Linguostylistic Peculiarities of Modern Song Discourse (Case Study of R&B and Hip-Hop Music)

Having their roots in the traditions of the African-American people, Hip-hop and R&B have been rather influential genres in the modern music industry, considering their noticeable presence in global music charts. This particular research examined 50 most popular Hip-hop and R&B song lyrics released between the years 2014 and 2023, obtaining statistics from the charts published on the Billboard website. The study aimed to analyse the lyrics of the songs for stylistic devices and provide data on the main stylistic trends. Another purpose was to establish connections between the songs’ texts, paying attention to the stylistic devices, and their socio-cultural content. Stylistic analysis (Galperin, 1977), coding, comparison and synthesis comprised the main methods of the research. These methods have allowed to receive data on the main lyrical themes, on some stylistic trends in modern Hip-hop and R&B songs and the role of stylistic devices in transmitting socio-cultural information. The present study adds to the growing body of research in the domain of modern song discourse and in the realm of songwriting, especially lyrics writing. Its findings can also be applied in classes for beginner songwriters and in stylistics courses for the students of linguistic faculties. Keywords: musical discourse, song discourse analysis, stylistic analysis, Hip-hop, R&B, lyrics, songwriting