2Pac Fridays: English Pronunciation

“I Ain’t Mad at Cha” is a song by rapper 2Pac released as the sixth single from his album All Eyez on Me. Although the album was released exactly 7 months before his death, the single was released shortly after his death. The song is a heartfelt tribute, possibly to his friend Napoleon. The song features contemporary soul singer Danny Boy who provided the vocals for the song’s hook. The song did well in the United Kingdom, reaching the number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. It was not released as a single in the United States, thus making it ineligible to chart on the Billboard singles charts, but reached numbers 18 and 58 in the R&B and Pop Airplay charts, respectively. It also reached number two on the New Zealand Singles Chart (taken verbatim from Wikipedia).

Change, shit.
I guess change is good for any of us.
Whatever it take for any of y’all niggas to get up out the hood.
Shit, I’m witcha. I ain’t mad at cha
Got nuttin’ but love for ya. Do your thing boy.

Pronunciation

When we speak, we often contract and reduce words and phrases to sound more natural and fluent. Listen to 2Pac’s pronunciation and try pronouncing some of these phrases for yourself.

y’all /jɔːl/- the plural you. short for you all and very common in the Southern United States. Many people also say you guys. Where do y’all wanna eat tonight?
wit cha /wɪtʃə/ – this means “with you.” You need to bring your passport wit cha if you’re leaving the country.
at cha /ætʃə/ – this means “at you.” I am looking at cha because you’re so pretty! I’m not mad at cha because I have forgiven you.
I’mma /aɪmə/ – this is short for “I’m going to” Use this to talk about future plans you’ve made in the past, or predictions based on evidence. I’mma meet my friends downtown later. You can come along if you like.
ain’t /eɪnt/ – this is short for am not, is not, are not. I ain’t hungry right now, so I’ll eat later. Many teachers of English dislike hearing this slang word, but ESLhiphop loves this small, versatile verb.
wanna /wɑːnə/ – this means “want to”. What do you wanna eat?
useta /ˈjuːst tə/ – this means “used to.” Use this phrase to describe past habits. He useta smoke cigarettes, but he quit several years ago.
gerunds and progressive verbs: ~ing – Many rappers and do not pronounce the final G in gerunds and progressive verbs. They often reduce it to in’. I’m sittin’ here on the train waitin’ to get home.

Speaking Task

Instead of writing your response this week, I would like you to answer these questions on camera. Please record yourself with a video camera or Web Cam and then share the link in the comments below. Try using the new pronunciation you heard from 2Pac’s song.