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Book Of Rhymes: The Poetics Of Hip Hop (2009)

by Adam Bradley(Favorite Author)

3.58 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0465003478 (ISBN13: 9780465003471)

languge

English

genre

Poetry

publisher

Basic Civitas Books

review 1: The problems with Adam Bradley's Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop? Where do I start? That the only references to female MC's are 2 sentences about Lauryn Hill, and one reference to Mc Lyte, Roxanne Shante, Sha rock, and Jean Grae? That there are no-count em-no references to Queen Latifah, Salt and Pepa( or Spinderella), The Mercedes Ladies or TLC? Or that his choice in hip hop is so throughly modern, as in his slavish defense of lil Wayne at a time where millions of black people aren't interested in defending him? No, the one that sticks out for me is that Bradley is eager to defend the use of metaphor in Lil Wayne's music and eager to excuse his proclivity for threatening to shoot a pregnant woman in the stomach. Early on he recognizes that the lyric's he's ... moredefending are vile, but asks the reader to excuse them in the context of society, and find " the meaning that extends beyond the offensive surface". Like so many comfortable, educated thirty something hip hop acedemics, Bradley wants the world to recognize every bit of his culture's humanity without granting a bit of humanity to anyone else. His defenses- to paraphrase what George Orwell once said of Auden's spain- are written by someone who Death, Crack, trauma and Rape are at most words; a brand of amoralism only possible of you are the kind of person who is always somewhere else when someone is killing a loved one, destroying a community with drugs, sexually assaulting a woman, or tormenting a tortured, tortured people.In a sense, the marriage of mainstream hip hop and mainstream academia is a perfect one in it's toxicity. Both are populated by a majority of men who like their horror core ( Roth, Mailer, Seidel, Baraka) (Weezy, eminem, rick ross, and now kanye) will stop at nothing to defend it, and will stop at nothing to castigate anyone who tells them otherwise. Their union in Book of Rhymes follows in both traditions in that it is a love letter to something that so many people hate: less an intellectual exercise than a highbrow example of the psycho sexual masculity that has plagued liberalism from Cleaver to Clinton's 08 primary. it is not only-to paraphrase Orwell again- "playing with fire without even knowing the iron is hot", it is kindling the damm fire.
review 2: Drop all your biases against rap and hip hop. If you want to know how reach thousands if not millions of listeners and (ahem) readers with poetry, this is a great book to start. "Book fo Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop" is both an introduction of sorts to hip hop and rap and breaks down how rap/hip hop is one of the most popular forms and dynamic forms I would add of poetry that;s on the air and hips of young and old day and night. Adam Bradley, the author, breaks down the revolution (my word) rap/hip hop has made by creating a dual track, synthesizing and meshing rhythm and rhyme, beats and flow, into a new poetic form that many take for granted. Bradley points out some obvious links to poetry: it's called "flows" (which in Greek, the original poeticus paisanas place of most poetry when poets think of ars poeticas, is called rheos) by rappers. Anyway, this is a refreshing read of poetry fundamentals set against the challenge of poetry-makers selling millions and making millions off what everyday people consider poetry (i.e. it rhymes and has rhythm!). Pick this book up and join the word revolution. Isn't that what every writer and poet writes and dreams of? Countless readers and listeners, lovers of poets and their poetry. "Hip hop, hippity hop..." less

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