Communication Theory | Applying Meaning To Real World Situations

           Communication is not always simple. In fact, sometimes communication projects like this can prevent us from keeping our heads above the waters that seem to get deeper as the semester continues. However, sometimes the most interesting and complex communication concepts can be explained metaphorically. George Lakoff, author of the Contemporary Theory of Metaphor, argues that metaphors are the main avenue through which we communicate. According to Lakoff (1992), “The metaphor is not just a matter of language, but of thought and reason.” (p. 7)

            Traditional critics argue that metaphors are only used in figurative language and have no literal application whatsoever. However, metaphors are indeed used as language in today’s pop culture through one of the most dominant and popular mediums, music. Specifically among the younger generation, rap music is increasingly popular. All music genres have potential to significantly influence someone’s perspective, but rap music might be the best of them. Through the heavy usage of metaphorical lyrics, rappers communicate using terms and concepts their listeners understand to explain complex subjects and intricate situations.

            Lakoff believes that metaphor is the main way in which we make sense of, “time, quantity, state, change, action, cause, purpose, means, modality and even the concept of a category.” (1992 p. 10) In the metaphorically driven song Wordsmith by Chino XL, metaphors become a way in which the listener can relate with the rapper while also addressing controversial topics such as abortion, abuse, inner-city violence, and self-harm. In the song Wordsmith, Chino XL addresses his past experiences with physical abuse when he raps, “While you cut school cause you ain’t feel too good I cut school cause my cuts ain’t heal too good.” (Chino XL 2005) The use of the word “cut” takes on two different meanings: 1. The musician uses the word to describe how a student might skip class by metaphorically “cutting school” out of their schedule. However, if all language is literal, then students would literally have to “cut” school out of a tangible schedule. Yet we know that people do not actually “cut” things out of their schedule; we simply use the term “cut” to more easily explain how someone might skip something. In fact, in this context, even the word skip could take on metaphorical meaning. 2. He uses the word “cut” to describe his scars from the physical abuse he endured as a child. As he continues rapping he deliberately says, “through all the physical abuse,” so as to paint a clear picture for the listener to more clearly understand what he is saying. If these lyrics were interpreted literally, the symbolism and deeper messages would not be understood.

            Unfortunately, we have become so accustomed to the use of metaphors in our everyday language that we fail to recognize them when they are used. Marcel Danesi explains this in his book Metaphors Signs and Meanings on Metaphor. Danesi (2004) states, “We do not detect the presence of metaphorical reasoning in such common expressions because of repeated usage. For example, we no longer interpret the word see in sentences such as ‘I don’t see what you mean,’ ‘Do you see what I’m saying?’ in metaphorical terms, because such uses of see have become so familiar to us.” (p. 124) This is why we sometimes do not understand the subtle messages directors include in movies, or those included in clever advertisements, or even the ones embedded in contemporary rap songs. We often mistake metaphorical content as literal content and thus miss the deeper meanings.

            Chino XL’s lyrics force a listener to focus more consciously on what is being said. He continues in the same verse rapping, “I memorized encyclopedias and dictionaries - I wrote anthems from antonyms - Harmonies from homonyms- Created cinema from synonyms.” (Chino XL 2005) Nonetheless, part of the conscious listening process is based on interpretation. Perhaps Chino XL did literally study entire encyclopedias and dictionaries; however, this song was written in 2005, which means he probably used the Internet rather than actual books. Thus, his references toward encyclopedias and dictionaries might be metaphorical terms describing the amount of linguistic information he studied. Nevertheless, creating “cinema from synonyms” accentuates the way in which Chino XL could create a movie based on the beauty of his synonyms and wordplay.

Conversely, Chino XL uses antonyms to show a literal difference between language that is literal and language that is metaphorical. When he raps, “I could paralyze with a parable - Make rhymes out of religion - Crucify you with a prefix - Or suffocate you with a suffix,” (Chino XL 2005) he uses metaphors to describe the literal. No one is actually getting “crucified”, but a listener might feel like they are being lyrically crucified because they cannot grasp the complexity of his wording. Yet, since crucifixion is a religious term often associated with the crucifixion of Christ, listeners can imagine what it is like to be hit with words of immeasurable power, which are also strong as the nails that crucified Jesus. However, using crucifixion as a metaphor is tricky because it is based on a listener’s preconceived idea of what crucifixion feels like. And since anyone living has not experienced what that feels like, their preconceived ideas are subjectively based on what Lakoff refers to as “mapping structures”.

            According to Lakoff (1992), “[M]etaphor is a major and indispensable part of our ordinary, conventional way of conceptualizing the world, and that our everyday behavior reflects our metaphorical understanding of experience.” (p. 3) Conceptual mapping systems, otherwise known as the domains of known concepts from which we conceptualize metaphors, are what allow us to create meaningful metaphors. Unfortunately, not every conceptual mapping system is the same since they are based on the subjectivity of the perceiver. This creates another level within the song; not only can the song be understood through the use of singular metaphors, but it can also be understood as one encompassing metaphor. In other words, the metaphor is the entire song. Chino XL gives the listener a metaphorical depiction of what the world is like through his personal stories played out in the lyrics. Even though most of his lyrics are definitive, the song is metaphorically interpreted.

            Nevertheless, Chino XL is not the only rapper that uses metaphors to entice listeners. The popular Christian rapper Lecrae uses even deeper metaphors in his song Killa. In the first verse he addresses the theme of the entire song. Deeply rooted in religious matters, Lecrae uses the term “killa” to reference the effect sin has upon the human soul. By metaphorically referring to sin as his “killa”, he creates an even deeper metaphor, giving intangible traits like integrity, courage, and spiritual strength to a physical life. As he raps, “I know it's going to kill me but I just can't let it go - And the taste so appealing got a grip upon my soul.” (Lecrae 2010) he depicts his life being torn apart by a sin he cannot overcome. Even though he is self-aware that what he is doing is killing his soul, he is also self-aware that he has not come to a point to “let go”, religiously and metaphorically turning his sin over to God and overcoming himself.

            Lecrae continues by rapping, “Fools walk the path I'm on, never to be seen again - Sipping on seduction while we eating on some secret sin.” (Lecrae 2010) While seduction cannot physically be “sipped” and sin cannot physically be “eaten”, Lecrae now relates his faith to a journey and his sin to food. Towards the end of the verse, the lyrics also make use individual metaphors like sin being a place and evilness being able to “enslave” people as Lecrae raps:

 

And I ain’t leaving here, unless somebody save me
Walking to my grave letting evilness enslave me
Evil looks so lovely covered in her lace of lies
And the silky smooth seduction just manipulates my mind
Her fabrical fabrication is fueling my fascination
While I'm intoxicated she starts her assassination
I'm losing all my honor and my years to the merciless
Giving all my life away but I'm just so immersed in this (killa) (Lecrae 2010)

 

           Rhyming certainly gives more emphasis to the words and metaphors Lecrae uses as he describes his battle with sin. Using words like “silky”, “smooth”, and “seduction”, all listeners to make inferences about what Lecrae is actually going through without actually talking about it literally. He uses these words to talk about something most men do not like to talk about, lust.  “fueling” conveys lust as gas that strengthens the sinful fire that is consuming his soul. Metaphors also make it possible to understand why Lecrae uses words like “intoxicated”. In this case Lecrae creatively uses the word to relate with men who think of lust as a drug that they “need”. Though there is no real “need” for lust, and though lust is not literally a drug, Lecrae’s words are persuasive as he uses devil-terms and God-terms alike to relate with and persuade listeners.

            In the song Killa, Lecrae has a conceptual-mapping system that is based on religious concepts found in the Bible. However, Lecrae also tries to create lyrics based on other people’s conceptual mapping domains. While Chino XL metaphorically talks about lust in a positive way, Lecrae uses metaphors to speak negatively of lust. The variance comes from the differences in their “mapping-systems” and conceptual mapping domains. Based on both songs, Wordsmith and Killa, Chino XL tends to talk more about his own experiences while Lecrae raps about commonly accepted generalizations in a first person narrative. Both songs use metaphors in creative ways, yet both songs use metaphors differently for different purposes. Chino XL, while rapping declaratively, explains how he became such a good “wordsmith”, while Lecrae, rapping with a metaphorical voice, explains one subject matter, lust. And while the interpretation of both songs is based on one’s preconceived ideas, both songs can be interpreted metaphorically. This analysis serves as a good example. Because I am relating the Contemporary Theory Metaphor with rap music, I have to interpret what the metaphors stand for. Yet, this is based on my own mapping-system and preconceptions. Thus, I tend to relate more with Lecrae’s metaphors since I grew up in church surrounded by religious concepts and language. On the contrary, this does not decrease my appreciation for Chino XL’s creative wordplay. In fact, the clever usage of metaphors I do not automatically understand stimulates more interest because I want to understand what he is referencing. Killa is a song I have been listening to since it was published in 2010, but I never recognized how many metaphors were included in the lyrics. In fact, I failed to notice it was metaphorical until I was looking for songs to include in this analysis. Wordsmith was the obvious choice since so many of the metaphors jumped out at me. However, the only reason I recognized the lyrics as “metaphorical” in the first place was because I was not already accustomed to that type of language.

            Nevertheless, Lakoff was right by making reference to metaphors as language. According to Lakoff (1992), “[M]etaphor is a major and indispensable part of our ordinary, conventional way of conceptualizing the world, and that our everyday behavior reflects our metaphorical understanding of experience.” (p. 2) In this way, I have conceptualized a piece of the world, (rap music), in this analysis through the use of metaphors. To the naked eye, this analysis is about metaphorical content, but to the conscious reader, this analysis is metaphorical content. In my description of what is metaphorical I included several metaphors. Some of those metaphors are obvious, but others are subtly used. For example, it is not physically possible for the human eye to be “naked” and metaphors do not literally “jump” out at people. This usage was not intentional, but rather a habit of using metaphorical language in my vocabulary that I do not automatically recognize since it I am so used to its usage as literal language. Yet, once I realized how many metaphors I was using to describe metaphorical content in rap songs, I had trouble finding another way to describe the content. Though it might seem ironic that I am using the same content I am analyzing to analyze lyrics in rap songs, it proves Lakoff’s notion of metaphors being “major and indispensable”.

            After careful analysis of a few songs, it is apparent to me: many lyrics in rap music include metaphors. Entire songs can be seen as metaphors. Our mapping-systems are what create and allow us to understand metaphors. Mapping-systems can be metaphorical themselves. Our interpretation, though sometimes literal, can also be metaphorical. And finally, metaphors, whether we realize it or not, are an important and indispensible mechanism to the working of the entire communication system. Rap music exposes how influential and important metaphors are. Therefore, this music should not be automatically discredited, yet, it should be carefully analyzed in order to understand how we can better understand the world of communication.