american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
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enthusiastic for, and knowledgeable about, <strong>in</strong>dependent artists than it<br />
is <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> United States. His latest European tour featured Sadat X<br />
(of Brand Nubian), Greg Nice (of Nice and Smooth), and Ge-ology.<br />
10. U.S. hip-hop is becom<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly rural, sou<strong>the</strong>rn, and<br />
Midwestern, and many of its loyal followers suburban. Even so, hiphop<br />
is a thoroughly urban art form, especially abroad.<br />
Conclusion<br />
NOTES 211<br />
1. Poems lose some magic <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> transcription from performance to<br />
page, as often happens with hip-hop lyrics. Please see <strong>the</strong> follow<strong>in</strong>g<br />
sources for an <strong>in</strong>troduction to spoken-word <strong>poetry</strong>: Nuyorican Poetry:<br />
An Anthology of Puerto Rican Words and Feel<strong>in</strong>gs, eds. Miguel Algarín<br />
and Miguel Piñero (New York: Morrow, 1975); Listen Up!: Spoken<br />
Word Poetry, ed. Zoë Anglesey (New York: One World, 1999); Aloud:<br />
Voices from <strong>the</strong> Nuyorican Poets’ Café, eds. Miguel Algarín, Bob<br />
Holman, and Nicole Blackman (New York: Owl Books, 1994); and<br />
Bum Rush <strong>the</strong> Page: A Def Poetry Jam, eds. Tony Med<strong>in</strong>a and Louis<br />
Reyes Rivera (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001). See also Slam,<br />
dir. Marc Lev<strong>in</strong> (Vidmark/Trimark, 1998) and Def Poetry—Season 1<br />
(2002).<br />
2. Over <strong>the</strong> last half decade hip-hop has developed its own language<br />
<strong>poetry</strong>. Experimental, often frustrat<strong>in</strong>g, but usually enterta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g, challeng<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
and thought-provok<strong>in</strong>g, it is overtly <strong>political</strong> <strong>in</strong> small snapshots<br />
and <strong>in</strong> its overall approach. Some MCs who make what I call an<br />
exploratory language-based hip-hop—but rema<strong>in</strong> grounded <strong>in</strong> its<br />
basic values, pr<strong>in</strong>ciples, and aes<strong>the</strong>tics—are underground icons MF<br />
Doom, Aesop Rock, Del <strong>the</strong> Funky Homosapien, El-P, Busdriver, and<br />
to some extent, Ghostface Killah.<br />
3. Dove uses this dual approach often. In Selected Poems, see “Bel<strong>in</strong>da’s<br />
Petition,” “The Abduction,” “The Slave’s Critique of Practical<br />
Reason,” and “Kentucky, 1833.” James Wright’s “Sa<strong>in</strong>t Judas” has<br />
a similar historical imag<strong>in</strong>ation and is just as mov<strong>in</strong>g and haunt<strong>in</strong>g<br />
as Dove’s.<br />
4. McGrath’s poem appears <strong>in</strong> Capitalism (Hanover, HH: Wesleyan UP,<br />
1990). I <strong>in</strong>itially found it <strong>in</strong> Poems for America: 125 Poems that<br />
Celebrate <strong>the</strong> American Experience (New York: Scribner, 2002), 216.<br />
5. Balaban’s “Read<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> News and Th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g of <strong>the</strong> T’ang Poets,”<br />
Locusts at <strong>the</strong> Edge of Summer: New & Selected Poems (Port Townsend,<br />
WA: Copper Canyon P, 1997), 135, deals with <strong>the</strong>se very issues.<br />
Much of my <strong>in</strong>formation on T’ang <strong>poetry</strong> comes from Balaban’s<br />
lectures <strong>in</strong> a Spr<strong>in</strong>g 2001 graduate course on East Asian Literature at<br />
North Carol<strong>in</strong>a State University.<br />
6. It is prudent to note that epic poems such as The Iliad and The Odyssey<br />
celebrate warfare, and <strong>in</strong> a different way so does Paradise Lost.