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Ironies in Hip-Hop

An ‘Irony‘ is a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is an incongruity or discordance between what one says or does and what one means or what is generally understood. Irony is a mode of expression that calls attention to the character’s knowledge and that of the audience; it can be said that hip-hop music uses many literary devices as rappers use vivid and colorful language to paint a canvas; the brush used is a combination of blunt dialogue, metaphors, simile’s, syllabic rhyming, and cross textuality references.  However, the culture itself – the artists behind the music, and the lifestyle, presents some interesting irony; everything from lines in songs, to certain artists making business decisions, to events that have transpired.  Hip-Hop definitely presents some interesting ironies such as:

Tupac dying while being signed to Death Row Records

Notorious B.I.G. making a song on his last album called ‘Going back to Cali’

Lil Wayne being the biggest artist in the game

50 Cent being very rich

Eminem being White (there are no white M&M’s)

OutKast having commercial success

T.I. (really T.I.P.) got arrested and convicted because of a tip to the authorities

.:: LiBM ::.