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Sociology of Sport Journal, 2020, 37, 220-229 https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2019-0038 © 2020 Human Kinetics, Inc. ARTICLE

“ When I’m Battin’ Boy”: Unpacking ’s Translation Through Rap Lyrics

Travis R. Bell Victor D. Kidd University of South Florida University of South Carolina

Baseball and rap music are often not considered culturally or historically synonymous, but a shift appears underway. This research examines how 239 rap lyrics reach across the formerly confined (mostly racialized) boundaries of baseball to engage the sport through its reference to 128 baseball players. A thematic analysis explores how the languages of baseball and rap culture intersect through linguistic translation. The authors develop a broad understanding of the positive and negative “baller” references, and how it could affect the future growth of baseball role models for Black youth athletes. Thus, baseball “text” as a source language translates to rap “text” as a target language to form a commonly constructed language at an intersection of music, sports, and masculinity.

Baseball and rap music are often not considered culturally or his verse with “Who the pretty nigga smilin’ gold teeth, no historically synonymous. This stems from baseball’s well-traced medallion?/I can south of park, Mike Trout when I’m battin’ history of segregation and rap music’s connection to Black Amer- boy.” The mix of baseball skills of a White athlete to describe the ica. However, a shift appears underway as walk-up songs for Major “game” of a Black rap artist is just one glimpse into a cultural mix League Baseball (MLB) players indicate a glimpse of this culture occurring between these two formerly mutually exclusive entities. change. A 2017 survey of available data on the league website (see The purpose of this article is to examine how rap lyrics www.mlb.com) identifies hip-hop as the most popular music genre transcend a primarily white space and population (e.g., baseball among MLB players for respective walk-up songs, which intro- players) to a largely absent audience that rap culture often reaches duces them before each time they come up to bat (Rogers-Spatuzzi to provide contextual meaning. In addition, how rappers refer to & Gluck, 2017). For the sake of consistency throughout this article, baseball players offers a unique link between the language of we interpret hip-hop as rap music, with an understanding that hip- baseball and social-deviant gang culture, a recurring theme within hop historically encompasses various genres (as the literature the rap music genre, which exemplifies how rap continues to review outlines), but its most influential style is rap. expand further into American culture (Watts, 1997). This is an Boyd (2008) outlines that baseball tradition is “too confining interesting juxtaposition considering that the demographics of the for those who constitute the hip-hop generation” (p. 9). He con- MLB labor pool in 2017 included a miniscule 7.7% of Black tends that baseball’s idle pace of play, “regressive history” and players, the lowest total since 1991 (Lapchick, 2018). While walk- “pastoral spaces” (p. 9) do not align with contemporary goals and up song data highlights an increasing trend of rap’s popularity aspirations of Black life that are beyond a civil rights search for across locker rooms, the well-publicized racial divide grounded in acceptance into white spaces. If Boyd’s assertion is correct, why baseball’s history remains a long-term concern (Swanson, 2014). then does rap music create a contemporary bond with America’s Thus, this research provides insight into how rap music might longest-standing sports pastime through its presence in stadiums offer a cultural bridge to baseball through its representation of and lyrics? This developing relationship occurs through a combi- players. nation of promotion and performance to target a young audience (McLeod, 2009) across the formerly confined (mostly racialized) boundaries of baseball to engage the sport and its players. Review of the Literature fi Angeles Angels elder Mike Trout offers an interesting “ ” example. A two-time Most Valuable Player and Hip-Hop and Black Sport seven-time all-star, Trout plays as a vaunted “five-tool” During the 1970s, hip-hop or rap music was founded in player. Trout is also a White outfielder who—by indication of his City accompanied with a style intriguing to youth in search of street preference for walk-up songs—enjoys East Coast rap. For exam- wisdom to navigate urban life (Darby & Shelby, 2005). Hip-hop ple, in 2016, songs by and as well as culture included four varying elements of style: break dancing, led Trout to home plate. In 2018, was Trout’s deejaying (also DJ’n), graffiti, and (McLeod, 1999). preference. Trout is also a lyrical reference by Smoke DZA, Although each was significant to the historical development and ’ featuring A$AP Rocky and Cam ron. In the song, A$AP ends evolution of hip-hop, the lyrical spoken word became the element most often associated—sometimes used synonymously—with hip- hop. A shift from the margins during the 1980s to mainstream Bell is with the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications, fi University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA. Kidd is with the College of recognition in the 1990s expanded the pro le of rap beyond Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management, University of South Carolina, Columbia, limitations of American culture to global recognition (McLeod, SC, USA. Address author correspondence to Travis R. Bell at [email protected]. 1999; Motley & Henderson, 2008). 220 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/24/21 11:41 PM UTC Unpacking Baseball’s Translation 221

Hip-hop produced an “inescapable” (West, 2005,p.xii) Integrating Baseball and Music racialized dimension that must be recognized and discussed as Just as rap music shifted from a site of urban resistance to a embedded in Black culture beyond the unique musical sound and capitalistic space driven by consumption (Queeley, 2003), the same style. Scholars identified this racialized space through rap dis- occurred for baseball regarding its loss of monolithic community course with origins in African dialect that emphasized attention to along racial, national, and musical boundaries. Baseball was a poetic spoken word and live performance meant for an audience to game built on “immigration and assimilation” (Cusic, 2003,p.5) share, witness, and participate in a collective construction of for Europeans to pursue the American dream. In the early 1900s, meaning, rather than adherence to a formal musical structure the sport “was also becoming more aggressively lily white” (Neal, 1997; Shusterman, 1991; Walsh, 2013). The notion of (Nowatzki, 2002, p. 82) and was a segregated space from Recon- collective meaning making (Krauss, 2005) was an important struction until broke baseball’s color barrier in dimension that positioned rap music alongside racialized sports “ ” 1947. Even after that penultimate moment, the sport remained a site that began in 1983 with two foundational songs, The Message of racial tension for decades (Swanson, 2014). DeLorme and by Grandmaster Flash and “” by fi Singer (2010) outlined that integration of baseball was focused (Teitelbaum, 2010). Respectively, these songs offered a rst on forecasting civil rights and the opportunity for growth in new link between rap and sports perceived as Black with reference markets more than altruism toward Black America. Therefore, to boxer , who was a world class champion in Robinson’s inclusion in baseball should not be held to such the 1980s, and basketball, especially the streetball style made nostalgic ideals, but instead interpreted through a lens of economic famous in parks across New York. McLeod (2009) identified “ ” potential to capitalize on a new market with impending buying terminology such as how performers got in the zone or found a power (DeLorme & Singer, 2010). Black participation in MLB “groove” that offered philosophical and stylistic crossover of fi reached an all-time high of 27% in 1975 (Comeaux & Harrison, freestyle and power that were signi cant in sport and rap music 2004). Breckenridge and Goldsmith (2009) identified an increase as a natural overlap across these two industries. fl in MLB attendance followed integration and posited the effect to Media played a role in in uencing participation by Black the spectacle of interest for White fans to witness previously unseen “ ” youth in both rap music and sport as attainable images of success athletic achievement, especially one at a social distance. (Harrison, Harrison, & Moore, 2002, p. 129). Therefore, Black Race is often positioned as the threshold of strongest resistance youth aspired to participate in successful activities that are labeled to baseball integration, but it was the sport’s national identity as as Black. Harrison et al. (2002) explained Black as an identity American (i.e., the of America) that witnessed the constructed through a process of disengagement from White first broken barrier. The allowance for Latino players in the early “ ’ ” culture that don t get it and as a form of immersion into accepted 1940s was likely precipitated by team owner discretion and Black culture embedded in sport. This process shunned participa- deceptive business practices to position the lightest-skinned Lati- ’ tion in activities that are deemed White. Comeaux and Harrison s nos as White (Surdam, Brown, & Gabriel, 2016). Breckenridge and “ ” (2004) baller label helped connect rap to sport as both industries Goldsmith (2009) indicated that many Latinos played in MLB offer a space where “exuberant expressions that are either vocalized before Robinson and likely assisted in the increased attendance or produced through the body are more culturally accepted and following integration. Alongside Robinson’s success, baseball prevalent in football and basketball, as opposed to baseball” (p. 72). became more accessible for the Caribbean and Latin American Their survey of 300 urban high school athletes identified three players with darker complexion to follow the path paved by reasons for baseball’s steady decline in popularity: (a) fewer Black successful Black players, who were at times misidentified in media players, (b) an overall lack of interest in the reports as Cuban or Spanish (Early, 1996). However, tension sport, and (c) a dearth of summer resources compared with between Black and Latino players highlighted that integration basketball and football. Such reasons influenced a social shift was not recognized as a shared site of struggle based on whether from baseball as the top black spectator sport in the 1930s during players accepted or denied being marked as “colored” (Burgos, the prominence of the Negro Baseball League, to its move to a 2009). Expansion of the sport across racial and ethnic borders predominately White suburban sport (Comeaux & Harrison, 2004; reinforced “a more controversial reputation of U.S.-American Early, 1996; Swanson, 2014). culture: globalization, the neo-colonialism” (Ottenson, 2014, Conversely, the racialized dimension of rap risked assimilation p. 768), where MLB attempted to create a positive reflection of following its rapid ascension from a strictly urban dynamic into integration. In the process, many of these players were subsumed U.S. suburbia, which produced a “struggle to maintain a ‘pure’ into a harmonious, yet still racialized, revisionist history of baseball identity” (McLeod, 1999, p. 136). Rap was once the sole posses- (Burgos, 2009). sion of Black youth (Queeley, 2003), but it suffered appropriation Baseball and country music historically produced an ideologi- and annexation similar to Motown (Neal, 1997). Popularity of rap cally aligned pair for Whites as racially divided cultures that music paralleled other music genres as a lyrical method to push supported segregation (Cusic, 2003). These two iconographic back against mainstream media and parenting (Gaines, 1992). American industries have been romanticized through American Riley (2005) explained the music was more than a simple nostalgia (Mann, 2008; Nathan, 2014). Mann (2008) outlined that rebellion that represented “symbolic systems from which the young country music created a white space through its focus on nostalgia people involved in them draw sustenance and meaning” (p. 301). that iteratively performed tropes of traditional cultural values and Interest in rap music and its mode of expression—whether political, norms grounded in whiteness. This musical process offered a violent, or racial—spanned the globe with a desire to understand unique function that country music served to create and maintain how rap music influenced other nations and subsequent youth its place as a segregated space embedded historically in American culture (Söderman & Sernhede, 2016; Tomaszewicz, 2017). Thus, culture. However, as civil rights laws passed in the 1960s, country rap was no longer the property of a monolithic community but an music—like baseball—methodically integrated. Thus, in a dichot- evolution across different cultures with varied interpretations omous, yet similar, manner, baseball and country music spent the (Riley, 2005). next few decades capitalizing on growth markets to expand into

SSJ Vol. 37, No. 3, 2020 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/24/21 11:41 PM UTC 222 Bell and Kidd previously untapped cultural spaces. Rap music witnessed a simi- charts until country singer Billy Ray Cyrus joined for a remix. larly unexpected overlap fueled by American capitalism. Thus, questions of fundamental segregation across race and genre Country music and Latin American cultures traced together to resurfaced within the music industry (Cevallos, 2019). specific geographic regions as early as the 1920s (Cusic, 2003). However, it was in the late 1990s, when a popular form of country Linguistic Theory of Translation music known as “Tejano” crossed ethnic boundaries to appeal to country music fans and Latino culture (Cusic, 2003). That effective Boer and Fischer (2010) highlighted a need for understanding how ability to tap into cross-cultural markets paralleled a time when music translates across cultures to help move musical research nearly one-third of the baseball players were Latino. A New York beyond an individualistic process to examine it as cross-cultural Times story about the infusion of country and Latin music in the interpretation. To understand these cultural intersections, the lin- clubhouse exemplified the range of musical guistic theory of translation was critical for this research. Transla- development among baseball players (Wagner, 2016). Thus, a tion is offered in written or spoken word and is influenced by how new marketplace for baseball and music was established amid a something is presented and received. However, when spoken word desire to expand into previously undeveloped spaces. is combined with music, it is translated into song. List (1963) Conversely, country music and Black America were not explained that speech and song shared three distinct elements of culturally aligned. Charley Pride was heralded as a lone exception communication: “(1) vocally produced, (2) linguistically meaning- and that was because Pride sounded White, which during a time of ful, and (3) melodic” (p. 1). The focus of this research is on limited visual media attention was accepted (Malone, 1985; Mann, linguistic meaning, specifically, how translation occurred through 2008). It was not until in the 2000s where some sites of musical language as “a process of substituting a text in one language for a progress occurred across these previously disparate cultures. In text in another” (Catford, 1978, p. 1). 2004, country star Tim McGraw and rapper Nelly juxtaposed their Song lyrics that are performed produce meaning making different styles in the song “Over and Over,” which was part of (Krauss, 2005) often through the translation of linguistically Nelly’s and offered an initial crossover for country into a rap meaningful people, places, and moments. This is especially so album (Lashua & Fox, 2007). Prior to this song’s release, a group in rap music where the spoken word produced social movement of Nashville-based musicians formed in 2001 as an afront to through music (Söderman & Sernhede, 2016). Shusterman (1991) marginalized, traditional country music (Pruett, 2010). MuzikMa- identified that rap relied on mass culture for much of its original fia was a collection of country artists such as Big & Rich and content, including material brands, television shows, and sports “whose openness to musical and cultural differ- personalities. Androutsopoulos (2009) outlined three spheres of ence has struck a chord with country audiences” (Morris, 2011, hip-hop discourse: (a) artist expression, (b) media discourse, and p. 480). MuzikMafia created Raybaw Records, and Cowboy Troy (c) fan/activist discourse. These spheres have “fuzzy boundaries emerged from that record label in 2005 as a Black American with respect to their conditions of access and language style” country rapper. -born with a cowboy hat, Troy “counter- (Androutsopoulos, 2009, p. 59). A concern was that the “street poises a sincere musical eclecticism with a provocateur’s instinct to language” of rap lyrics could be typical for one sphere but foreground his bigness and blackness in a way guaranteed to “indexically incorporated” (p. 59) in another sphere. Thus, when inflame country traditionalists” (Gussow, 2010, p. 53). However, considering the theory of translation, it must be recognized that not all country music fans welcomed Troy. For example, Country possible slippage can occur between performer and receiver of a Music Television monitored its website and filtered racist com- linguistic transaction. ments about Troy and how fans contended his style polluted Linguistic studies of rap music have examined a wide range of country music (Tyrangiel, 2005). More crossover followed as interpretations, including McLeod’s(2009) study of the intersec- unlikely duets of Willie Nelson/ and /Jason tion of rap, sport, and masculinity that engaged similar terminology Aldean highlighted potential musical synergy that for decades had that overlapped between music and sports (e.g., groove) and been less dissimilar than previously perceived (Noe, 1995). aesthetic repetition (e.g., practice) for perfection. Rap lyrics and A subculture formed and has been collectively referred to as the genre, in general, have been examined for its influence con- “thug country” (Lashua & Fox, 2007, p. 151) and “hick-hop” nected to violence (Riley, 2005), biblical and religious symbolism (Pruett, 2010, p. 135). This blend of community and capitalism (Viljoen, 2004; Walsh, 2013), and the construction of a “global provided opportunity and concern. For example, the 2005 release hip-hop diaspora” (Motley & Henderson, 2008, p. 243). Thompson of “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” by Trace Adkins produced a (2005) described a complex relationship between rap lyrics and hybridity of “celebration and parody” (Morris, 2011, p. 480) audiences that required a listener to be “savvy enough to unpack” that brought blackness and whiteness together through (p. 124) meaning and avoid misperception. Newman (2009) out- words but culturally apart through its appropriation of a rap lined that research of lyrics can offer a form of critique to identify produced term that could inflame rap enthusiasts in a similar interpretations of how lyrics positioned things and people in songs, manner to Cowboy Troy’s afront to country. Much like the but what individuals take away from any given text cannot be historical rendering of baseball’s checkered history connected derived. with race are debated and perpetuated, music shared an ideal as As this research was not an ethnomusicological study, it was an American pastime willing to embrace cultural diversity in the most concerned with List’s(1963) second element of speech and name of capitalism. The emergent success of Lil X and “Old song to understand the linguistic meaning embedded in rap lyrics. It Town Road” in 2019 produced a significant overlap between was especially important to focus on the text, which Armstrong country culture and rap as the song became the longest-running (2001) explained “provides an explicit conceptual framework that number-one song on the Billboard top 100 list and generated answers questions concerning musical meaning and social signifi- recognition of the history of Black cowboys in the United States. cance” (p. 97). Two research questions guided this study to unpack (Weber, 2019). However, the song highlighted racial exclusion, the linguistic positioning of baseball and its players in rap culture because it was not deemed “country enough” for the Billboard by how they were translated through rap lyrics. First, how were

SSJ Vol. 37, No. 3, 2020 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/24/21 11:41 PM UTC Unpacking Baseball’s Translation 223 baseball players represented as “ballers” through rap lyrics as a of ideas allowed themes to emerge from the data through prevalent process to integrate a historically disconnected and dwindling patterns (Braun & Clarke, 2006). However, to look for thematic relationship between baseball and rap? Second, how was baseball overlap across rap and baseball culture required prior knowledge of terminology used in rap lyrics through transference of players specific languages. Use of grounded theory called for an under- actions to produce parallel meaning in rap culture? standing of in vivo codes, which are linguistic terms specific to the data under investigation (Charmaz, 2006). For example, “” was a slang term for drug dealing and an action performed by a Methods in baseball. Another example was “stealing base,” which can be used to discuss free-base cocaine and the baseball action to Data Collection and Sample between bases to evade being tagged out. Thus, it was necessary for the authors to understand the different languages Guided by the aims of the current study, two researchers collected produced in rap culture and baseball terminology that might be rap lyrics that had a linguistic reference to MLB players and used to describe this cross-cultural translation. Following the initial managers. The reference to an individual rather than a specific “ ” coding, emergent themes were positioned into subcategories such team or a stand-alone reference to baseball was expected to offer as the overlap of terminology or how individual players’ names greater context because baseball actions (e.g., pitch, steal) were were used as action verbs or descriptors of success. performed by players and/or controlled by managers. Therefore, The authors returned to the data in a process of axial coding the focus was limited to references connected only to individuals. intended to reassemble the fractured data (Charmaz, 2006). A Researchers began with an Internet search of prominent music lyric saturation point was achieved to organize the data (Braun & databases and search engines. Results from the search led the Clarke, 2006) and unpack how player and references authors to consider three sites: www.azlyrics.com, www.genius. were used in rap lyrics (Thompson, 2005). Reaching saturation in com, and www.songmeanings.com. The authors consulted with a qualitative, thematic research is complex and subjective (Ando, scholar who studies music lyrics and linguistics to assess the Cousins, & Young, 2014; Saunders et al., 2018), but the authors accuracy and validity of these websites. This scholar helped the used the maximum number of lyrics available in the accessible authors select www..com because the site was considered database and exhausted the number of composite themes to offer a the most accurate when attempting to gather a complete data set of framework to synthesize a relationship between baseball and rap. music lyrics. This “dense texture of relationships” (Strauss, 1987, p. 64) was The site offered a subsection for “athlete references in rap ” then organized into overarching categories intended to understand music that included a total of 729 athletes from all sports, with 128 the consequences of how baseball was translated through rap lyrics representing baseball players and managers. A list of 239 lyrical and why it was significant in a process of cultural understanding references across the 128 individuals was compiled to begin (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). examining a linguistic relationship between baseball and rap. The flexibility afforded in thematic analysis allowed this The authors collected the lyrical references by indexing them on fi research to inductively explore how the languages of baseball a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The rst author listened to each and rap cultures intersected through translation of text, which is song reference to cross-check for accuracy of the translation on the central to sociological analysis of rap music and its concentrated website. With a lyrical database constructed, the authors conducted language (Armstrong, 2001). The analysis was intended to verify a thematic analysis of baseball references within rap lyrics. The how these seemingly disparate languages intersected and to gener- references provided by www.genius.com were not a perfect or ate a linguistic theory for understanding these cross-cultural spaces. exhaustive list of all player and manager references in all rap songs. Furthermore, it was important to highlight the presence of crystal- However, the authors determined the website offered a composite lization (Richardson, 2000) throughout the research process. That list that was considered extensive enough to begin data analysis. is, the authors examined the lyrics as data that can change or look different from the researcher’s vantage point, with the understand- Data Analysis ing that data, when viewed as a crystal, can grow and alter that acknowledges the complexity of rap lyrics. The authors used thematic analysis to outline a relationship between baseball and rap culture and were guided by previous studies of rap culture and music (Armstrong, 2001; Conrad, Dixon, Analysis & Zhang, 2009; Cundiff, 2013; Stevens-Aubrey & Frisby, 2011; Weitzer & Kurbin, 2009). Armstrong (2001) analyzed 490 rap The following analysis is split into two sections. The first section lyrics and suggested that rap was “understood within a context of synthesizes how baseball players as individuals translate across all patriarchal hegemony” (p. 96) through its violence against women. rap lyrics and offer two overarching approaches: (a) the player Conrad et al. (2009) determined negative themes associated with retains agency as an individual where their name offers context to rap music imagery and suggested women were heavily represented know the individual and (b) a player’s name adheres to an as “objects of sexuality” (p. 134) in rap videos. Additional analyses alternative meaning. The second section unpacks how rappers of rap lyrics and music videos indicated sexual objectification of translate baseball terminology as a source language into a target women along with other representations of misogyny (Stevens- language for rap culture, mostly through transference of baseball Aubrey & Frisby, 2011; Weitzer & Kurbin, 2009). Use of thematic actions to rap goals and outcomes (Catford, 1978). This translation analysis afforded a flexible approach to allow themes to emerge occurs in conjunction with player names as a catalyst for the action. (Braun & Clarke, 2006) with assistance from previous research and ’ the authors knowledge of baseball and rap music. “Ballers” in Rap Music An open, axial coding process was used in this analysis. Initial coding started with a thorough reading of the lyrics to “think about The first research question addressed how baseball players the material in new ways” (Charmaz, 2006, p. 55). This fracturing were represented through rap lyrics. The following descriptive

SSJ Vol. 37, No. 3, 2020 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/24/21 11:41 PM UTC 224 Bell and Kidd information is offered from the lyrical database. Of the 128 players minor league system. E-40 moved it even further that he was who represented the 239 references, 61 players were included in “feasible, unbeatable, the best thing that ever did it/Incredible like multiple references. The analysis leaned more on the players with Ichiro, you pitch it I’mma hit it.” Ichiro’s talent as the most repeated references because they accounted for more than 70% of accomplished Japanese player in MLB history was recognized total references. This allowed space to explore for consistent patterns as the threshold for E-40 to surpass into unbeatable talent. beyond isolated references. However, all player references assisted Player agency provided a unique lens to examine the integra- to identify key threads. Of the 61 players with multiple references, tion of a primarily White sport into a Black culture with positive more than one-third (n = 21) played significant time in New York representations limited to the most elite of athletic success or City, which connected to rap music’s roots. Broken down by financial gain. Thus, player agency was reduced in two ways while position, 26 were infielders, 20 were outfielders, and 15 were still presented within a positive “baller” context. First and most . Regarding race and ethnicity, more than half (n =34) often, a player’s name was sexually translated, either as a sex object were non-White: 20 Black, 12 Latino, and two Japanese. The authors or as a sexually attainable goal usually through a player’s girlfriend categorized ethnicity based on the country in which the player was or wife. Second, a player’s name was formed into material artifacts born. Five baseball players tied with four references: , as assault weapons. , Greg , Mark McGwire, and Cy Young. Regarding sexual advances, rapper Mike Stud converted Hall- Seventy-seven rappers provided the 239 references, and 36 ac- of-Famer into a verb: “Cause these hoes I bag well like counted for multiple references. The following artists providing Jeffrey do/So out in Houston I’m an Astro.” The comparison the most player references to baseball players in their lyrics: Action equated the rapper’s success in getting women into bed with Bronson (28), (16), Jay-Z (12), Ice Cube (7), and Mac Bagwell’s baseball skills. Lil’ Dicky translated Andres Galarraga’s Miller (7). nickname, “The Big Cat,” into female genitalia: “She had a real big cat, Andres Galaragga pussy.” Player’s wives were not off-limits as Positive “baller” representation. Baseball wealth and on-field Royce da 5’9” rapped: “You haters busters, you Dave & Buster’s/ success offered the two most frequent positive representations of I’m /Translation: I’m making Halle Berry my next baseball players as “ballers” in rap lyrics, and in this process, the pitch.” This expressed desire was for Justice’s model wife, Berry. player retained his agency. Accumulation of wealth was translated Parallels between attaining women further linked baseball and rap in multiple ways, but the link was simply to highlight how as heteronormative and masculine spaces that desired and required rich someone can be in baseball and rap, either through money or control (McLeod, 1999). material possessions. Pitcher Randy Johnson, who earned approx- Players’ names and agencies were further pawned in the rap imately $175 million during his MLB career, was connected game as weapons to enhance the rap profession or to fend off through his salary to Lil’ Kim’s lifestyle and earning potential: competitors. Lil’ Wayne highlighted Cal Ripken Jr.’s defensive “Upscale type of bitch/Money making like mitch/Got a million- ability at third base and juxtaposed Ripken into a 0.40 caliber dollar pitch/I feel like Randy Johnson.” Thus, she equated his weapon: “I play the corner like Ripken nigga/With the forty Cal pitching skill and subsequent earnings as a lifestyle that she is Ripken nigga, rip a nigga.” Wayne simultaneously glorified Ripken accustomed to as an upscale individual. Pitcher CC Sabathia earned the athlete and diminished him to an action rhyme to rip the nearly $250 million across 17 seasons through 2018 and was competition. Ice Cube transferred his own marksmanship to heralded in several songs. rhymed: “Doctor, I see red Satchel Paige’s ability to pitch and break from the White capitalist people or like CC Sabathia’s contract/Maybe it’s a whole bunch of hold historically placed on baseball through controlling economic dead people.” In this example, Sabathia’s contract represented a markets: “You can’t salary cap my gat/No strike, cause gangsta rap vision of dead presidents, which is often used in rap lyrics to is on the map/I’m like Satchel Paige wit’ a gauge.” These two amplify monetary wealth emblazoned with former presidents on examples were considered positive translations regarding the U.S. currency. Traced to Eric B. and Rakim in 1987 through Jay-Z athlete’s skill but were problematic because they were converted in 1996, the chase for “dead presidents” became a hallmark of the into violent forms of attack. However, the positive “baller” repre- rap game that ideally translated to baseball in the desire for greater sentations that linked these two professions hinted at a trope that wealth trapped in an American capitalist culture (Belle, 2014). Watts (1997) described as a “mythic justification for spectacular Beyond monetary gain, on-field success was heralded for consumption” (p. 55) embedded in rap and baseball cultures where athletic achievement and used to produce a parallel between a wealth and power represented the greatest mark of achievement. player’s skill and a rap culture focused on superior rhyming ability and a desire to be the best in the game. An athlete’s agency was Negative “baller” representation. Despite the overwhelmingly usually retained in this positive representation, and these references positive representation of baseball players collectively in rap lyrics, were often simple. Ice Cube rapped: “fool I can hit like Kenny their staying power was limited, as indicated by the minimal Griff,” which referenced Ken Griffey Jr. and his 630 career home number of players with multiple references. Thus, if a player runs. This reference style was the most overt connection to ballers, was no longer deemed successful, there was no room for him in where was “ballin’ like Tony Gwynn” or was the rap game. This could lead to negative “baller” representations, “balling like .” These odes to athletic accomplish- which primarily fit into three categories: heavy drug user, snitch/ ment recognized baseball success. cheat, and outlier. However, baseball skills were positioned as a barometer to be Rappers frowned on baseball players whose careers were met and exceeded by success in the rap game. derailed by excessive drug use, with steroids reserved for a earned the moniker “Mr. October” for his postseason success with different mode of negativity. Players like and the in the 1970s. Rapper -Tip acknowledged Steve Howe, who were repeatedly arrested for cocaine use, became Jackson as the style to outperform: “As I send the mic out the park negative “ballers” in rap lyrics. Strawberry was targeted for his like Reggie Jackson/You be the minor leaguer who sees no action.” inability to stay clean and the adverse effects. Chino XL claimed he Q-Tip used Jackson’s success as a metaphor to demean Q-Tip’s rap “never wrote no rhyme that’s ordinary/Won’t throw my life away competition as nothing more than the equivalent of baseball’s on coke like Darryl Strawberry.” wrote: “We walk

SSJ Vol. 37, No. 3, 2020 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/24/21 11:41 PM UTC Unpacking Baseball’s Translation 225 around a little edgy, all ready and steady/Withdrawal like Darryl how rap lyrics turned players’ negative acts in their sport into Strawberry, it figures.” These negative stereotypes of how exces- positive gains of control in the rap game. sive drug use can affect one’s ability to rap diminished Strawberry. “ ’ Ice Cube referred to being in the batter s box, high as Steve Transference of Baseball Terminology Howe.” Howe was suspended seven times during his MLB career for cocaine use and was an example of the rampant use of cocaine The second research question addressed how baseball terminology in baseball in the 1980s. This ironic negative portrayal of drug users was translated to describe rap culture. In the theory of translation, is further discussed in the next section regarding rap’s positive meaning is the critical component of analysis. In full translation, for transference of baseball language to drug dealing. example from English to French, meaning should not change in The second negative representation of baseball players translation (Catford, 1978). However, meaning can shift in partial intersected the steroid era and witnessed a shift in how rap translation through transference or borrowing from a source lan- interpreted players who used performance-enhancing drugs. guage (e.g., baseball) to a target language (e.g., rap music) (Neagu, These negative “ballers” were considered cheaters and snitches. 2016). Baseball terminology as a source language (e.g., pitch, K, Jose Canseco was the ultimate culprit, as he outed fellow players stealing a base) produced a specific meaning in baseball. However, for steroid use in his book “” while openly admitting he rap music borrowed baseball words and reinterpreted them into rap cheated the sport as well, which did not sit well with rappers. meaning without altering the word. Therefore, it was the cultural rhymed: “Feel like I seen it all, but I can’tsayso/Be shift in meaning that was important in this research question. a snitch? No way, Jose Canseco.” Machine Gun Kelly added: The authors developed emergent themes guided by previous “Iain’teversoldmysoul,Iain’t ever had no halo/Smoke J’sbig research (Armstrong, 2001; Cundiff, 2013; Conrad et al., 2009; as egg rolls, hit that Jose Canseco.” Both references hint at Stevens-Aubrey & Frisby, 2011; Weitzer & Kurbin, 2009) and Canseco’s position as a sell-out that would not be tolerated in the close reading of the lyrics to identify prevalent and repeated use of rap game. Other players who were suspended (e.g., Ryan Braun) baseball terms and deciphered the transference of meaning. It was or tarnished following their career (e.g., , Mark important to examine these terms within the context of baseball McGwire) for steroids were ostracized as fake. Mike Stud would players as the people who performed the act that was translated into never stoop so low: “I freestyle, I ain’t lying boy/I don’tcheat, an act performed by a rapper. Drug distribution, violence, and homie I ain’tRyanBraun.” McGwire and Bonds were heralded misogyny emerged as themes. These themes are outlined sepa- while breaking records, but their lasting image in rap rately, but this research understood these themes overlapped with lyrics was negative. Wale rapped: “Limitations for cowards, this how “ballers” were positioned within rap’s desire for material is Che mixed with Malcolm/This is anti-Mark McGwire, it takes wealth and industry dominance. ” patience for power. R.A. The Rugged Man chided Bonds: Drug distribution. Multiple baseball terms translated into a drug “ fl fi My ow natural, you arti cial, beefed up Barry Bonds at culture historically embedded in rap music. The terms most BALCO/Dope or dog food? I spit heroin, your rhymes are linguistically borrowed were “pitch,”“K,” and “base.” These terms ” Alpo. Both Wale and R.A. opined that they would not cheat fueled drug usage or distribution as an emergent theme. Gucci to win, but instead would grind through hard work to reach the Mane used pitcher Nolan Ryan to explain drug dealing capabilities: pinnacle. “We fly in, I’m buyin./Say, you got more birds? You lyin’? You The final negative representation was reserved for outliers. trying and lying, you boys ain’t supplying/I pitch like Nolan Ryan, These players did something that warranted being positioned got cocaine frying.” Ryan’s role as a pitcher became a metaphor for outside the lines of acceptable behavior within the masculine ’s drug dealing ability. “Pitch” within this context context of rap and sport. However, the negative portrayal of the meant to sell drugs at a rapid pace, which was significant to use player could be a method of control in the rap game. Roberto Ryan because of his noted history for throwing a 100 miles Alomar was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2011, but he per hour. In addition, Ryan’s mediated status as “an archetypal was remembered for a 1996 incident when he spat in an ’s male athletic hero” (Trujillo, 1991, p. 290) provided added stature face after being ejected from a game. Rappers turned Alomar’s spit for Gucci Mane. into acts of retribution and control. D-Dot discussed women whom Pitcher references were exceedingly connected with dealing he considered low class as “type of bitches that spit in yo’ face like drugs. However, individual drugs were described differently. Fat Alomar/Broke hoes without a car, snatchin’ fruit from salad bars.” Joe outlined a variety of drug options: “Got that weed, got that Lord Jamar referenced Alomar as “Allah Akbar, Lord Jamar spit in coke, got them dope sacks/My little man pitchin’, yeah, we call him devil’s face like .” He used Alomar as a powerful .” Koufax was known for his range of pitches, which religious afront to control the equivalent of the devil. Therefore, transferred linguistically to an ability to pitch a wide range of drugs. Alomar’s negative action was positioned as a strike against author- Slick Pulla described his method: “Like John Smoltz in his prime ity and need for control embedded in rap culture. Pitcher John when I pitch the K/Got the scale in my pocket on a suicide grind.” Rocker, who was quoted with racist and homophobic slurs in 1999, Smoltz was known for his ability to strike out batters, which was portrayed by as “they say I’m off my John was signified in with a K symbol. For Slick Rocker.” This referred to Rocker’s mental instability considered Pulla, K is short for kilos regarding how to measure drugs by within the context of his quotes. was converted into a weight. Inspectah Deck incorporated Randy Johnson’s nickname, negative sexual connotation after he altered his physical appear- “Big Unit,” in his dealing style: “Big unit, pitching this corner to ance and skin tone. Heems demeaned: “Your chick look like corner.” The corner reference added street slang where drug deals Oprah, mixed with Sammy Sosa/And she got a dick where there’s often occurred and rules did not apply (Watts, 1997). supposed to be a chocha.” This homophobic transference of Sosa Jay-Z provided a deeply insightful connection between drug was a negative “baller” representation for a player once heralded distribution, baseball player (Cal Ripken Jr.), team (Baltimore for home runs alongside McGwire during the steroid era. These Orioles), and material production: “She can keep for herself and negative representations of baseball players offered insight into distribute 36 O’s in ki, you do the addition/Before Mitchell and

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Ness did it/I was moving birds like a Oriole fitted/I’m Cal Ripken In these examples, power was presented with baseball players Jr. let’s get it.” In this vignette, Jay-Z introduced language that as metaphors for violent acts of “keeping it real” in the use of actual explicitly described the drug game and the street hustler mentality. weapons for harm (Shusterman, 2005). The power pitching style of “O’s,” also the shortened nickname for Orioles, were used to players such as Halladay and Paige provided historical context to suggest someone selling kilograms of cocaine, while moving birds the importance of dominant pitching in baseball traced from the represented moving the cocaine overseas or across state lines. Here, segregated Negro League to modern day. In addition, player names it is important to denote transference of meaning because of the helped translate violent methods into relatable terminology. Thus, street life imagery associated with the usage of baseball references baseball representations as a source of violence offered an inter- in rap lyrics. In describing his role in moving birds, Jay-Z used a esting combination of playing style closely associated with a long- comparative style to situate himself with skills in a drug transaction standing tradition of violence in rap culture. akin to Ripken’s baseball acumen. Beyond skills on the field and Misogyny. Misogyny was the final emergent theme and often the street, the lyrics included material ideas of a fitted Orioles intersected with violence. Previous research has examined this baseball hat designed by Mitchell and Ness. In this example, the phenomenon in broad rap contexts (Armstrong, 2001; Conrad baseball player was not just used to describe an act but was et al., 2009), but research has yet to examine misogyny within connected to imagery painted by the rapper through the expressive the context of baseball and rap. produced a direct afront art form. to women: “All of you feminine marauders, they’re swimming that While pitching was nearly exclusive to drug distribution, water, men will assault ya/Tommy’s and bats to resemble Lasorda, translation of position players varied. Base stealers had their kidnap your trembling daughter.” Budden referred to Los Angeles affinity for running fast transferred to freebase cocaine, or Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda in connection to Tommy guns “base,” in rap language. Shad described life on the street: “No as a method to restore order against feminists through a violent act eviction notice, still I’m homeless on a poet’s mission/Not that I’m fi ” of kidnapping. This example provided context for controlling a a end stealing base like Otis Nixon. Shad used Nixon, who had situation like a baseball manager but in a violent rap fashion. 620 stolen bases in his MLB career, to provide context and ’ The baseball term for throwing a was translated linguistic translation to an addict s desire to steal drugs. Jay-Z through the slang term “curve” to evade females in search of rapped: “I used to run base like /Now I run the bass hi- ” material possessions. However, the term was also used to identify hat and the snare. Thus, Jay-Z described his career transformation that if the rapper wanted to avoid evasion and secure a sexual from drug dealer to rap mogul in the linguistic transference of encounter, they had control to do so. referred to a priority for baseball terminology connected to Pierre and his 614 career stolen “ fi money over women to get the dough, and your ho she get curved bases. It was signi cant to note that drug use was rarely discussed Roger Clemens/Talking O’s, I’m supposed to get the dough by the within the context of the rap game. As outlined in the previous minute boy.” This referred to Chinx’s ability to match Clemens’ section, drug use was positioned as a weakness in connection to curveball as a method to reject sexual advances from women and baseball players who dealt with addiction. Thus, the transference of ’ fi focus on getting paid. Conversely, J. Cole outlined how easy it was baseball players on- eld actions into rap culture focused on drug to steal another man’s female: “Boy stick to your day job, said you distribution with the goal of accumulating wealth, not through were hot?/Well, they lied/Is that your girl?/Well, I just G’d her, no suffering adverse effects of consumption. A-Rod.” This gangsta style to “G” someone’s girl meant to take Violence. Violence was widely evident in transference of base- her, regardless of opposition. J. Cole used as a ball across rap lyrics and built upon previous research that linked negative reference in connection to losing a girl. violence and rap culture (Riley, 2005). The Game used pitcher Roy Rapper perpetuated misogynistic behavior when Halladay to describe shooting an AK-47: “Money like Madoff, kill he referenced slugger Frank Thomas to discuss ‘em like Adolf, /I’ll let a fuckin’ K off, and I don’t his intentions with a woman: “Finding me a bitch I can swerve on/ take a fucking day off.” The Game used a entendre with Frank Thomas homie, ‘bout to put the hurt on/Your bitch a night “a fuckin’ K” to compare his shooting ability with Halladay’s light in bed, she turned on/Roll some weed, tell her burn one.” superior pitching ability. In this instance, a “K” switched meaning Here, Miller discussed how he will have sex with a woman, while from drug weight to an AK-47 assault rifle. The reference to putting a “hurt” on her in bed. Miller used Thomas’ hitting ability weapons as a means of control paralleled street life and drug and “Big Hurt” nickname to explain how the rapper will make the dealing overemphasized in rap culture (Queeley, 2003). woman feel after a sexual encounter. This lyric explained another As noted earlier, Ice Cube compared his style with a gun to the baseball translation in rap culture and offered insight into the skills of pitcher Satchel Paige. Ice Cube used a combination of devaluation of the woman’s body into gendered and sexualized Paige and Robinson to describe an unregulated robbery in baseball roles that have been rampant in rap and sporting cultures driven by parlance: “I’m like Satchel Paige with a gauge/Or Jackie Robin- masculinity (Gines, 2005). son, when I’m robbing one of you cracka jacks fool/I’ma mothafucking vet and fuck yo seventh- stretch, so take me out to the ball game.” The use of baseball player actions to Discussion represent violence offered an artistic interpretation of sporting prowess and power to exert a form of dominance. The Game added The findings in this research are significant for understanding the a unique perspective to violent control in a reference to Yogi sociological implications of baseball’s linguistic transference into Berra: “Che Guevara of the New Era, test me/Louisville slugger, rap culture. First, it highlights how a rise in baseball representations Yogi Berra in my new era/Got that natty on, tighter than a in rap lyrics offers a way “in” for two industries historically and magnum/Walk in the club saggin’ with a .38 Magnum.” The culturally segregated from each other. Second, it develops a broad Game combined a baseball player reference with a guerilla tacti- understanding of positive and negative rap references to baseball cian from Cuban and South American revolutions as a method to players within the “baller” context as outlined by Comeaux and translate power through violence. Harrison (2004). This is important because their research identified

SSJ Vol. 37, No. 3, 2020 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/24/21 11:41 PM UTC Unpacking Baseball’s Translation 227 that young Black athletes felt disconnected from baseball because discussed or perceived positively despite connection through a of a limited number of aspirational “ballers” in professional negative context. In addition, this study indicates a concerning baseball. Therefore, rappers work as a social binder to Black youth connection in how rappers translated baseball players and their to highlight new role models that might have appeared distant until actions through an easy linguistic avenue to connect materialistic translated through a familiar linguistic space. and misogynistic control through wealth, esteem, and power. It is somewhat ironic that rap music, which is often portrayed as a fast lifestyle, chose a slow-moving sport such as a baseball in an engaging, lyrical fashion (Boyd, 2008). Baseball offers a form of Limitations and Future Directions persuasive parallelism in rap lyrics that uses the speed and power when baseball is in motion and in play to produce unexpected Some limitations of this current study provide directions for future “rhythmic interrelationships” (McLeod, 2009, p. 207) that high- research. First, using lyrics from only one website limited the light a mostly positive interpretation of the sport. Thus, this lyrical number of rap references to baseball players. Future research could juxtaposition of baseball players and its language offers a space that consider a deeper lyrical search. However, the authors felt the emergent themes were sufficiently supported. Second, baseball indexically interprets a previously fuzzy boundary between base- references across other music genres were not considered, which ball and rap to produce some clarity for these unfamiliar audiences could provide greater context to overall baseball representation in (Androutsopoulos, 2009). In the process, rap works linguistically music. Third, rap lyrics for other sports were not part of this study to make baseball meaningful (List, 1963) in a reemergence of and could provide a space for comparative analysis with baseball baseball popularity among Black audiences that was once a references. Finally, quantitative coding could offer greater insight thriving target market (Comeaux & Harrison, 2004; Early, to identify trends across time based on race, gender, and ethnicity of 1996; Swanson, 2014). performers and player references. This social entanglement traces further toward an intersection of rap music with U.S. White suburbia that started in the 1990s. The question becomes whether this push of baseball in rap is a form of Conclusion the music genre’s powerful ability to infiltrate new spaces or whether the buying power of a willing public breed another As this study describes at the outset, baseball and rap have not been form of musical appropriation (McLeod, 1999; Queeley, 2003). considered as culturally synonymous. This translation study iden- This research cannot answer that question, but it does lend itself to tifies an unexpected textual hybridity across the languages of raise the question based on the interpretation of desire for role baseball and rap music (Neagu, 2016). The findings in this study models, a noticeable blend of music across all genres, especially a support a need to bridge that gap to outline some areas of developing relationship across country and rap, and the outward harmonious and beneficial overlap as well as divergent differentia- desire by professional baseball players to choose rap music for their tion. This study is significant to understand how rap culture in-stadium identity through walk-up songs. This produces a new translates—and represents—baseball through lyrics, and in the lens to see how baseball and rap cultures are becoming more process metaphorically uses baseball to connect the sport to the culturally aligned. Black community. The songs and references in this study highlight This research attempts to follow Newman’s(2009) process of a proliferation of baseball terminology usage in rap lyrics to lyrical interpretation and offers a critique of how rap lyrics position generate synergy across these seemingly disparate cultures. baseball, its unique language, and the players within rap culture. Through this process, a bond between baseball and rap emerges However, it is necessary to note that how audiences derive meaning through lyrics that produce imagery embedded in power and from the individual lyrics is not within the scope of this study. What misogyny. Thus, baseball “text” as a source language translates this research identifies is that not all translation and overlap to rap “text” as a target language to form a commonly constructed between baseball and rap music is positive. The reinforcement language at an intersection of music, sports, and masculinity. These of masculinity, misogyny, violence, and rampant drug use presents concerns will likely continue to grow as these two cultures—for a challenge within these male-dominant spaces, especially if the decades historically opposed—creep closer to cultural harmony. intent is as a point of access to see new role models. It also raises red flags about the desire for athletes and musicians to act as—and be viewed as—role models. These are but a few of the sociological References implications of this unique and burgeoning relationship between baseball and rap. Ando, H., Cousins, R., & Young, C. (2014). 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