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1 The Emancipation of Metric Displacement Dissonance in Hip-Hop Music Ben Duinker, McGill University Eample 1: ecerpt from Award Tour (A Tribe Called Quest, 199). Bass and drums not shown. In this and all following eamples, brackets indicate hypermetric groupings suggested by the rhyme structure (rhymes are underlined) in the lyrics (flow layer), and the harmonic rhythm in the accompaniment (beat layer). In this eample, the aligned brackets indicate metric consonance between the two layers. (Ecerpt start time 2:8) The wack-est crews try to diss, it makes me laugh when my track rec-ord's long-er than a D -C Twen-ty air -craft So net time that you think you want some thin' here make some-thing def or take that gar -bage to St. Else -where b b. b bb b b. bb b. bb b bb b b. Eample 2: ecerpt from Best Friend (Young Thug, 2015). Drums not shown. The misaligned brackets chart a displacement of one quarter note between the vocals (flow layer) and accompaniment (beat layer), notated as D(-1). This notation assumes the beat layer is heard as primary, and the flow layer as antimetric. In this and all following eamples, an open bracket with a dashed horizontal line indicates that the metric unit contained within that bracket either begins before or concludes after the ecerpt as shown. (Ecerpt start time 1:08) D(-1) D(-1) them if they nudge bang that oth-er side, nig - ga curb and my reef-er loud - er than a speak-er yeah my niece is hang -in with The Beat-les if you ev -er find her bet -ter keep her thir-ty se -ven came-ras for the speak-ers b. b b b b. b. b b b

2 Eample a: ecerpt from the second verse of The World Is Yours (Nas, 199). Drums not shown. The aligned brackets indicate metric consonance between the flow and beat layers. Anacrustic lyrics such as I trip, we, while syntactically grouped with the following lyrics, are metrically grouped with the preceding lyrics. (Ecerpt start time 1:27) (to my) man Ill Will God bless your life, to my peo - ples through -out Queens God bless your life, I trip, we bo up cra - zy bitch - es Aim - in' guns in all my ba - by pic -tures beef with hous - ing po - lice re - lease scrip- tures that's may - be Hit - ler's.. b b # #. b n... b b # #. b n. Eample b: ecerpt from the third verse of The World Is Yours. The misaligned brackets show the displacement between the flow and beat. interprets the beat layer as primary, while hearing B interprets the flow layer as primary. Consequently, each hearing assumes a unique hypermetric downbeat, as indicated by the vertical dashed lines. (Ecerpt start time 2:57) starts here starts here (I'm a) young ci-ty ban-dit hold my - self down sin-gle hand-ed for mur-der raps I kick my thoughts a-lone get re-man-ded born a-lone die a-lone: no crew to keep my crown or throne I'm deep by sound a-lone, caved in - side a thou-sand miles from home # n #. b... b b # n #. b... b b 2

3 Eample a: two possible hearings of the beat layer in Buggin Out (A Tribe Called Quest, 1991). interprets the bass line as primary, while hearing B interprets the drum beat and vocals (not shown) as primary.. b. D(8-2) - bass occupies primary layer b b D(8+2) - drums/vocals occupy primary layer. b b. b Eample b: opening of Buggin Out, including vocals. Staggered barlines are used to show how the drums/vocals and bass respectively create their own metric groupings. Yo, mic - ro-phone check one, two, what is this The five foot ass - ass - in with the rough-neck busi - ness I float like grav - i - ty X. b. b. b

4 Eample 5a: beat layer of Livin Astro (Kool Keith, 2000). Drums not shown. Two possible hearings of the harmonic loop are detailed here, although the song begins according to hearing B. b Ó b Ó b. b. b b Ó b. b b Ó b. Eample 5b: opening of the first verse of Livin Astro. Drums not shown. Both hearings demonstrate how the flow s metric units are displaced from the two-measure metric units of the beat. In hearing A, this displacement occurs constantly, while in hearing B it occurs momentarily (in this ecerpt the displacement begins in the fourth measure of hearing B). (Ecerpt start time 0:) I got my shades on big rock star. Ó com-pared to El-vis sign-in' au-to - graphs for rap-pers while girls move they pel-vis write songs strict-ly for El-ton John and Lio-nel Rich-ie call up my but-ler, get clothes washed by the maid Iv-ory soap dish-es clean feel like Cas - cade b. b. b b b N b. b. b b b N b. b. b b b N shades on big rock star. com-pared to El-vis sign-in' au-to - graphs for rap-pers while girls move they pel-vis write songs strict-ly for El-ton John and Lio-nel Rich-ie call up my but-ler, get clothes washed by the maid Iv-ory soap dish-es clean feel like Cas - cade " b. b b b b. b. b b b b. b. b b b b.

5 Bibliography Adams, Kyle Aspects of the Tet/Music Relationship in Rap. Music Theory Online 1, no On the Metrical Techniques of Flow in Rap Music. Music Theory Online 15, no. 5.. The Musical Analysis of Hip-Hop In The Cambridge Companion to Hip-Hop, edited by Justin Williams, Cambridge University Press. Biamonte, Nicole Formal Functions of Metric Dissonance in Rock Music. Music Theory Online 20, no. 2. Butler, Mark Unlocking the Groove: Rhythm, Meter, and Musical Design in Electronic Dance Music. Indiana University Press. Condit-Schultz, Nat MCFlow: A Digital Corpus of Rap Transcriptions. Empirical Musicology Review 11, no. 2: De Clercq, Trevor Measuring a Measure: Absolute Time as a Factor for Determining Bar Lengths and Meter in Pop/Rock Music. Music Theory Online 22, no.. Duinker, Ben and Denis Martin In Search of the Golden Age Hip-Hop Sound ( ). Empirical Musicology Review 12, no. 1 2: Edwards, Paul How to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC. Chicago Review Press. Kautny, Oliver Lyrics and Flow in Rap Music. In The Cambridge Companion to Hip-Hop, edited by Justin Williams, Cambridge University Press. Krebs, Harald Fantasy Pieces: Metrical Dissonance in the Music of Robert Schumann. Oford University Press. Krims, Adam Rap Music and the Poetics of Identity. Cambridge University Press. London, Justin. Metric Fakeouts. Spreadsheet. accessed: October 25, Hearing in Time: Psychological Aspects of Musical Meter (2 nd edition). Oford University Press. Ohriner, Mitchell Metric Ambiguity and Flow in Rap Music: A Corpus-Assisted Study of Outkast s Mainstream (1996). Empirical Musicology Review 11, no. 2: Schloss, Joseph Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop. Wesleyan University Press. Williams, Justin Rhymin and Stealin : Musical Borrowing in Hip-Hop. University of Michigan Press. 5