The Rapper as Comedian

Hip hop has long been a venue for laughter. Consider songs like Eminem’s “My Name Is” (“Dr. Dre, don’t just stand there, operate”) and Digital Underground’s “The Humpty Dance” (“I use a word that don’t mean nothing, like looptid”). But even songs that on the surface appear hard sparkle with puns and one-liners. The lyrical intermingling of menace and mirth may derive from a tradition in Black culture known as the Dozens, a game in which contestants trade snaps, aka yo’ mama jokes, hoping to both intimidate opponents and entertain onlookers.