Opinion | Hip-hop fails at wordplay

Assuming that an artistic defense of hip-hop is possible, Gilbert Newman Perkins's Sept. 20 op-ed, "Hip-hop hypocrisy," wasn't it.

The fact that a "standard hip-hop song" has "16 bars" and "various beats-per-minute patterns" doesn't mean that it "mirrors" a Shakespearean sonnet. A hip-hop song has notes as well, but Mr. Perkins surely wouldn't say it "mirrors" Bach. The same goes for the fact that rap artists use the same basic literary devices that also appear in middle school fan fiction.

The only specific example of hip-hop's worth that Mr. Perkins mentioned was Lil Wayne's lyric "Real Gs move in silence like lasagna." Lil Wayne can't be saying that "lasagna," the food, "moves in silence," so the simile collapses the minute you think about it. More likely he means that the letter "g" in the word "lasagna" is silent, but of course it isn't: Otherwise the word would be pronounced "la-sa-na." So much for having "mastered the English language, with all its nuances and transmutations."

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Personally, for rhythmic wordplay, I will stick with Gilbert and Sullivan.

Stephen S. Schwartz, Arlington

Gilbert Newman Perkins used Lil Wayne's lyric "Real Gs move in silence like lasagna" as proof that hip-hop is "masterful poetry" from performers who "have mastered the English language, with all its nuances and transmutations."He argued this to fend off criticism by commentators Bill O'Reilly and Don Lemon that hip-hop contributes to black America's social and economic problems.

If that's masterful, then what can be said about Barenaked Ladies' song "Crazy ABCs," which features 25 alphabetical nuances and transmutations, leaving out R ("G for gnarly, I for irk, H is for hour/J for jalapeños, good in either corn or flour")? Until Mr. Perkins's hip-hop exaggeration, I considered it funny. I guess it is really pure genius.

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What Mr. Perkins neglected to report is the rest of Lil Wayne's "6 Foot 7 Foot" (from which the line originates) is rife with broken words ("'cause," "nothin'") and words not appropriate for a family newspaper. A "real G," by the way, is a criminal.

Lil Wayne's bigger-selling songs "Bitches Love Me" and "Lollipop" have worse lyrics. Mr. Perkins's passion is far from Shakespeare, and his defense of hip-hop used selective evidence.

David Almasi, Alexandria

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