In the Heart of the Beat: The Poetry of Rap (African American Cultural Theory and Heritage)

✍ Scribed by Alexs Pate

• Publisher: Scarecrow Press
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 177
• Series: African American Cultural Theory and Heritage
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

.cs7CED571B{text-align:left;text-indent:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0pt} .cs5EFED22F{color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt; font-weight:normal; font-style:normal; } .csA62DFD6A{color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt; font-weight:normal; font-style:italic; } Despite its extraordinary popularity and worldwide influence, the world of rap and hip hop is under constant attack. Impressions and interpretations of its meaning and power are perpetually being challenged. Somewhere someone is bemoaning the negative impact of rap music on contemporary culture. In In the Heart of the Beat: The Poetry of Rap, bestselling author and scholar Alexs Pate argues for a fresh understanding of rap as an example of powerful and effective poetry, rather than a negative cultural phenomenon.Pate articulates a way of "reading" rap that makes visible both its contemporary and historical literary values. He encourages the reader to step beyond the dominance of the beat and the raw language and come to an appreciation of rap's literary and poetic dimensions. What emerges is a vision of rap as an exemplary form of literary expression, rather than a profane and trendy musical genre. Pate focuses on works by several well-known artists to reveal in rap music, despite its penchant for vulgarity, a power and beauty that is the heart of great literature.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 8
Praise and Shouts......Page 10
Preface and DISclaimas......Page 14
Permissions......Page 22
Rewind......Page 32
1 Say What?......Page 36
2 A Matter of Life: A Brief Discussion......Page 50
3 From the Streets: Coloring the Multicultural Black......Page 54
4 Defining Rap/Poetry......Page 60
5 Where You From? Local, Young, and Uncensored......Page 66
6 Toward a Critical Reading of Rap/Poetry......Page 72
Saturation......Page 80
Language......Page 86
Profanity......Page 92
That N Word......Page 94
Gender Issues......Page 96
Imagery......Page 116
Texture......Page 122
Meaning......Page 128
Structure, Form, and Rhythm......Page 143
Flow......Page 150
8 The Aesthetics: A Summary......Page 154
Outro: The Professor Revisited......Page 158
Appendix: The Thematic Categories of Rap/Poetry......Page 162
Index......Page 168
About the Author......Page 176