Figurative Language in Rap Music (Weekly Blog #1)

Drake

Hip-hop music is full of figurative language. Rap artist nowadays are using similes, metaphors, personification, hyperboles, metonymy, and even alliteration in their songs. The rapper Drake is a specific rap artist that uses figurative devices. In the song Successful, Drake says “Alot of ya'll are still sounding like last year The game needs change and I'm the cashier, Nickels for my thoughts, dimes in my bed”. In this line, Drake is calling himself the cashier because he’s bringing change to the “Rap Game” just as a cashier would give change (as in coins) to a customer. He is comparing the “Rap Game” needing change, to a customer needing change from a cashier. He then expands on the idiomatic expression “A penny for your thoughts if you put your two cents in”. Instead of getting a Penny for his thoughts, Drake claims to be getting nickels. Plus, Drake is literally getting paid for his thoughts because he’s a rapper and they’re paid to express their thoughts in songs. He then goes on to compare a dime to an attractive female, relating back to the original concept of him being a cashier. In Drake’s song, Miss Me, he employs a paradox, a metaphor, and a simile in one line. He says “I will have a model wife; your girl is as hot as ice”. This line leaves one questioning: How can someone be as hot as ice? Well the answer becomes clear upon further inspection. Drake uses the word ‘hot’ as a measurement of beauty, and if someone is as hot as ice (which is cold), that signifies that the person is not attractive. Drake also uses metonymy when he says “Green” to signify money and “Bling” to signify jewelry. Seeing as though rap music is usually ill-mannered and filled with nonsense, it intrigued me to find figurative devices in Drake’s rap songs.