Findings and Discussion
Just Another Day
Just Another Day, from the album "Black Reign" serves as a great example of code-switching and some typical phonology and lexicon of AAVE. Queen Latifah indexes simply by her strong use of AAVE.
Well it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood
A beautiful day in the neighbor-hood
Can't go wrong, I feel strong and the flavor's good
I'm wit whateva comes my way, hip-hop hooray
Latifah's on vacation, I'm just plain on day to day
I strap out, step out in every direction
Glock, tech's, jimmy hat's, in case I need protection
So I land cruise, play I wanna be's
A kid in the increase gettin jack right in front of me
So I pull the tech close, my finger's on the trigger
Don't wanna get wet, so they step
Cause mine's is slighty bigger
But better yet, I'ma threat, so ya better walk
Or get sketched out in chalk, cause I don't wanna talk
I stay true blue, I'm hopin it's you too
I got the fever for the flava of a??????
So it's back to the block time to play
It's just another day around the way, hey
Well it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood
Neighborhood is pronounced "naybuh hood"
Can't go wrong, I feel strong and the flavor's good
"Wrong" and "strong" become "wroh ung" and "stroh ung"
I'm with whatever comes my way, hip-hop hooray
"With" becomes "wit", a stopping of interdental fricatives.
Latifah's on vacation, I'm just plain old Dana today
I strap up, step out in every direction
Glock, TECs, jimmy hats, in case I need protection
Use of slang - "jimmy hats" (condoms) and reference to using guns as protection from gang violence.
So I Land Cruise, pump sounds, play out wanna be’s
A reference to driving around with music playing louder than people she looks down upon.
A kid in a M3's getting jacked right in front of me
Referring to street violence with "a kid in a M3's getting jacked" - as in somebody is stealing a BMW M3 while it's being driven.
So I play the Tech close, my finger's on the trigger
Don't wanna get wet, so they steps 'cause mine's is slightly bigger
AAVE is a masculine dialect; she says "mine's is slightly bigger".
But better yet I'm a threat, so you better walk
Or get sketched out in chalk, 'cause I don't wanna talk
I stay true blue, I'm hoping it's you too
I got the fever for the flavor of a Woo Woo
"Flavor" becomes "flava"
So it's back to the block, time to play
"Back to the block" is a reference to her neighborhood
It's just another day around the way, hey
Chorus...
As can be seen from the spelling (and heard in the audio clip), this stanza is almost completely absent of AAVE features. The lexicon and phonology have become less Black English and closer to Standard English. Queen Latifah expresses the fact that violence has been normalized using AAVE. She sings the chorus in SE to show a stark contrast between what is normal for that neighborhood versus what should be normal.
Just another day, living in the hood
Just another day around the way
Feelin good today, feelin lovely-yay
Just another day, living in the hood
Just another day around the way
Feelin good today
I hear the (sound of a gunshot), but I'm here to stay
Go Head
Lady bubble bubble for my thug
Startin' that trouble
Little homies born in the struggle
I show you I love you
Get in a huddle
Peace to mommies workin' a double
Dana'll hug you
Piss me off I'll get em to mug you
I'm the same princess of the posse
Sippin confossey
If you can't sang
You can't copy what's gone stop me
In a black beat swizzey
And I'm pumpin' my posse
And plus I'm stocky
I dare on of y'all broads to try and stop me
La stays layin' the fire
Displayin' the wire
And I'm paid now
So twenty years just stainin' the tires
President buyer
Peasants can't grow with the sire
And whoever told you LA wouldn't drop is a liar
In this segment of "Go Head", post-vocalic (the consonant sound following the vowel) /l/ is replaced with /o/ or /ə/. This means that "bubble" becomes "bubboh".
Lady bubble bubble for my thug
b^bo - bubble
Startin' that trouble
Startin - she utilizes a glottal stop instead of /t/. Trouble - tr^bo
Little homies born in the struggle
shtr^go - struggle
I show you I love you
Get in a huddle
huh^do - huddle
Peace to mommies workin' a double
duh^bo - double
Dana'll hug you
Piss me off I'll get em to mug you
I'm the same princess of the posse
Sippin confossey
A seemingly made up term...to mean coffee? Alcohol? Both?
If you can't sang
Use of past tense for "sing"
You can't copy what's gone stop me
"Going to" becomes "gone"
In a black beat swizzey
Another undefinable term
And I'm pumpin' my posse
And plus I'm stocky
I dare one of y'all broads to try and stop me
La stays layin' the fire
Displayin' the wire
And I'm paid now
So twenty years just stainin' the tires
President buyer
Peasants can't grow with the sire
The above underlined terms are all pronounced "fi-ya", "wi-ya", etc. - postvocalic /r/ deletion.
And whoever told you LA wouldn't drop is a liar
Uses glottal stop in wuh-nt
https://genius.com/Queen-latifah-go-head-lyrics
While I don't understand all her lyrics (some of the words indeed seem self-generated), I understand the point of this song. She uses indexing through the use of masculine AAVE to assert her dominance, superiority, and unwavering strength. This song means she's the best of the best and don't mess with her.
I Know Where I've Been
In this song, Queen Latifah makes reference to the black civil rights activists who have been murdered while fighting for equality. "Lost so many on the way" is a reference to the African Americans who were murdered for being black or being involved in the Civil Rights Movement. The style of this song doesn't fit in with the style of the rest of my selections. This song was featured in a mainstream film.
This is the only one of the four songs I'm examining that lacks AAVE features as compared to the other three songs.
There's a light in the darkness
Though the night is black as my skin
There's a light burning bright, showing me the way
But I know where I've been
There's a cry in the distance
It's a voice that comes from deep within
There's a cry asking why, I pray the answer's up ahead, yeah
'Cause I know where I've been
There's a road we've been travelin'
Lost so many on the way
But the riches will be plenty
Worth the price, the price we had to pay
https://genius.com/Queen-latifah-i-know-where-ive-been-lyrics
U.N.I.T.Y.
But like Yo-Yo, you don't hear me though
You wear a rag around your head and you call yourself
A "Gangsta Bitch" now that you saw Apache's video
I saw you wilding, acting like a fool
I peeped you out the window jumping girls after school
But where did all of this come from?
A minute ago, you was a nerd and nobody ever heard of ya
Now you a wannabe... hard
You barely know your ABC's, please
There's plenty of people out there with triggers ready to pull it