Findings and Discussion

Vocab:

The following pie charts are percentages of common AAVE vocab in Tyler's music. Vocab in peticular is one way Tyler brings himself closest to his racial identity. I am aware that many words in my sample are not exclusively used in AAVE, but I added them due to the fact that they are very commonly used in AAVE. Disclaimer, I added use of the word 'shit' to the sample to exemplify the distinctive use of profanity in rap.

Album Used: Wolf (2013)

Grammar:

This section details the use of AAV grammar using the same sample in the previous example. Tyler's lyrics seem to lack many common grammatical features of AAVE despite what examples I have found. This may be due to him growing up in a mixed cultural area in Califorinia and being exposed to many dialects rather than exclusively AAVE.

Subject Matter:

With this section I want to elaborate on various song lyrics that correlate to my overall argument.

- Bastard (2009): In this song Tyler expresses how he does not care that he never knew his Igbo father. According to the 2016 census bureau, only 38.7 percent of African-American minors live with both parents as opposed to 61.3 percent with single parents. (9)

- 48 (Wolf 2013): In this song, the main topic is about drug use and the problem it poses to society. Within lower socio-economic classes, substance abuse is particularly higher than other classes. However, substance use and abuse are more common among Caucasians than African Americans. A study of 72,561 youths resulted in 37 percent of them engaging in substance use, nine percent of which were white, compared to five percent being black. (Szalavtia 2011, 10) This statistic can be a little misguiding though. The population percentage is primarily white and that would be cause for an uneven sample. Besides this, Tyler hits upon many of his personal struggles on how he became successful and used it to help his single mother and sister financially.

- Answer (Wolf 2013): "You Nigerian f***, now I'm stuck with this shitty facial hair, Also stuck in a beautiful home with a case of stairs" Tyler complains about his facial hair much on social media. He apparently blames his father Nigerian heritage for it. Tyler also has a four story home and a massive staircase which he references three different times on Wolf alone. It's possible that he references the stairs in his home as a metaphor for how he has climbed the stairs to success. 

- SMUCKERS (Cherry Bomb 2015): "Mom I made you a promise, it's no more section 8, When we ate its the steaks, now our section is great, Cause that's the level I'm at, my niggas pass em a plate, Ye!" : Tyler is talking about how he made it out of poverty and now can provide for his family with his new found wealth. This is very common of rappers, but it is one example of how Tyler is also proud he has over come socio-economic problems related to African Americans. 

Discussion/Reflective Thoughts:

Vocab Reflections:

The vocab Tyler uses is not solely vocab from AAVE, so I thought it best to detail his use of the 'N' word. Tyler commonly uses the 'N' word in a variety of contexts. Many of which are positive but also negative. The positive contexts are a prime example of the way many African Americans have tried to give the word a more positive meaning. In spite of this Tyler also uses the 'N' word negatively, especially in cases where he blames his race for certain social issues. The way Tyler is using the 'N' word is strictly dependent on context. The 'N' word is being reclaimed by those previously insulted by its use, but it used exclusively among African Americans, as an affectionate, ironic, or jocular epithet. (Hughes 2006)

Tyler's use of profanity is nothing short of excessive. I think Tyler uses profanity so frequently to add power and meaning to what he says. This mirrors Troutman's claims that African American men and women communicate in assertive and outspoken ways. It also adds shock value which is popular with many people. He also may use profanity as a means to express rebellion or non-conformity. 

Other various vocab common to AAVE featured that Tyler uses are 'ain't', 'y'all' (used commonly in Southern European-American English as well as AAVE), and 'homie' ('homie' is a distincitive feature of AAVE). Besides profanities like the 'N' word and various swears, Tyler's music seems to lack quite a lot of AAVE features in his speech and lyrics. Use of 'ain't' for negation falls more under AAVE phonology category although I decided to lump it into vocab since 'ain't' is used to replace either 'isn't' or 'aren't'. 'Ain't' is used in various different American English dialects the same as 'y'all' although it is most commonly used in AAVE. Nevertheless, Tyler seems to only use very specific AAVE vocab. Much of the basic vocab that he uses is from other dialects of English mainly. I think the distinct lack of AAVE vocab may be from his growing up in Southern California and being exposed to various other dialects of English rather than solely AAVE. 

Grammar Reflections:

Grammar is perhaps the biggest example of AAVE in Tyler's music and speech. Use of completive 'done' is the most common example in Tyler's music I found, followed closely by absence of plural marker 's'. I find the lack of zero copula (omitting of is or are) to be strange since it allows for more rhythm flexibility. The omitting of 'is' or 'are' can make room for more words in lyrics so that your lines have more meaning without adding too many words to overwhelm rhythm. 

Tyler has smaller examples of zero copula other than omitting 'is' or 'are'. Unstressed and stressed 'been' are two sub examples that I didn't include in the Grammar Graph above due to how uncommonly they are used in Tyler's music. I found only one example of a stressed 'been' in the song "Pigs" off Wolf. Again, I think this is due to his exposure to many differently dialects rather than just AAVE. That, or Tyler is trying to include as many out groups opposite of AAVE speakers so that he can spread his music further. This is highly unlikely though because there are songs (with less relation to more serious topics) that exist on other albums that use many examples of AAVE throughout. These albums are typically his earlier ones excluding Wolf. Tyler's first album Goblin is a prime example, although I didn't use it in the graphs because of its subject matter not relating to the individuality of Tyler heavily. An example of AAVE grammar from Goblin would be the track "Radicals". 

"Odd Future Wolf Gang, we came together cause we ain't have nobody else." The example shows just one feature of AAVE, a negative concord. Tyler's albums change as he releases new music. Goblin is littered with many different examples of AAVE, yet Wolf and Flower Boy lack the vast amount of AAVE features except for very specific words and grammar. I think it all has to do with how Tyler intends the purpose of each album he creates. With Goblin he must have been trying to create a feeling of common brotherhood with his race by using so much AAVE. Tyler also focuses less on himself and more of the wider group problems for his race in Goblin. He also features many beats and rap styles similar to other rappers in Goblin.

Then with Tyler's albums Wolf and Flower Boy, his entire tone and sound shifts. He has much less use of AAVE and is very particular with word choice. Subject matter shifts to more about himself. Tyler does use himself as an example of much bigger problems in the African American community, e.g. poverty, but the focus remains largely on his problems as an individual.

General Reflections:

Concerning Tyler's identity and how it relates to his music, Tyler keeps a distinctive identification with African American, but his speech functions less, and features less vocab from AAVE. Tyler must control what he says quite heavily while creating music. How do we know Tyler uses AAVE whether he wants to or not? The examples of AAVE grammar and use of the 'n' word of course. We also see that he brings up topics and problems common to African American's in his music. Not only that, they are almost always applied purely to himself. (See above section: Subject Matter)

So why the mismatch between his grammar and identity as an African American? The content of his lyrics point to the fact that he obviously identifies as African American; Why does Tyler seem to use very specific parts of AAVE grammar and vocab instead of fully embracing AAVE as a means to identify with African Americans even more? An answer to these questions may be that Tyler seeks to remain an individual rather than identify with a single group too much. Yes, Tyler sees himself as African American, yet he also sees himself as special and different than other African Americans.

Another example can be Tyler's use of genre. Tyler uses jazz and other genre styles in his music that are not common of most rap. This is a way that makes Tyler's music unique to him, yet simutaneously he does not have to abandon his African American identity. There is a balance between identity and individuality that Tyler is creating within his music. It is because of this balance that I chose him as a focus for this project. There is no rapper like Tyler, yet there is a distinct relationship between his identity and race with his music and art.