dope (1)
photo credit: "Beatbox Champ!" by Ken Wilson Lee (CC-BY-2.0) Definition:
dope (adjective)
good
beatbox (verb)
to use the human voice to imitate sounds, such as an electronic drum machine
(beatbox) or scratching record in a song
dude (noun)
man
Example: Bobby McFerrin does some dope beatboxing for a jazz dude.
Quote:
“I’m like, ‘Dude, that’s dope. You gotta go in there and do that…’ and I recorded four tracks of him (Justin Timberlake) beatboxing.”
Dope also has other meanings, some less positive. As
a noun, it usually means a fool (like the foolish dwarf Dopey
in Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves). It can also be a
drug. In the early part of the twentieth century, dope
was a slang word for Coca-Cola, perhaps because Coke contained cocaine
when it was first manufactured.
“Human beatboxes” came into fashion with
in the early 1980s. Hip-hop performers like the Fat Boys and Doug E. Fresh
were among the first to popularize this strange talent. Though beatboxing
was originally limited to imitations of drums, it has expanded to a wide
range of vocal effects. To hear some current examples, check out music
by Scratch of The Roots or his former bandmate Rahzel.
A. C. Kemp | April 3, 2003
