MELISMA | SPRING 2020 | 9
Skitched Out
THE UNIQUE CREATIVITY BORN FROM ONE OF HIP-HOP’S OLDEST TRADITIONS BY MATTHEW HARRISON
“K
where my motherfuckin’ dominoes at?” This now-iconic line from Kendrick Lamar’s father ends the first track from his 2012 smash hit album Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, an album peppered with rap skits ranging from the humorous bantering between Kendrick’s parents on “Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter’s Daughter” to the heart-wrenching shootout and subsequent killing of Dave, one of Kendrick’s friends, on “Swimming Pools (Drank).” Skits are a theatrical form of expression unique to hip-hop, a method for rappers to create comedic or dramatic moments that elevate the album from a loose collection of singles into a work of art. To many modern listeners, this practice may seem bizarre. However, the creative expression permitted by rap skits throughout the last few decades has been a crucial component of hiphop’s legacy. Skits are different from sampled dialogue. Sampling, a widely-used technique in hip-hop, is when parts of recorded audio, such as a phone call or a line from a movie, are lifted and inserted into a song. A skit, on the other hand, is a spoken interlude recorded specifically for the album. This practice dates back to the 1989 De La Soul album 3 Feet High And Rising. It was subsequently adopted in the hip-hop mainstream, where it flourished for a decade or two before fading out of popularity. Not all skits are meant to be funny, but a significant portion of them are - or at least, they try to be. This makes sense - hip-hop is a genre that has always been tied to comedy, with rappers setting up and delivering punchlines in much the same way stand-up comedians do. Putting the beat on hold and letting the punchlines speak for themselves in the form of a skit is a logical step for rappers to take. And, in a genre that prizes authenticity, a rap-
per’s humor is a way to define themselves further. Who else but Kanye would write the line “Have you ever had sex with a pharoah? Ahh I put the pussy in a sarcophagus.” The skits Kanye features on his albums, like “Lil Jimmy Skit” from College Dropout or the Chris Rock interlude on “Blame Game” also bear the fingerprints of his iconic offbeat-humor . Writing and performing skits is another way for a rapper like Kanye to make a project distinct from the creations of his peers.
in a genre that prizes authenticity, a rapper’s humor is a way to define themselves further Some rappers use skits to heighten the message of their music, taking advantage of the skit’s freeform style to speak directly to a listener without regard for rhyme or flow. Take, for example, Gang Starr’s “Robbin Hood Theory,” where, as part of a staged conversation with rapper Guru, Elijah Shabazz says: “And no matter what we say our religion is, Whether it’s Islam, Christianity, Juddaism, Buddha-ism, Old School-ism or New School-ism, If we’re not schooling the youth WITH wisdom, Then the sins of the father will visit the children. And that’s not keepin it real… That’s keeping it -*WRONG*
