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I have been learning English and using English in school for many years and one thing I am still struggling with is hearing lyrics.

The song "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion is everywhere on social media and when I tried to listen to it I could barely hear 20% of the lyrics and I often mishear words.

The way she pronounces words are very unusual e.g. I am sure she pronounces "acting" as "acking".

I just wonder if native speakers can really hear what she is singing the first time hearing it. And if they need to check the lyrics?

FindingNemo
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    This is going to be opinion-based - I am a (I hope) fluent native speaker of British English and I am lucky if I can hear 5% of rap lyrics. I have to admit that (maybe for this reason) I do not listen to rap out of choice. – Michael Harvey Feb 15 '21 at 07:46
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    I'm wondering if you can understand everything in your native language (not only rap lyrics). – Lucian Sava Feb 15 '21 at 07:57
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    depends on the rap, but the answer is probably no different in English than in any other language, especially one with several dialects. In general, "no" rap lyrics are often misheard. Rap and singing in general are styalised speech. I can't generally catch all the words in rap, rock or opera. On the other hand, Gorman's inauguratin rap poem was 100% clear. So it depends on the song. – James K Feb 15 '21 at 08:08
  • This depends on the individual and on the song. For example, I think "Thief's Theme" by Nas is very clearly delivered, but other people might disagree. And whether you understand the lyrics also depends on whether you understand the style of language used and know what a word might be in context. – stangdon Feb 15 '21 at 14:19

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When people understand what people say or song, it depends on two crucial factors: the speaker's speed of the words/lyrics and the listener's knowledge of the words/lyrics — speed and knowledge.

We say 'pardon' in everyday life conversation when we don't get the meaning well of the speaker's intention. This means concentration could also be another crucial factor.

My advice is to be compressed into:

  1. Listen carefully
  2. Acquire knowledge
  3. Listen and speak repeatedly in case it's a fast song
gomadeng
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