Abstract:
This dissertation delves into the historical and cultural meaning of Black Rap Music in
addressing social struggles of the American Black society. It seeks to analyse how the ideas
of discrimination on the basis of race, oppression, and the struggle for social justice get
expressed in the music of two performers: Tupac Shakur and Kendrick Lamar. The paper
does this based on Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Qualitative Content
Analysis (QCA). From the lyrics of the targeted songs, the research identifies the social
expressed through vocabulary and other linguistic elements. All this, the paper indicates, is
an expression of their lived experience and resistance. How the use of African American
Vernacular English (AAVE) gives authenticity to the message, and in doing so, proves that
the ability in the rap music domain is most effective in the lyrics of the home front, but not
confined to the home front alone, as it transcends across the world. Rap music
communicates, makes demands for a change, and creates awareness of the perpetual
struggle.
