This songs content is highly meta-fictional in the way that it draws attention to the language of Hip-Hop. It then adds a social dimension by describing this language as ‘Criminal Slang’. This comment employs irony to demonstrate that many people in society, especially the police, view such colloquial language as just that, when in fact, it is more so a representation of Black communities which are impacted by poverty and crime due to Historical racial injustices and continuing disenfranchisement in the post-civil rights era. The song does indeed discus many criminal acts and features of criminality, however, this is once again a satirical reflection of a community which has been driven to illegal revenue streams by lack of opportunity. For more on the social indicators of crime, particularly youth crime, see Akala’s interview on knife crime in the RESOURCES tab. There is a strong focus on vocabulary, figurative language, imagery, onomatopoeia, and personification, it discusses diverse communities, alternative narratives and can be used to inquire into epistemology, ontology, people and places, culture Studies and social Studies.
Link to Lyrics: https://genius.com/Big-l-ebonics-lyrics
Humanity4HipHop 