Imitation #4(80's)

Public Enemy – Don’t Believe The Hype

“Word to Herb, yo if you can’t swing this

Learn the words, you might sing this

Just a little bit of the taste of the bass for you

As you get up and dance at the LQ

When some deny, defy it, I swing Bolos

And then they clear the lane I go solo

The meaning of all that, some media is the wack”

            Don’t Believe The Hype, an acclaimed song by Public Enemy released in 1988 of the album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.  The song is meant to be a critique on false media.  As can be seen, the basic structure is end rhyme while some of the lines have internal rhymes.  There’s not much of a clear rhythm or flow in this part of the verse, his lines are seemingly only connected to rap because they are being spoken over a beat and rhyme at the end.  There is some assonance in the fifth line.  These bars are giving a figurative meaning, as it is not clearly stated that Chuck is trying to knock the media until the last few words.  There is some literal meaning, as when he says he “swings Bolos,” which are the wind up punches made famous by Sugar Ray Leonard.  This also shows up when he tells the Herb, or listener who doesn’t understand rap music and is critical of it, that they should “learn the words, you might sing this,” meaning if they might understand the message someday.  Chuck D used personification of the bass in the third line, when he tells the Herb to get a “taste of the bass.”  The tone of the bars is kind of upset, but not raging – as if he’s just trying to get a point across to clear up a misunderstanding that he’s annoyed about.  Seeing as this song is giving an opinion on the media’s flaws and misconceptions, this bit from Chuck D’s verse can be considered lyrical poetry.