Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as one of the most influential musicians of her generation. Hill is credited for breaking barriers for women rappers, popularizing melodic rap, redefining hip hop, and helping neo soul reach mainstram popularity. In addition to being named one of the 50 Great Voices by NPR, Hill has been listed as one of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone. In 2015, she was ranked as the greatest woman rapper by Billboard. Her accolades include eight Grammy Awards, the most for a female rapper to this day. Source
excerpt from “Lost Ones”
Now, now, how come your talk turn cold?
Gained the whole world for the price of your soul
Tryin' to grab hold of what you can't control
Now you're all floss, what a sight to behold
Wisdom is better than silver and gold
I was hopeless, now I'm on Hope Road
Every man wanna act like he's exempt
Need to get down on his knees and repent
Can't slick talk on the day of judgment
Your movement's similar to a serpent
Tried to play straight, how your whole style bent?
Consequence is no coincidence
Hypocrites always wanna play innocent
Always want to take it to the full out extent
Always want to make it seem like good intent
Never want to face it when it time for punishment
I know you don't wanna hear my opinion
There come many paths and you must choose one
And if you don't change then the rain soon come
See you might win some, but you just lost one
Published:
1998
Length:
Regular
Literary Movements:
Rap & Hip Hop
Anthology Years:
2024
Themes:
Rap & Hip Hop
Literary Devices:
Allusion
an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference
Anaphora
a figure of speech in which words repeat at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences
Conditional Statement
statements of an “if-then” or “unless-then” situation (although “then” is not used), or a probability
End Rhyme
when a poem has lines ending with words that sound the same
Hyperbole
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally
Metaphor
a comparison between two unrelated things through a shared characteristic
Neologism
a new word, serious or humorous, coined by a writer.
Rap
a type of popular music of US black origin in which words are recited rapidly and rhythmically over a prerecorded, typically electronic instrumental backing
Rhetorical Question
a question asked for effect, not necessarily to be answered
Rhyme
correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, especially when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry
Slant Rhyme
A rhyme where the words have similar sounds in their stressed syllables.