Crossing
Machine Gun Kelly Interview on Complex's Everyday Struggle
Play videoCleveland rapper Machine Gun Kelly (Colson Baker) giving an interview for Complex Music's show Everyday Struggle, with hosts DJ Akademiks, Nadeska, and Wayno. Published July 30, 2019.
Accent and identity (Awkwafina's disappearing blaccent)
Awkwafina (Nora Lum, an Asian-American rapper/actress) has been accused of making use of the AAVE to her benefit and dropping it when she's going more mainstream in recent years - I think this is a great example of how one can use accents to construct different social identities. This also reminds me of the Benor/Eckert article on ethnolect and indexicality.
"AAVE is For Black People And Black People Only"
Opinion piece by a Black author on non-Black people using AAE being cultural appropriation. I don't think the author is a linguist, but a lot of the concepts they reference (white people using AAE to look tough or funny or hip, while there is stigma attached to African Americans using AAE) feel similar to things we've talked about, especially the article about Mock Spanish. It's also interesting that the author is pointing out things reminiscent of indexicality (as mentioned, white people using AAE to sound cool or funny, not to actually pretend to be African American), and has a pretty big problem with such use by people who aren't in the social group being indexed, which isn't an attitude we've really seen in the reading. This was linked on a social media post where people were arguing about this topic I saw a while back.
Irish Woman Refuses to Say Yes or No
Play videoThis video clip is a good example of the preservation of traits from older languages. Many Irish people "refuse" to say yes or no, like in the video, instead simply affirming or denying the verb. This stems from Gaelic, where the words "yes" and "no" are newer words that aren't seen as grammatical. Although many Irish people are beginning to speak only in English, characteristics from Gaelic still live on.
Sonic girls making new words
Play videoThese girls are taking words that already exist and combining them to make a new word with a new meaning.
Larry the Cable Guy: My fake southern accent
Play videoLarry the Cable Guy explains where he picked up his southern accent and gives examples of code-switching.
White man speaking Nigerian pidgin English
Play videoThis artifact present a white men in Nigeria bounding with Nigerian people and using a language easy for them to understand.
Brother Ali freestyle on GoRadio - 95.3FM
Play videoBrother Ali is a white socially-conscious rapper who, due to being albino and growing up primarily around African-Americans in the Midwest, existed for many years with a publicly ambiguous racial identity. In more recent years (including at the time of this video), Brother Ali has been more explicit about being white In this video, Brother Ali freestyles on a local Twin Cities radio station. He uses numerous features of AAE, including pervasive coronal stop (-t/-d) deletion.
G-Eazy - Fire In The Booth.
Play videoThe freestyle that I analyzed for my assignment in AAE. This rapper is interesting because he potentially disrupts traditional notions of authenticity in hip-hop, given the recent "frat rap" movement.
Nicki Minaj Talks Entrepreneurship and Being a Female Rapper on The Queen Latifah Show
Play videoRapper Nicki Minaj is interviewed by Queen Latifah
Kevin Hart in "Night School"
Play videoIn the trailer for the new movie "Night School" starring Kevin Hart, the white principal of the high school "talks Black" and is confronted by Kevin Hart about it, as can be seen at the 48 second mark and the 2 minute and 14 second mark.
Foreign Word Pronounciation
Play videoCollege Humor showing how trying to fit in with the culture is not always a positive thing.
Meet The British Woman Who Sings In Yoruba (Nigerian Language)
Play videoA British woman sings in Yoruba, a language that might shock or surprise other people.
Maz Jobrani: Comedy TedTalk in Qatar
Play videoMaz Jobrani is an Iranian-American who does a lot of comedy to bridge Americans with the Middle East, and to bring awareness of Middle Easterners.
Foreign Accents: Louis C.K's Skit on Saturday Night Live
Play videoIn this video clip from a recent Saturday Night Live, the skit seems to have been written to specifically mock both Louis C.K's inability to reproduce a foreign accent, while also mocking the foreign accents of early immigrants. It is difficult to understand their motivations for the skit, but it seems to me that their depictions of 20th century immigrants relate to our Standard Language Ideology that immigrant language is difficult to understand and is something to be mocked. It is also an interesting example of linguistic crossing, as Louis C.K's appearance in this skit depends on his ability to imitate a foreign accent which he is unable to do.
Die Antwoord's Evil Boy: A Dynamic Crossroad of Language, Culture, and Rap in South Africa
Play videoDie Antwoord is a controversial rap group from Cape Town, South Africa fronted by Ninja Yolandi Vi$$er. Speaking from a post-apartheid perspective, this group offers an underrepresented view of young, lower-middle class, white Afrikaans - a subculture known as "Zef." Historically, Zef has been considered a derogatory term describing someone who was white, poor, and "trashy." However, Die Antwoord and others have looked to transform this into a self-reflective, somewhat satirical, parody that Ninja described as being "apocalyptic debris that we’ve stuck together." In this music video, they display their unique code-switching between Afrikaans and English, as well as Xhosa - the Bantu language of the Xhosa people. Adding to their mixed-bag controversial nature, is the relationship of the Afrikaans languages’ association with apartheid.
Through dynamic language and visual use, this video reflects the complex sociocultural and sociolinguistic interactions that occur in this region. The lyrical narrative told is a statement on the clash between traditional tribal circumcision rituals, and the modern subcultures that seem to offer an alternative path to "manhood." This can be heard in the verse by the guest rapper Wanga, sung in his native tongue:
"Mamelapa umnqunduwakho! (listen here, you fucking asshole)
Andifuni ukuyaehlatini! (I don't want to go to the bush with you)
Sukubammba incanca yam! (don't touch my penis)
Andi so stabani! (I’m not a gay)
Incanca yam yeyamantobi! (this penis is for the girls)
Incanca yam iclean! (my penis is clean)
Incanca yam inamandla! (my penis is strong)
Ndiyinkwekwe enkulu! (I am a big boy)
Angi funi ukuba yeendota! (don't want to be a man)
Evil boy 4 life! yebo! (yes)
Evil boy 4 life!"
Through the use of polyglossic code-switching, performativity, sociocultural and racial integration, and a revamping of contextual meanings, Die Antwoord is doing its part to redefine what it means to be young and Zef in South Africa, and what a socioculturally- and sociolinguistically-complex rebellion sounds like.
Reality TV outgroup language use
Play videoThis clip shows outgroup language use of a white women on a reality TV show. When she is upset, she begins to use more standard English and less AAE markers. Other people on the show notice. This relates to themes of crossing or outgroup language use and also the question of authenticity in relation to race and speech explored in Cutler's "Keepin It Real" (2003).
Performativity in Home Alone
Play videoThis is a clip from the movie Home Alone. Kevin goes grocery shopping and while at the register he talks to the cashier as if he is an adult. Kevin also pulls out coupons just as an adult might do, and tells the cashier the toys are “for the kids.” Kevin is using performativity in order to make himself appear as an adult shopping alone at the store before the cashier starts asking him about his real age and why he is alone.
Use of AAE in Marketing: Jet Blue Example
Jet Blue utilized the term "fleek" in their marketing, which arose from "Black twitter" and is typically considered African American English. It backfires and is deemed as inauthentic, and lots call into question whether it is "professional". This relates to language ideologies; we have certain expectations of who should be speaking in what way, as well as shared ideologies within a particular community of practice. [Published on 02-23-2015]
7 Year Old Polyglot
Play videoThis is a girl who is half-Japanese and half-Spanish, and she is currently (as of 2015) living in Spain. In this video she shows us how many languages she has at her disposal, highlighting the fact that speakers can have many different repertoires to index their identities.
Keith Ape - 잊지마 (It G Ma) (feat. JayAllDay, Loota, Okasian & Kohh)
Play videoMusic video depicting East Asian (Korean and Japanese) rappers using AAVE. This video was highly controversial because many felt the rappers were appropriating black culture, especially since the song itself was based off of an African American hip-hop song ("U Guessed It" by OG Maco).
Fred Armisen Can Do Any Southern Accent
Play videoComedian Fred Armisen walks through various southern accents and distinguishing characteristics.
New York Post: "How Iggy Azalea mastered her ‘blaccent’"
A discussion of Iggy Azalea's understanding/appropriation of AAE, and authenticity. [Published on 01-04-2016]
Pera Code Mixing
Play videoA little girl explains why she combines the Turkish and English language in her speech. She explains that she combines the two languages because she uses both languages, but at times it is hard for her to think of the words in English so she reverts to the Turkish term. It gives great examples of specific terms that she tends to revert to the Turkish term and the reason why she does.
Skins Outtake
Play videoAn outtake from the British TV show Skins, much like the "I speak jive" video, as it also has very formal subtitles and a white speaker who is revealed to speak the variety as well.
V-Nasty Talks N-Word Controversy
Play videoOn the topic of AAE, WHH and authenticity. V-Nasty, of the somewhat infamous White Girl Mob, talks about (and defends) her usage of the N-word, even losing the favor of contentious Kreayshawn.
Bryan Silva
Bryan Silva is a celebrity on Vine, a video sharing website that caps videos at 6 seconds. Silva uses Vine to promote his career as a white rapper. As part of establishing his legitimacy as a rapper, he employs use of AAVE and uses his lyrics (and his body) to demonstrate his masculinity. The video is too short to hear the initial consonant, but in the word "with" he uses a /d/ instead of an /ð/. In the only post-vocalic /ɹ/ environment ("your"), he drops the /ɹ/. His use of the word "ain't" is also a demonstration of his AAVE. The content of this particular line also reinforces his masculinity. He discounts "fufu lame shit" (i.e. experiences he's not proud of or chooses not to associate with) and threatens to "send some shots at your fitted" (a type of hat). Silva perceives rap as a masculine genre. By employing what he perceives to be masculine linguistic and stylistic features, he stakes his claim as a rapper. In other videos, Silva says the n-word and says that he has a right to use it (and other AAVE features) because he grew up in a black neighborhood. [Published on 04-11-2014]
What linguists say about Kevin Spacey's bizarre Southern accent on House of Cards
Linguists discuss the use (and non-use) of Southern English features by actor Kevin Spacey, who portrays a politician from South Carolina on the TV show House of Cards. [Published on 02-27-2015]
My White Jamaican Dad
Play videoThis is a clip of a daughter interviewing her native Jamaican father - his production shows multiple aspects of the modern Jamaican accent. I chose this video to exhibit not only his speech production, but to highlight the rich cultural history of the Caribbean; Because Irish servants worked alongslide slaves from West Africa in the New World, there are many Caucasian natives to this area.
NPR: Kreayshawn breaks in, but whose party is she crashing?
A 2011 profile of white female hip hop artist Kreayshawn, leader of a "white girl mob" of Oakland hip hop artists, which highlights the criticisms of her related to her race and gender.
Macklemore: White Privilege
Play videoA song from white hip hop artist Macklemore that addresses issues of race and ethnicity, specifically whiteness, in the hip hop community and argues that white participation in hip hop is an instance of white privilege.
J-Roc, Microphone Assassin
Play videoSerial crosser J-Roc, a character on the TV comedy series Trailer Park Boys, gives a lesson on critical race theory.