’ is an entire rap diss that does not name drop one
single rival artist – truly a phenomenal example of the art of discretion.
Expeditio, or the
Speedy Dispatcher:
Occasion offers many
times that our maker as an orator, or persuader, or pleaser should go roundly
to work, and as they are want to say not stand all day trifling to no purpose,
but to rid it out of the way quickly. This is done by a manner of speech, both
figurative and argumentative, when we do briefly set down all our best reasons
serving the purpose and reject all of them saving one, which we accept to
satisfy the cause.
“A wise man told me don't argue with fools
Cause people from a distance
can't tell who is who
So stop with that childish sh*t,
n*gga I'm grown
Please leave it alone, don't
throw rocks at the throne
Do not bark up that tree, that
tree will fall on you
I don't know why your advisors
ain't forewarn you
Please, not Jay, he's not for
play
I don't slack a minute, all that
thug rapping and gimmicks
I will end it, all that yapping
be finished
You are not deep, you made your
bed now sleep
Don't make me expose to them
folks that don't know you
N*gga I know you well, all the stolen
jewels
Twinkle toes you breaking my
heart
You can't f*ck with me, go play
somewhere, I'm busy
And all you other
cats throwing shots at Jigga
You only get half a bar, f*ck
y'all n*ggas”
Jay-Z
- Takeover
Gnome, or the
Director/Sententia, or the Sage Sayer:
In weighty causes and
for great purposes, wise persuaders use grave and weighty speeches, especially
in matters of advice or counsel, for which purpose there is a manner of speech
to allege texts or authorities of witty sentence, such as moral doctrine and
teach wisdom and good behaviour, by the Greek original we call it the Director,
by the Latin it is called sententia; we may call it the sage sayer, thus.
“Some say the blacker
the berry, the sweeter the juice
I say the darker the flesh then
the deeper the roots
I give a holla to my sisters on
welfare
2Pac cares, if don't nobody else
care
And, I know they like to beat you
down a lot
When you come around the block,
brothers clown a lot
But please don't cry, dry your
eyes, never let up
Forgive but don't forget, girl,
keep your head up
And when he tells you you ain't
nothin', don't believe him
And if he can't learn to love
you, you should leave him
Cause sister, you don't need him
And I ain't tryin' to gas ya up,
I just call 'em how I see 'em
You know what makes me unhappy
When brothers make babies, and
leave a young mother to be a pappy
And since we all came from a
woman
Got our name from a woman and our
game from a woman
I wonder why we take from our
women
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?
I think it's time to kill for our
women
Time to heal our women, be real
to our women
And if we don't we'll have a race
of babies
That will hate the ladies that
make the babies
And since a man can't make one
He has no right to tell a woman
when and where to create one
So will the real men get up
I know you're fed up ladies, but
keep your head up”
2Pac – Keep Ya Head Up
Sinathrismus, or the
Heaping Figure:
Art and good policy
moves us many times to be earnest in our speech, and then we lay on such load
and so go to it by heaps as if we would win the game by multitude of words and
speeches, not all of one but of diverse matters and sense, for which cause the
Latins called it congeries and we the heaping figure.
“It's a common
market and it's so much competition
But to me, competition
is none
To my comp
I'm a ton I get amped like Watts in a riot
My compact disc is a commodity, so buy it
Instead of competing
with Pete
Com compromised, Com made a promise
Not to commercialize,
but compound
the soul
With other elements, compelling
sense into Communism”
Common – Communism
Apostrophe, or the
Turn Tale:
Many times when we
have run a long race in our tale spoken to the hearers, we do suddenly fly out
and either speak or exclaim at some other person or thing, and therefore the
Greeks call such figure (as we do) the turn away or turn tale, and breed by such
exchange a certain reaction to the hearers minds.
“Then he made his move to an abandoned building
Ran up the stairs up to the top
floor
Opened
up the door there, guess who he saw?
Dave the dope fiend shootin' dope
Who don't know the meaning of water
nor soap
He said "I need bullets,
hurry up, run!"
The dope fiend brought back a
spanking shotgun
He went outside but
there was cops all over
Then he dipped into a car, a
stolen Nova
Raced up the block doing 83
Crashed into a tree near university
Escaped alive though the car was
battered
Rat-a-tat-tatted and all the cops
scattered”
Slick Rick – Children’s Story
Hypotiposis, or the
Counterfeit Representation:
The matter and
occasion leads us many times to describe and set forth things, in such sort as
it should appear they were truly before our eyes though they were not present,
which to do it requires cunning: for nothing can be kindly counterfeit or
represented in their absence, but by great discretion in the doer. And if the
things we covet to describe be not natural or not veritable, then yet the same
task more cunning to do it, because to fain a thing that never was nor is like
to be, proceeds of a greater wit and sharper intention than to describe things
that be true.
“Claiming New York was
ancient Babylon
Where the sky stayed the color of grey,
like heron”
Raekwon – Knowledge God
Prosopographia, or the
Counterfeit Countenance:
And these be things
that a poet or maker is want to describe sometimes as true or natural, and
sometimes to fain as artificial and not true. The visage, speech and
countenance of any person absent or dead: and this kind of representation is
called the Counterfeit Countenance.
“Yo, in she came with
the same type game
The type of girl givin out the
fake cell phone and name
Big fame, she like cats with big
thangs
Jewels chip, money clip, phone
flip, the six range
I seen her on the ave, spotted
her more than once
Ass so fat that you could see it
from the front
She spot me like paparazzi; shot
me a glance
in that catwoman stance with the
fat booty pants, Hot damn!
What's your name love, where you
came from?
Neck and wrist laced up, very
little make-up
The swims at the Reebok gym tone
your frame up
Is sugar and spice the only thing
that you made of?”
Mos Def – Ms. Fat Booty
Prosopopeia, or the
Counterfeit in Personation:
But if you will fain
any person with such features, qualities and conditions, or if you will
attribute any human quality, as reason or speech to dumb creatures or other
insensible things, and do study (as one may say) to give them a humane person,
it is not prosopographia, but prosopopeia, because it is by way of fiction.
“I used to be in love
with this b*tch named E&J
Don't f*ck with her no more now I
f*ck with Tanqueray
Tanqueray introduced me to her
first cousin Gold
Last name was English and the
first name Olde
But Gold couldn't take the d*ck
it made me lazy
We split apart and now I met this
new trick Dainy
Now me and Dainy, we been
together ever since”
Mobb Deep – Drink Away the Pain
(Situations)
Cronographia, or the
Counterfeit Time:
So if we describe the
time or season of the year, as winter, summer, harvest, day, midnight, noon,
evening, or such like: we call such description the counterfeit time.
Cronographia examples are everywhere to be found.
“And think of the
summers of the past
Adjust the bass and let the Alpine
blast
Pop in my CD let me run a rhyme
Put your car on cruise and lay back
because it’s summertime”
DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Price –
Summertime
Topographia, or the
Counterfeit Place:
And if this description
be of any true place, city, Castle, hill, valley or sea, and such like: we call
it the Counterfeit place topographia, or if you fain places untrue, as heaven,
hell, paradise, the house of fame, the palace of the sun, the den of sheep, and
such like.
“Dear momma don't cry,
your baby boy's doin' good
Tell the homies I'm in heaven and
they ain't got hoods
Seen a show with Marvin Gaye last
night, it had me shook drippin' peppermint Schnapps, with Jackie Wilson, and Sam Cooke
Then some lady named Billie
Holiday sang sittin' there kickin' it with Malcolm, 'til the day came
Little LaTasha sho' grown tell
the lady in the liquor that she's forgiven, so come home
Maybe in time you'll understand
only God can save us
When Miles Davis cuttin' lose
with the band
Just think of all the people that
you knew in the past
That passed on, they in heaven,
found peace at last
Picture a place that they exist,
together
There has to be a place better
than this, in heaven
So right before I sleep, dear
God, what I'm askin'
Remember this face, save me a
place, in thug's mansion”
Nas ft 2Pac – Thugz Mansion
Pragmatographia, or
the Counterfeit action:
But if this
description be made to represent the handling of any business with the
circumstances belonging thereunto as the manner of a battle, a feast, a
marriage, a burial or any other matter that hath in feat and activity: we call
it then the Counterfeit action.
“(Prince Markie D):
$3.99 for all you can eat?
Well, I'm a stuff my face to a
funki beat!
(Kool Rock Ski): We're gonna walk
inside, and guess what's up:
Put some food in my plate, and
some Coke in my cup
(Prince Markie D): Give me some
chicken, franks, and fries
And you can pass me a lettuce.
I'm a pass it by
(Kool Rock Ski): So keep
shoveling, (Ha!) onto my plate
Give me some sweets and lots of
cake
(Prince Markie D): Give me some
hot Macaroni and Cheese!
(Human Beat Box): Give me, some
more food PLEASE!!!!
(Kool Rock Ski): Give me some
buloni, salami, and ham
Toast with butter and strawberry
jam
(Prince Markie D): I love it
whether the food is cold or hot
Put a burger on the plate, and
it'll hit the spot
(Kool Rock Ski): We'll eat
everything. An incredible feat
$3.99 for all you can eat!”
The Fat Boys – All You Can Eat
Omiosis, or
Resemblance:
As well to a good
maker and MC as to an excellent persuader in prose, the figure of Similitude is
very necessary by which we not only beautify our tale, but also very much
enforce and enlarge it. I say enforce because no one thing more prevails with
all ordinary judgements than persuasion by similitude. Now because there are
sundry sorts of them, which also do work after diverse fashions in the hearers
of conceits, I will set them forth by a triple division, exempting the general
Similitude as their common ancestor, and I will call that by the name of
Resemblance without any addition, from which I derive three other sorts: and
give every one their particular name, as Resemblance by portrait or imagery,
which the Greeks call Icon, Resemblance moral or mystical, which they call
Parabola, and Resemblance by example, which they call Paradigma. First we will
speak of the general resemblance, or bare similitude, which may be thus spoken.
“Me without a mic
is like a beat without a snare...
I'm sweet like licorice,
dangerous like syphilis.”
The Fugees (Lauryn Hill) – How Many
Mics?
Or,
"My rhymes
are like shot clocks, interstate cops and blood
clots,
My point is your flow gets
stopped."
Black Star (Talib Kweli) – Hater
Players
Or,
"Throwing out the
wicked like God did the devil,
Funky like your
grandpa's drawers, don't test me,
We’re in like
that, you're dead like Presley."
A Tribe Called Quest (Q-Tip) – Steve
Biko
Icon, or Resemblance
by imagery:
But when we liken a
human person to another in countenance, stature, speech or other quality, it is
not called bare resemblance, but resemblance by imagery or portrait, alluding
to the painters term, who yields to the eye a visible representation of the thing
they describe and paints in their table.
“Street life, got a
n*gga hard nose
Feeling
like 2Pac, Lord knows”
Big Pokey – Raise Em Up
And this manner of
Resemblance is not only performed by likening lively creatures one to another,
but also of any other natural thing bearing a proportion of similitude, as to
liken yellow to gold, white to silver, red to the rose, soft to silk, hard to
the stone and such like.
“ I flow like the
blood on a murder scene”
GZA – Liquid Swords
Parabola, or Resemblance
Mystical:
But when so ever by
your similitude you will seem to teach any morality or good lesson by speeches
mystical and dark, or far set, under a sense metaphorical applying one natural
thing to another, or one case to another, inferring by them a like consequence
in other cases the Greeks call it Parabola, which term is also by custom
accepted of us: nevertheless we may call it in English the Resemblance
mystical. They may be false as well as true: as those fables of Aesop, and
other apologies invent3 for doctrine sake by wise and grave persons.
“And this is the way I
have to end this story
He was only seventeen, in a
madman's dream
The cops shot the kid, I still
hear him scream
This ain't funny so don't ya dare
laugh
Just another case 'bout the wrong
path,
Straight 'n narrow or yo' soul
gets cast”
Slick Rick – Children’s Story
Paradigma, or a
resemblance by example:
Finally, if in matter
of counsel or persuasion we will seem to liken one case to another, such as
pass ordinarily in one’s affairs, and do compare the past with the present,
gathering probability of like success to come in the things we have presently
in hand: or if you will draw the judgements precedent and authorised by
antiquity as veritable, and peradventure fained and imagined for some purpose,
into Similitude or dissimilitude with our present actions and affairs, it is
called Resemblance by example.
“Ayo
I'm
like Malcolm out the window with
the joint
Hoodied up blood in my eye , I let two
fly
Like f**k it (2 gunshots)”
