Influence of Hip-Hop Language over Young Pakistani Listener’s Speech

Abstract

Hip-hop language due to its vocabulary and grammar has obtained interest in the field of sociolinguistics. The study attempts to explore the influence of hip-hop language over young Pakistani listener’s speech. Based on previous studies, it is considered the most popular music genre among youngsters, worldwide. Data was collected from participants through interviews and was analysed in the lens of Cultivation Theory by Gerbner and Gross (1976). Results of the study shows that Pakistani youth is under the influence of hip-hop music which influences their speech in daily life. Furthermore, both lexical and phonological features show the shift towards the hip-hop culture of modern day.  Future implications can be done using the present study to trace the reasons behind the inclination of youngsters towards the hip-hop genre.

Keywords: Cultivation theory, Hip-hop language,

Influence, Pakistani Listeners.