When Hip Hop Meets Poetry....
First Published in The Austin Voice April 2024.
The year Two Thousand Twenty Four is the year that I would like to coin the phrase 'Hipoetry' which combines elements of Poetry and Hip Hop,
Then infuses catchy phrases like Lil Wayne's, 'Drop It Like It's Hot' or The Lox featuring Rapper/Producer P. Diddy's, 'Can't Stop Won't Stop'.
Because I believe Hip Hop is to Poetry what Scatting is to Bebop!
Hipoetry inculcates Hip Hop lyrics and rhythm from the charts very top.
Hip Hop and Poetry are both equal participants in this endeavor neither of them are a prop.
Hip Hop has survived for over fifty years because it's very fluid and each year new entertainers bring a certain pizzazz or zeal or pop!
Poetry has survived hundreds of years from country to country because it's a great form of communication and well...it's the cream of the crop!
In my estimation, and as history has revealed Tupac embodied the very spirit of when poetry meets hip hop
Because when he gifted us with 'Dear Mama' it touched the hearts of millions world wide and he most definitely 'wrecked shop!'
Undoubtedly cementing Pac's position as one of the greatest rappers of all time and earned him a highly anticipated amount of guap.