Lyrical Dissonance/Hip Hop

"People get held back by the voice inside 'em, Yo! The voice said A voice to speak inside you! Rejoice and cordially invite you...to evil, greed, and lies too. Yeah! Confusing days, he moved in ways he soon became a kuni BOOM BOOM BOOM. And knock on his door, his soul is no more. And knock on his door, his soul is no more..."

Yes, believe it or not, there are examples of Lyrical Dissonance that can be found in Hip-Hop. As a matter of fact, it's one of the reasons why so many people can listen to it without even realizing the song is possibly about drugs, sex, violence and other mature themes.

Examples of Lyrical Dissonance/Hip Hop include:

• K'naan's most famous song may be "Wavin' Flag", the song you probably heard during the World Cup in 2010. The actual version still sounds cheerful, but can also be extremely sad when you realize what it's about.
  • K'naan was born in Africa. The majority of his songs, combined with his voice, sound extremely jubilant and bright, but the lyrics themselves are extremely sad at time.
  • He combines understatement and cheerfulness to emphasize the sad fact that Africa is a suffering continent and no one seems to care.

• Lupe Fiasco creates songs that are darker than most, but he does have the occasional bright beat combined with Anvilicious lyrics.

• How many Lil Wayne songs have you listened to? Go back and relisten.

• Eminem has constantly had to answer to opposition who criticize him for his lyrics because many kids listen to him. His comedic voice in some of his earlier raps did not exactly help his case, even though he constantly said that his music WAS NOT for kids (even during the songs).

• Where Is The Love? by Black Eyed Peas. But not as much as others.