Random Hip-Hop & Poetry Thought 01

inheritance

I have had the privilege of knowing Bro. Yao  ( Hoke S. Glover III) for quite some time. I don’t really remember how long it has been, but I do remember the conversations we used to have at the Karibu Books that was in the Landover Mall.  We did not learn that we were both poets until a bit later.

Today on Rattle’s website‘s, Bro. Yao’s poem PUTTING THE NIGGERS TO REST is the poem of the day. After reading it, I immediately thought of The Roots song 75 Bars (Black Reconstruction) ( I also thought of DuBois’ Black Reconstruction in America, but that is a much longer discussion for another time), from their 2008 album Rising Down; on which Black Thought uses both Nigger(s) and Nigga(s) repeatedly in punctuating his lines.

Right of the top, in Yao’s poem, I do notice various types rhymes and sonic pleasures that Yao layers into the poem.

I am going to spend some time with these two pieces to look for similarities beyond the repetition of Nigger(s)/Nigga(s) and the strikingly similar distribution of the word throughout, but I  couldn’t ignore both poets’ use of Nigger(s)/Nigga(s) , perhaps as a way of pointing to some other layered meaning …….

Other Links to check out:
Bro. Yao’s (Hoke S Glover III) new book, Inheritance

Mos Def and Black Thought rhyming 75 Bars (Black Reconstruction)