FORMAL CRITIQUE - ALPHABET AEROBICS - Blackalicious

FORMAL CRITIQUE


This is my formal critique of the track “Alphabet Aerobics” by Blackalicious. This is a very interesting and unique hip-hop track. The emcee goes through the entire alphabet, devoting several bars at a time to words beginning with a specific letter. As he goes from A to Z, the tempo of the song also increases. I will be looking at the words used, how many syllables each word contains, and how this changes from beginning to end. I want to see how the increase in tempo increases the types of words Blackalicious uses. Throughout the entire song, each letter receives eight counts. The earlier letters have more leeway, for the tempo is slower and there is more time to use words of their choice. As a result, there are more fill-in words and conjunctions in the earlier letters. For instance:

Artificial amateurs, aren't at all amazing
Analytically, I assault, animate things
Broken barriers bounded by the bomb beat
Buildings are broken, basically I'm bombarding

A majority of the words do begin with A or B, but there are some smaller fill-in words here. Let’s move down the alphabet and take a look at the letter H:

Hit em high, hella height, historical
Hey holocaust hints hear 'em holler homeboy

As the tempo increases, and time reduces, Blackalicious begins taking out unnecessary words and conjunctions. He cuts right to the matter and gives us all of the words beginning with that specific letter, nothing more. I also wanted to see how he performed with the most obscure letters, including Q, X, Z. These lines obviously feature more fill-in words. However, he still manages to dig deep into his vocabulary, using words such as quantum, Xerox and zealots. The diction and rhythm of his raps also change as the tempo changes. Overall, he keeps a consistent flow throughout the piece, no matter how fast the tempo becomes. This is a masterful song that has such artistic depth and creativity. It is one of my favorite songs of all time.