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The very foundations of hip-hop are rooted in the cultivation of creativity within strict constraints, and the traditionally inflexible musical rules—a 4/4 beat at around 96 bpm often with no live instruments or formal musical training, just a sample of music replaying over and over—mimic the constraints of the Black experience in a poor area where a life has to be made without local amenities, jobs, healthcare or hope. Lyricists spat themselves free, weaving intricate, multisyllabic rhyme schemes and evocative stories, often imbued with revenge fantasies (rappers aren't
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