English used to revolve around the I.
“I think.” “I feel.” “I love you.”
That small pronoun carried both assertion and responsibility.
But as time went on, the “I” began to fade.
Today, English is less about who speaks and more about how it sounds.
Hip-Hop and the Transformation of “I”
In the 1970s and ’80s, early rappers shouted:
“I’m the greatest!”
“I got the power!”
In the aftermath of the civil rights movement, “I” was a weapon of identity and resistance.
But by the 1990s, as AAVE (African American Vernacular English) moved into the mainstream, rhythm started to rule over grammar.
“Gotta get paid.” (→ I gotta get paid)
“Feelin’ good.” (→ I’m feelin’ good)
“Ain’t playin’.” (→ I ain’t playin’)
The subject vanished—but meaning survived.
What mattered wasn’t who I am, but how it hits.
“I” stopped being a declaration and became part of the beat.
That was the moment English grammar was remixed by Black culture.
Escaping the Grammar of Whiteness
In AAVE, dropping the subject or the verb be isn’t a mistake—it’s liberation.
“He be workin’.” (expressing habitual action)
“Ain’t got time.” (deleting be to keep the rhythm tight)
To omit “I” isn’t silence.
It’s resistance.
Even without saying “I am here,” the voice is already there, pulsing inside the rhythm.
The Age of “They” — When the Self Multiplies
In the 21st century, “I” mutated into something else: they.
English once equated subject with individuality and pronouns with gender.
Now they/them can be singular, plural, personal, or universal.
This isn’t just a gender revolution.
It’s a linguistic one—an era where no one can speak entirely as themselves.
Online, “I feel” gives way to “we feel.”
“They say” sounds safer, softer.
We dissolve the pain of the self into the comfort of the collective.
Social Media Made “I” Weightless
TikTok, X, Instagram—every platform erodes the “I.”
“I’m gonna” → “Gonna.”
“I feel like” → “Feels like.”
“Did a thing.” “Made art.”
Each deletion makes the sentence lighter—more shareable, more meme-like.
Expression turns into vibe.
In the algorithmic stream, resonance matters more than authorship.
It’s not about who speaks, but how it feels.
“I” has become too heavy for digital speech.
On social media, connection outranks declaration.
English itself is becoming a high-context language—closer to Japanese.
The Disappearance of “I” Is Shared Loneliness
In Gen Z English, everyone is a subject—and no one is.
Voices exist without owners.
When hip-hop’s collective rhythm met the fluid context of social media,
English became a de-personalized language.
And yet, inside that fluidity lives a quiet loneliness.
We connect by not saying “I.”
No one takes responsibility.
Only feelin’ something together remains.
English Is Turning Japanese
You don’t need to say the subject.
Context fills the gaps.
Meaning hangs in the air—you just get it.
English has finally become the language of “you know what I mean.”
The death of “I” marks the rise of post-individualist speech.
It’s not decay—it’s evolution.
We now live in a linguistic era bound by rhythm, not identity.
And like love and ego,
“I” no longer belongs to anyone.
Epilogue
Once, “I” was proof of existence.
Now it’s air—shared, anonymous, rhythmic.
Maybe by losing “I,”
we’ve finally learned what “we” really means.
———
©️DSH / 2025
