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Article In: Journal of Language and Pop Culture: Online-First Articles

The recycling of Frankensteinian monstrosity in “Monster”

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Abstract
An underexamined feature of US rap music is its Gothic aesthetic, an aspect notably present in the 2010 rap hit, “Monster”. A trilogy of first-person narrative retellings through which Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Nicki Minaj restory Gothic tales of monstrous duality, “Monster” functions as an allegory for fame and competition in the music industry. Spotlighting Jay-Z’s performance on the song, the following work adopts a social semiotic approach to musical stylistic analysis to demonstrate how the song’s lyrics and music come together to recycle the geographical, interpersonal, and narrative sympathetic journey of the creature’s tale found in Volume II of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Over a steady yet driving polyrhythmic percussive beat, Jay-Z’s textual persona narrates, animates, and ultimately attempts to justify his monstrously inhuman(e) acts, all while maintaining lyrical and musical fidelity to the rap genre.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Some background on “Monster”
    • 2.1Overview
    • 2.2The narrative restoryings
  • 3.Musical stylistic analysis
    • 3.1Overview
    • 3.2MSA and rap
    • 3.3MSA and systemic functional linguistics
  • 4.Jay-Z’s 20-bar verse
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Author queries
  • References
References (99)
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