Why You Should Listen to Hip-Hop to Master the Japanese Language
Learn Japanese rhyming. You’ll appreciate skillful rappers and Nikkei headlines.
When you think of hip-hop, what comes to mind? Window-shaking subwoofers bumping down the block at midnight? Here in Japan, hip-hop doesn’t rely on bass to create a seismic beat—well, but I thought it was just loud music before discovering artists on the Japanese scene.
If you’re a Japanese learner, hip-hop works perfectly to enhance your listening skill and vocabulary. You might say “I don’t care about music for young people,” but perhaps you don’t know what you’re missing—news article headlines use lyrical rhymes, for instance.
Rhyming Is Everywhere
One of the benefits of listening to lyrical lines as a learning tool is that it allows you to pick up Japanese pitch along with the melody. Some might think Japanese doesn’t have a musical shift in its language, but according to Alvin T.’s article, that’s not the case.
Also, you don’t need to hit the books, at least not right away. Forget about kanji and just enjoy the music and look up the lyrics when you want to understand it more. And knowing homophones that sound perfectly the same will prevent you from making embarrassing mistakes—or help you create a new pun!
For instance, what do you envision when you hear these words?
- oshokujiken
- sūpāsento
If you imagined お食事券 (oshokuji-ken, meal voucher), congratulations! That’s correct. But, 汚職事件 (oshoku-jiken, corruption case) is also correct. These two words are exactly the same pronunciation though they’re totally different compound nouns.
How about sūpāsento? I happened to see a tweet “when I heard ‘sūpāsento,’ all I could imagine was ‘sūpāsentō’ because their pronunciation is so similar.”
It would be funny if someone was talking about 数% (sūpāsento, a small percentage) and the listener couldn’t shake the image of スーパー銭湯 (sūpāsentō, large bathhouse with many different services).
Skillful Japanese Hip-Hop Musicians
With regards to wordplay, KICK THE CAN CREW amazes Japanese hip-hop fans every time they release a new song. They have been icons of Japanese hip-hop since the early 2000s, and they rekindled their passion as a group in 2017 after 14 years of silence.
What makes them special is their creativity and the outstanding skills they bring to their performances. Furthermore, they go above and beyond their fans’ expectations. For instance, their collaboration with Yasuyuki Okamura resulted in an uplifting tune with a playful music video that attracted new supporters.
I recommend listening to ‘Boots’ for their clear rhymes along with the soft beat—and the twin dancers give the video good vibes!
kuru hi mo kuru hi mo susumu bokura no machi kutsu-himo musubu dokutā no māchin
Day after day our city races around Lacing up my Dr. Martens
Rappers usually rhyme with vowels, but they often rhyme with both vowels and consonants! Also, fans assume KREVA wrote a double meaning in this line.
warai-atte-rya kibō mo baizō attakaku-naru shikō no kairo
Sharing a laugh doubles our hope Warming up our process of thought
We normally say 思考回路 (shikō-kairo, patterns of thinking) but he added no as ‘shikō no kairo’ to rhyme with the previous line, kibō mo baizō. And no gives another meaning here, 至高のカイロ, which means a top-of-the-line hand warmer with 至高 (shikō, supreme) and カイロ (kairo, heat pack).
If you read kanji, you’ll enjoy fans’ comments on their YouTube videos as listeners analyze the hidden meanings of their lyrics (some assume even attakaku-naru is double meaning with ‘ah takaku-naru,’ which means getting higher)
A Female Rapper Tells the Story of Okinawa
Japanese female rappers are too good to ignore—and Awich is the queen you have to listen to first.
She’s from Okinawa and studied entrepreneurship and marketing in the U.S. When Okinawa marked 50 years since its reversion to Japan, she debuted her new song, Tsubasa (wing), in which her daughter also showcased her talent.
There’s something in her songs that history textbooks can’t convey, and her performance doesn’t need to be labeled only as hip-hop.
Rhyming News Headlines and the Nikkei Rap Contest
If you are looking for more after deep-diving into KICK THE CAN CREW, check out Nikkei, one of Japan’s most important news sources.
They usually rhyme with only ending vowels like below. Nikkei journalists don’t play around so frequently, but readers like to find them.
faibu-gī tsūshin de gijutsu-kakushin buiāru de shokushin kisya mo kanshin
5G networks bring technological innovation; Palpation by VR impresses reporters.
After this headline came out, it caused a buzz across social media. No wonder people loved the following few titles that rhymed.
baito de gōtō wakamono kyūzō hanzai-soshiki no sasoi komyō
A surge in “part-time” robberies among young people; criminal gangs sophisticatedly lure
And for aspiring hip-hop creators, Nikkei is currently holding their NIKKEI RAP LIVE VOICE, a rap contest looking for original lyrics. The contest is open to anyone 18 or older, irrespective of nationality and musical background, and you can participate by writing lyrics and uploading your performance on YouTube.
Nikkei asserts, “rap and newspapers are both journalism that makes your voice heard.” Why don’t you try to make that voice Japanese by playing with words and seeing what lines you can drop in your rhymes? Your Japanese learning will be way more exciting than ever.
If you enjoyed this article, discover other works of the author at Japonica.
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