Pattern Languages
Illustration by Ayo Arogunmati
Patterns are all around us. Some obvious, others subtle but always with the elements repeating in a recurring manner. They can appear in, ascending, descending, geometrical and additive orders if we are operating in a mathematical domain. The patterns that are of interest though are the subtle ones, which are not always visual but are noticed only through our auditory or cognitive senses. The rap genre is particularly interesting because the verses can be simple with the ending word of a line in a verse rhyming with the previous line or they can be more complex with the use of comparison, alliteration and syncopation within the lines.
The ability to play with words is the foundation of the rap genre and rapping has its own pattern language. New York benefitted from defining the pattern language for rap music in the early stages of the genre, however, the pattern language became too restrictive for an art form such as rap [1]. Other coasts, while also using the pattern language set by the New York rap scene, formed their own pattern languages but were more flexible in its definition of the pattern language. How pattern languages form and how it can become inflexible over time is a major factor as to why the South has been able to dominate the rap genre for the last 20 years.
Many industries formed their pattern languages decades ago – for example, to work at a top Manhattan bank it may be necessary to attend a top tier educational institution. Another example of a rigid pattern language is at a traditional newsroom. You may be required to write a certain way, follow a particular story in which you have a low interest and present the information in a manner that pleases their audience. New ideas, products or industries rarely have this rigidity to their pattern languages [2]. Innovators have had more success entering a new market with a new idea because there are no established patterns. This is likely the case in the early days of social media. Without knowing the true implications of the effects of the medium, we were all part of a new market that had no set patterns and were willing to do things like sharing our information in the hope that something interesting gets discovered.
Rap music also has its pattern language, but different regions have embedded some flexibility into its pattern language, leading to more innovative artists coming from these areas [3]. Rap music and its evolution is interesting when you compare the pattern language in New York to the pattern language of the American South. They have the same building blocks, but the South has dominated the genre for the last two decades because of its pattern language flexibility.
It is undeniable that one of the greatest and most influential rappers in setting the pattern language for rap music is Rakim. He is arguably the first rapper to deviate from the common rhyme patterns in the 80s, moving to a more complex rhyme pattern that featured alliteration, internal rhymes, sophisticated wordplay, syncopation and imagery all within a 16-bar verse. He was also commercially viable. Over the years, many rappers would follow the pattern language set by not only Rakim, but also other rappers from the era such as Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane. Rakim delivered his rhymes in a calmer, clearer and more complex rhyme scheme [4].
New York city’s corporate music infrastructure, developing in the 80s with stronger entrenched interest in the 90s, had a concentration of banks, and record labels that industrialized the genre and coded the rap pattern language. Rap artists, in New York, were a train ride away from corporate offices of labels such as Def Jam and Columbia and record executives ignored other coasts that did not follow the pattern language set in New York [5].
A common error in a debate among rap fans is to suggest that because an artist does not follow the pattern language that was formed out of the New York rap scene is to say that artist cannot be ranked among the top performers of the genre [5]. What is often missing in the debate is how the artists outside of New York avoided the rigidity of the corporatized pattern language, leading them to play more with the rules of the genre, resulting in their own form of rap music [6].
To understand what pattern language is, it is helpful to define some terms. Pattern language can be understood as a finite combinatory system, which allow us to create an infinite variety of unique combinations appropriate to different circumstances [7]. This definition is a complex way of comprehending idea, so to better grasp this concept let’s observe the pattern language in a simple arithmetic.
Now that we have the finite sets, we can combine them in as many ways as we want by following those rules, but always keeping in mind that division and multiplication comes before addition and subtraction in order to use this pattern language.
Similarly, we can think of the English language as having its own pattern language that allows us to use it in infinite ways as long as we combine the different sets in the language.
Each of the sets relates to the other set, which allows us to combine and create infinite patterns with the set of rules.
Now that we have established a simple way of thinking about pattern languages, we can try to understand why the south has dominated the rap genre over the last two decades. In the 80s, rap music was very much in an experimentation phase, so this allowed artists to test out different rhyme patterns. Rakim originating out of New York is not surprising because the pattern language had not become rigid at the time of his introduction to the market. However, as this pattern language worked for commercial purposes this style was codified and attempts to innovate within the pattern language became more difficult. The industrialization of rap music in New York that required artists to rhyme in a particular style is one of the factors that led to other coasts being able to challenge the status quo [8].
The south’s less rigid pattern language allowed amateurs to challenge the status quo. These artists had an unconscious understanding of the pattern language and how they are supposed to be used. Their goal was not to deviate from the pattern language accepted within the culture, but to experiment with new combinations like slowing down a record or shortening the bars on your lines. This ability to play is a major factor for the south’s commercial edge in rap music.
Using the set notation as was done earlier to attempt to describe simple math notation and the English language, rap pattern language can be divided into three parts
If we consider the 3 sets that are all interrelated, the section most deviated from by southern artist is the second set. They don’t follow the syntax rules in the manner accepted by the early pioneers of the New York style of rap, which followed a syntax of { intro, hook, 3 verses (16 bars each), hook, outro } [9] . This has proven innovative and commercially viable even as more purist criticize the way rap is changing. While the most famous or best rappers are more aligned with the traditional pattern language that follow Rakim’s rhyming style, the southern genre has facilitated the entrance of more artists into the genre than the rigid pattern language of New York. The current rap class coming out of New York are also moving away from the rigid pattern language set by the industrialization of the genre in the 80s and early 90s [10].
The south’s self-organized structure with limited concentration of corporate interests and artists in any specific region allowed each part of the south to innovate within the boundaries of rap’s patten language This has led to continuous experimentation by more southern artists. Technology has helped many of the self-organized artists in the southern states, but beyond technology, the less rigid pattern language is a key factor as to why the south continues to dominate rap music.
NOTES
[1] New York City is referred to as the birthplace of Hip Hop, so it was able to establish the pattern language over time as the genre gained more popularity.
[2] Elon Musk likely would have received pushback if he tried to create a combustion-based vehicle, however, without a pattern language established in the production of electric vehicles, he is permitted to experiment and innovate.
[3] This is not to suggest that there has been no innovation coming from New York, but to suggest that certain types of artists are not likely to be as successful under the New York pattern language.
[4] The decade following Rakim would introduce new acts from New York like the Notorious BIG, Nas, and Jay z who all hail from New York City.
[5] It is possible that the codification of the pattern language caused many of the frictions between different coasts in the 90s.
[6] There is a strong bias to only consider artists that follow a certain pattern language in the top 5 list of greatest of all time.
[7] Travis Scott is a good example of an artist that pushed the boundaries of the pattern language.
[8] Christopher Alexander in his book The Timeless Way of Building
[9] NWA in the 90s, Master P, and the Geto Boys who utilized the pattern language and maybe understood that the pattern language was supposed to be combined in an infinite way, not in a finite way as was happening in New York.
[10] Visual representation for the first 5 lines of the songs-
Juice - Rakim
Bad and Boujee - The Migos
Stokes for Overthinking It - https://www.overthinkingit.com/2016/04/18/rakim-rap-genius/
[11] This is not to suggest that New York is non-innovative, but to explain how an industrialized system that backed the music Industry affected artists that deviated from the accepted pattern language. Certain New York rappers identified the rigidity of the pattern language and moved to the south to push their careers – Nicki Minaj and French Montana for example or home grown artists like Asap Rocky using a southern style to kickstart his career.
