PhD project
My PhD Dissertation What Makes the Shit Dope? The Techniques and Analysis of Rap Flows takes a deep dive into the nooks and crannies of rap's flow - it's rhythmic structure. Divided into two sides - A and B - the dissertation explores the concept of rap flow, the field of rap analysis, how the experience of flow relates to human (categorical) perception, attention and prediction, theoretical frameworks from music, literary studies and linguistics, and a methodological approach informed by analysis' inherent performative dimension and my own experience as a practitioner - before presenting various techniques rappers use in their flows, ranging from the macrorhythmic level of lines, bars, rhyme complexes and symmetrical blocks to microrhythmic phrasing and the manoeuvring of the in-between-space between speech and song.