Rap Genius, Wikipedia for Hip Hop Lyrics

For those who don’t know, Rap Genius began as a Wikipedia for rap lyrics. The site has since grown far beyond hip hop to include other genres of music and literary and historical texts. As with Wikipedia, the website is moderated by a staff, but most of the content is created by users who sign up for accounts. (For this class, you will have to sign up for an account at Rap Genius. It's easy: all you need is a "nickname"--try the Wu-Tang name generator; that's how Donald Glover and "Lucky_Desperado" got their rap names--and an email address--don't forget your password!)

Rap Genius in English Class?

We will be using Rap Genius both to explore popular song lyrics in relation to the primary texts and themes of the course, as well as to collectively annotate songs and poems that I have uploaded to the site and that are part of our coursework proper.

A major component of Rap Genius's mission is to “critique rap as poetry." Thus, you will be utilizing your literary critical thinking skillz as you "explain" various texts and "suggest improvements" to existing explanations of texts on the website.

Moreover, annotating a text in detail, whether a poem or a song, is a step towards developing larger analyses, and can be thought of as part of the essay-writing process. You might end up using a brief close reading of a song as an introduction to a traditional paper for the class.

Rap Genius has also created an intuitive and dynamic annotation platform that allows users to create good-looking online content with relative ease. Developing a digital literacy in Web 2.0 technologies like Rap Genius is also critical for students in terms of college preparation.

Rap Genius Assignment and Extra "Street" Cred(it)

We will begin working on Rap Genius by annotating some of the primary texts for the course, passages from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby. I have uploaded several key passages in the first half of the book for us to work on "explaining" online. Your first assignment is to add at least one annotation (or "suggest an improvement") to at least one of these texts on Rap Genius:

F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby (Chapter I)

F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby (Chapter II)

F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby (Chapter III)

Your explanation or suggestion should be substantial and include a link and an image or video. Linking to another "lyric" or song within Rap Genius is extra credit. Here is an example.

You will also receive extra credit throughout the term for explanations on Rap Genius that relate to course themes. For example, there are a wide selection of songs that relate to the topic of the American dream that you might work on annotating. I will be able to monitor your contributions via the point system and your profile on the site.

The 411 on Rap Genius

Rap Genius allows users to select text from a song and annotate, or as they say, "Break it down," in a pop-up bubble. White lines need annotating. Yellow lines already have an annotation.

Users can also “Suggest an improvement” to existing annotations by clicking on the yellow lines and adding a suggestion. Editors on Rap Genius like myself can then “accept” changes and further edit bubbles to provide users the best explanations possible.

Within bubbled explanations, it’s easy to embed images and video simply by pasting in the image URL or YouTube URL. (Note: to get an image URL, you can navigate to the image page or, on a Mac, simply "control click" on the image and "Copy image URL.")

You can also create links by just a little bit of coding (note that there is no space between brackets and parentheses below)--this is as complicated as your work in Rap Genius will get:

[Words to link in brackets](link URL in parentheses)

Editing Guidelines (But What Do I Say?)

Again, our goal here is to annotate texts, to provide analyses of textual meaning. Here are some questions to consider:
What literary and poetic devices like imagery, metaphor, and enjambment are at work in the song or poem?

How does the theme in the song or poem connect to the themes of other literary texts, especially those mentioned in the song itself?

What relevant historical events are referenced in the lyrics or could be helpful to understand the meaning of the lyrics?

The first "Commandment" of Rap Genius reads as follows:



1. If you don't know whether a line should be explained, ask yourself: "Is this interesting"? If not, skip it or find a way to make it interesting** (THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF RAP GENIUS!!! DONT EXPLAIN IT UNLESS ITS INTERESTING!)

And here are a few more specific suggestions about how to make an interesting explanation from the Rap Genius Editors (more can be found at the their "Rap Genius for Beginners" page):

Rap Genius Style Guide, or, "Styles Upon Styles Upon Styles"

There is an etiquette for the formatting and style of RG just as there are with formal English essays.

While the writing at Rap Genius is relatively informal, proper grammar is still expected.

Just as in more conventional paper-writing, songs should be in quotes and other titles should be appropriately formatted.

You cannot simply copy and paste from Wikipedia and other reference sites—that’s plagiarism anywhere you are writing. The fun thing about Rap Genius is that you can be rewarded for using your own voice!

As in conventional English essays, arguments need to be backed up with evidence. This is easier to do than using MLA format; simply link to a website that supports your point.

Digital writing requires a dynamism lacking in traditional paper writing. Be sure to include images, videos, or links in your posts to fully engage the online composition format.

Lastly, as with all digital writing, be sure to double-check, AKA proofread, your "published" explanations and suggestions to make sure links work and images and video are properly embedded.

For More Help

Check out the resources created by Rap Genius Editors and Rap Genius Educators, including:
Rap Genius Editors - Rap Genius for Beginners (a DO's and DON'Ts list)

Rap Genius Editors - Rap Genius Contributor Guidelines (some formatting tips and a 10 commandments list")