“Small machines of words”: poetics, phonetics, and mechanisms of narrative realism in late twentieth-century Hip Hop

This work begins with an exploration of various analytical techniques for discerning and describing details of vocal performance in the song “Episodes,” from Philadelphia Hip Hop group The Roots’ 1996 album, Illadelph Halflife. I pair this musical analysis with textual exegesis drawing on narratology and speech act theory. Reconciling the two analytical approaches, I conclude by suggesting a refreshed notion of affective realism in late twentieth-century Hip Hop, characterized by consistency between poetic, phonetic, illocutionary, and performative dynamics in rap verse.