An observation I have made about Korean as a language in relation to rapping.
N.B. I’m not a linguist (yet), and don’t know all the correct terms, I just like languages (and khip hop) a lot. I also don’t speak Korean but I know a little bit about its phonetics. So if you disagree I would love to hear your thoughts, this is just a theory of mine haha.
For me, Korean as a language lends itself to rapping very well, much more than say English. Its word structure is reliant on short and “bouncy” syllables, which lends itself to rapping either straight, off beat or in triplets, which means you can do a lot more things with it in terms of diction, intonation, style and flow. English is Germanic in grammar structure but a mishmash when it comes to pronunciation, with Germanic, Romantic and Celtic roots; it just doesn’t have a consistent patterning to how things are said, so when you’re trying to rap to it I personally find it hard to make it sound cohesive or as poetic. Not saying there aren’t good English rappers, just that linguistically Korean lends itself to the genre better.
This was your ‘quickly tapped out’? XD It’s a very well made point. I do like how both poetry and rap in Korean inherently sound more… melodic? You don’t have to depend on rhyming to emphasize notes, but even rhymes come easily. Anyway, yeah, excellent observation!
Interesting point. If I recall correctly from my phonology class, English is a stress-timed language. Languages like Korean or Spanish are syllable-timed, which makes them sound more clipped (โlike a machine gunโ said my prof). Maybe thatโs why Korean lends itself to rap better.
I often call it a syllabic language, but that’s just my word for it! I’m glad to know I’m right and that is actually a thing! Wohoo! “Clipped like a machine gun” yes yes and yes!
Also that will be why songs and raps in Spanish ALWAYS sound better and more musical, than English, like Spanish rapping is also awesome. Spanish is like my favourite language for singing, followed by Korean and Finnish probably.
This is an old post LOL!
Yeah I think ?? my ranking now is (as I commented elsewhere)
Spanish and Finnish >?> Chinese > Korean >>>>>>>>>> English.
Something like that.
Korean is still high for rap though. Korean works for rap just as well as Spanish and Finnish do, but SP and FN are more melodic thus better for singing, and Chinese is just weird and sounds weird and I still don’t know why I like it so much in rap and singing because Mandarin has 5 tones and shouldn’t sound good when sung but oh well.
Omo can we? I would love that. I don’t listen to nearly enough Latin Pop as I should for someone who likes Spanish sung so much ahha
I agree! But in English there is a way to make this work tooโEminem has a way that he strings words together that is genius, where they donโt look like they would rhyme but how he pronounces them, dropping syllables, or slurring others, itโs amazing. But in truth I enjoy listening to Korean rap more than English because of exactly what you say!
Very good point Ally! I was going to bring up Eminem too. I can’t remember if I shared this video with you Sic, but it’s a pretty good breakdown of American rap music. While you may be correct in your assessment–as I too am no linguist or musician etc.–you might be selling English rap short.
Rap music in English–as I suspect it might in Korean as well–exists on a very wide spectrum. I’m not one for mumble rap or most songs about hoes/drugs/beefs etc.–not that I have a problem with it, just that most don’t appeal to me. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good ones out there that I like, but the average song like that, no. On that spectrum though are the different types of delivery. Probably because of the syllable structure I like aggressive fast paced lively delivery of many Korean raps. But that’s usually all I have to go by, delivery. Sure, the lyrics are usually very good, but there’s a disconnect for me there when I’m not reading it. Even when I do, it’s not like English.
Take this English song for example. His delivery is very different from most Korean rap, but the sound and delivery work really well with the message/lyrics. It doesn’t have to be a “positive” song to be a good song either. Take this song which is quite different.
As I said to KSKalways below, this is not meant to discredit English rap, or presume that English can’t be used brilliantly in rap (you have sent me that video before, we’ve also discussed it before lol), because it can, I like a lot of 90s rap specifically for example, and I love how the English language CAN be used in literature and poetry, and I do think that rap is in a way just spoken word poetry to music.
Just that in its Phonology, the literal technical Linguistic make up, I think Korean suits rap better than English. I would even go as far to say that Korean is a lot more Linguistically pure than English; English Phonology is all over the place because of the Great Vowel Shift and the British Isles being invaded so many times.
You always ramble, and I always appreciate your rambles because I also ramble lol
(also I’m not really sure why I never replied to you Ally, sorry haha)
Given that rap & hip-hop were born in an English-speaking country, given the history/culture of rap and with the amazing lyrically-talented English-speaking rappers out there, I really can’t agree with your statement…
But hey… to each their own.
I think… for me it’s got more to do with the phonology of Korean and less to do with where it came from. Just because it originated in English, doesn’t mean other languages exist that aren’t potentially, linguistically more suited to the genre. There are, as Ally said, definitely fantastic English rappers, with good flow and lyrics- but my point was more from a pure phonetics, phonology and language structure perspective, so mostly, how the language sounds and is built, I think Korean works better.
And I’m not an academic linguist as much as I would like to be, so I can only hypothesize based on my limited knowledge and my own (currently quite subjective) ear, that happens to listen to all sorts of music in other languages purely because they’re not English. *shurgs*
๐๐โ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia โ ๐๐
October 25, 2018 at 11:49 PM
An observation I have made about Korean as a language in relation to rapping.
N.B. I’m not a linguist (yet), and don’t know all the correct terms, I just like languages (and khip hop) a lot. I also don’t speak Korean but I know a little bit about its phonetics. So if you disagree I would love to hear your thoughts, this is just a theory of mine haha.
For me, Korean as a language lends itself to rapping very well, much more than say English. Its word structure is reliant on short and “bouncy” syllables, which lends itself to rapping either straight, off beat or in triplets, which means you can do a lot more things with it in terms of diction, intonation, style and flow. English is Germanic in grammar structure but a mishmash when it comes to pronunciation, with Germanic, Romantic and Celtic roots; it just doesn’t have a consistent patterning to how things are said, so when you’re trying to rap to it I personally find it hard to make it sound cohesive or as poetic. Not saying there aren’t good English rappers, just that linguistically Korean lends itself to the genre better.
Paroma
October 26, 2018 at 12:31 AM
This was your ‘quickly tapped out’? XD It’s a very well made point. I do like how both poetry and rap in Korean inherently sound more… melodic? You don’t have to depend on rhyming to emphasize notes, but even rhymes come easily. Anyway, yeah, excellent observation!
๐๐โ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia โ ๐๐
October 26, 2018 at 2:12 AM
Hehehehe well I’d thought of it and sent it to people twice previously so yeah, it kinda came easily when I double checked those notes ๐
Thanks!
WishfulToki
October 26, 2018 at 4:51 AM
Interesting point. If I recall correctly from my phonology class, English is a stress-timed language. Languages like Korean or Spanish are syllable-timed, which makes them sound more clipped (โlike a machine gunโ said my prof). Maybe thatโs why Korean lends itself to rap better.
๐๐โ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia โ ๐๐
October 26, 2018 at 12:48 PM
I often call it a syllabic language, but that’s just my word for it! I’m glad to know I’m right and that is actually a thing! Wohoo! “Clipped like a machine gun” yes yes and yes!
Also that will be why songs and raps in Spanish ALWAYS sound better and more musical, than English, like Spanish rapping is also awesome. Spanish is like my favourite language for singing, followed by Korean and Finnish probably.
ํ๋ฐ์ค
June 13, 2019 at 4:14 PM
I thought Chinese was in the top 3?
Song in Spanish are indeed awesome. We should do a Spanish music room some time.
๐๐โ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia โ ๐๐
June 13, 2019 at 4:37 PM
This is an old post LOL!
Yeah I think ?? my ranking now is (as I commented elsewhere)
Spanish and Finnish >?> Chinese > Korean >>>>>>>>>> English.
Something like that.
Korean is still high for rap though. Korean works for rap just as well as Spanish and Finnish do, but SP and FN are more melodic thus better for singing, and Chinese is just weird and sounds weird and I still don’t know why I like it so much in rap and singing because Mandarin has 5 tones and shouldn’t sound good when sung but oh well.
Omo can we? I would love that. I don’t listen to nearly enough Latin Pop as I should for someone who likes Spanish sung so much ahha
ํ๋ฐ์ค
June 13, 2019 at 5:23 PM
Yeah. I had this tab open for lord knows how long meaning to respond. I meant to respond sooner.
I meant to ask before–that’s a lot of ‘meant’ s. With rapping in Spanish, are we talking something like reggaeton, trap, or something else?
๐๐โ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia โ ๐๐
June 13, 2019 at 6:26 PM
Like… all of it? Spanish is just fun and all round awesome? hahaha
ํ๋ฐ์ค
June 13, 2019 at 6:31 PM
Crap. I forgot to respond to the other part. Yes, we can do a Spanish music room. Just let me know when.
๐๐โ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia โ ๐๐
June 13, 2019 at 7:25 PM
I would also love to like have a music room in general that is non Korean. Cos I listen to so many languages haha
ํ๋ฐ์ค
June 13, 2019 at 7:26 PM
Sure
Ally
October 26, 2018 at 5:19 PM
I agree! But in English there is a way to make this work tooโEminem has a way that he strings words together that is genius, where they donโt look like they would rhyme but how he pronounces them, dropping syllables, or slurring others, itโs amazing. But in truth I enjoy listening to Korean rap more than English because of exactly what you say!
ํ๋ฐ์ค
June 13, 2019 at 5:09 PM
Very good point Ally! I was going to bring up Eminem too. I can’t remember if I shared this video with you Sic, but it’s a pretty good breakdown of American rap music. While you may be correct in your assessment–as I too am no linguist or musician etc.–you might be selling English rap short.
Rap music in English–as I suspect it might in Korean as well–exists on a very wide spectrum. I’m not one for mumble rap or most songs about hoes/drugs/beefs etc.–not that I have a problem with it, just that most don’t appeal to me. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good ones out there that I like, but the average song like that, no. On that spectrum though are the different types of delivery. Probably because of the syllable structure I like aggressive fast paced lively delivery of many Korean raps. But that’s usually all I have to go by, delivery. Sure, the lyrics are usually very good, but there’s a disconnect for me there when I’m not reading it. Even when I do, it’s not like English.
Take this English song for example. His delivery is very different from most Korean rap, but the sound and delivery work really well with the message/lyrics. It doesn’t have to be a “positive” song to be a good song either. Take this song which is quite different.
Why do I feel like I rambled?
ํ๋ฐ์ค
June 13, 2019 at 5:10 PM
Whoops. I messed up the html formatting. The two songs are there though in the “Take” paragraph.
๐๐โ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia โ ๐๐
June 13, 2019 at 6:17 PM
As I said to KSKalways below, this is not meant to discredit English rap, or presume that English can’t be used brilliantly in rap (you have sent me that video before, we’ve also discussed it before lol), because it can, I like a lot of 90s rap specifically for example, and I love how the English language CAN be used in literature and poetry, and I do think that rap is in a way just spoken word poetry to music.
Just that in its Phonology, the literal technical Linguistic make up, I think Korean suits rap better than English. I would even go as far to say that Korean is a lot more Linguistically pure than English; English Phonology is all over the place because of the Great Vowel Shift and the British Isles being invaded so many times.
You always ramble, and I always appreciate your rambles because I also ramble lol
(also I’m not really sure why I never replied to you Ally, sorry haha)
Ally
June 13, 2019 at 6:58 PM
I have no idea who replies and who doesnโt. I wrote this off the cuff and donโt remember who I write things to most of the time. ๐
KSKalways
October 29, 2018 at 7:56 AM
Given that rap & hip-hop were born in an English-speaking country, given the history/culture of rap and with the amazing lyrically-talented English-speaking rappers out there, I really can’t agree with your statement…
But hey… to each their own.
๐๐โ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia โ ๐๐
October 29, 2018 at 2:32 PM
I think… for me it’s got more to do with the phonology of Korean and less to do with where it came from. Just because it originated in English, doesn’t mean other languages exist that aren’t potentially, linguistically more suited to the genre. There are, as Ally said, definitely fantastic English rappers, with good flow and lyrics- but my point was more from a pure phonetics, phonology and language structure perspective, so mostly, how the language sounds and is built, I think Korean works better.
And I’m not an academic linguist as much as I would like to be, so I can only hypothesize based on my limited knowledge and my own (currently quite subjective) ear, that happens to listen to all sorts of music in other languages purely because they’re not English. *shurgs*
๐๐โ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia โ ๐๐
May 28, 2019 at 2:22 AM
@hades I found old wall posts of mine you might appreciate lol