₦airaland Forum

laykorn:
Chicken Lady I guess you won this one. Now let's do some rap.
.
.
.
Bleep all the niggas
Where are my bitches
Drugs make me get high
Imma shoot the .38 and make you faeces.
.
You ain't gonna catch me.
Cos I dine with the devil.
And what's goinna make you Bleep me?
When I rap with the whole bible!!!!
.............
]Emcees,nice rap ain't it?...... Lol. This is the popular type of rap,and this is not poetry. I'll try to check some real rap lyrics out like you guys say to check for similarities.


Ayamlaykorn

Poetry is not always "neat and nice". Poetry is based on an author's experiences, lifestyle and environment.

Some famous poets were quite notorious in their day. They wrote about sex, drugs, death, hate, love, war, social issues and a myriad other topics that rappers rap about today.

Poets use the language of their time to create images and stir emotions that "play" in our minds eye. Rappers simply use the language they know to create those "images".

You and I may have no frame of reference to understand or appreciate some rap. That does not make it any less moving to those who do.

John McWhorter provides an example of why rap is poetry.

The Daily Beast. In “Americans Have Never Loved Poetry More—But They Call It Rap,
"McWhorter argues that rap is poetry because:

The only reason rap may seem to nevertheless not be “real” poetry is a skewed take on language typical of modern, literate societies: that spoken language is merely a sloppy version of written language. “English,” under this analysis, is what’s on a page, with punctuation and fonts and whoms and such. Speech is “just talking.”

In other words...It's the "poetry snobs" that argue rap is not poetry.

acenazt:
Rap is A Form of Poetry that has Rhythm and Flow. it is poetry in the sense that,It has many Elements of Poetry like Verses,Quatrains, Rhyme schemes,Metaphors, Alliteration, Similes, Flow,Punchlines,Word play,Puns and bars

Thank you! How did I miss this?

laykorn:
he knew how to draw boundary lines between rap and poetry.

No...he used his knowledge of poetry to write his rap songs.

laykorn:
I think what we should be looking for is how rap is different from poetry.

This is what an elitist poet might say to belittle the art that some rappers create. Not all rap is "good" poetry, but most rap has a rhythmic flow which makes it poetry.

Poetry
1 a. metrical writing :verse
b.[/b] :the productions of a poet :poems
2 : writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm

3 a :something likened to poetry especially in beauty of expression
b : poetic quality or aspect <the poetry of dance>

laykorn:
Texanomaly I think its like this. I just checked wikipedia and they listed him as a rapper,then a poet. Wikipedia is differentiating between rap and poetry.

Besides every one 2pac's poems you posted was not sung,which means 2pac was surely multi-talented but he knew how to draw boundary lines between rap and poetry. I think what we should be looking for is how rap is different from poetry.

I am not arguing oo,I just wanna learn from you "emcees". Sebi that's what you call it.
Ayamlaykorn

@the bolded
Not true: the lyrics I listed are poetry.

https://www.nairaland.com/1997511/poetry-rap-similarities#28029821

Try to tell me this guy is not a poet...
It's impossible to not be moved by Tupac Shakur. He paints such vivid, "in your face" pictures with his words, yet at the same time, he allows us to see and feel his pain.

No More Pain

When I die
I wanna be a livin' legend
Say my name
Affiliated with this mind fuckin' game
With no more pain



I Cry

Sometimes when I'm alone
I cry,
Cause I am on my own.
The tears I cry are bitter and warm.
They flow with life but take no form
I cry because my heart is torn.
I find it difficult to carry on.
If I had an ear to confiding,
I would cry among my treasured friend,
But who do you know that stops that long,
To help another carry on.
The world moves fast and it would rather pass by.
Then to stop and see what makes one cry,
So painful and sad.
And sometimes...
I cry
And no one cares about why.



Can You See the Pride In the Panther

Can You See the Pride In the Panther
As he grows in splendor and grace
Toppling obstacles placed in the way,
of the progression of his race.

Can You See the Pride In the Panther
as she nurtures her young all alone
The seed must grow regardless
of the fact that it is planted in stone.

Can You See the Pride In the Panthers
as they unify as one.
The flower blooms with brilliance,
and outshines the rays of the sun.



Untitled 1

Father forgive us for living
Why are all my homies stuck in prison?
Barely breathing, believing that this world is a prison
It's like a ghetto we can never leave
A broken rose giving bloom through the cracks of the concrete
So many things for us to see
Things to be
Our history so full of tragedy and misery
To all the homies who never made it home
The dead peers I shed tattooed tears for when I'm alone
Picture us inside a ghetto heaven
A place to rest finding peace through this land of stress
In my chest I feel pain come in sudden storms
A life full of rain in this game watch for land thorns
Our unborn never got to grow, never got to see what's next
In this world filled with countless threats
I beg God to find a way for our ghetto kids to breath
Show a sign make us all believe



Untitled 2

With all this extra stressing the question I wonder is after death
After my last breath
When will I finally get to rest from this oppression?
They punish the people that's asking questions
And those that possess steal from the ones without possessions
The message I stress
To make you stop study your lessons
Don't settle for less
Even the genius asks his questions
Be grateful for blessings
Don't ever change, keep your essense
The power is in the people and politics we address
Always do your best
Don't let the pressure make you panic
And when you get stranded and things don't go the way you planned it
Dreaming of riches in the position of making a difference
Politicians is hypocrites
They don't want to listen
If I'm insane it's the fame
I ain't about to change
It ain't nothing like the game
It's just me against the world



The Rose that Grew From Concrete

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping it's dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared.



AND 2MORROW

Today is filled with anger
fuelled with hidden hate
scared of being outcast
afraid of common fate
Today is built on tragedies
which no one wants 2 face
nightmares 2 humanities
and morally disgraced
Tonight is filled with rage
violence in the air
children bred with ruthlessness because no one at home cares
Tonight I lay my head down
but the pressure never stops
knowing at my sanity
content when I am dropped
But 2morrow I c change
a chance 2 build a new
Built on spirit intent of Heart
and ideals based on truth
and tomorrow I wake with second wind
and strong because of pride
2 know I fought with all my heart 2 keep my
dream alive


Read more here:

http://www.csun.edu/~kcj39325/tupacpoem.html

Tupac Shakur:



Lesane Parish Crooks was born in New York City, New York on June 16, 1971. His mother, Afeni Shakur changed his name in 1975 to Tupac Amaru which means "shining serpent" in the Inca language, and Shakur, Arabic for "thankful to God." He was frequently called; 2Pac, and Pac. In his later life he took on the name, Makaveli. He was a poet, lyricist, rapper, MC, actor, producer, and screenwriter.


http://allpoetry.com/Tupac-Shakur

Tupac Shakur has been noted as one of the most prolific MCs that hip-hop has ever seen, the West Coast native’s early days of poetry were omnipresent in his music. His lyrics combined tongue-in-cheek bravado with cryptic lines predicting his early demise. ‘Pac’s catalog is intensely extensive, with posthumous releases still circulating to date.In honor of Tupac’s life, The BoomBox has compiled some of his most famous lines. While he arguably has many, some are tightly woven into the fabric of hip-hop as some of the greatest rap quotables. Despite the fact that Tupac Shakur is no longer with us, his memory lives on through his words.

9
“All I need in this life of sin, is me and my girlfriend/ Down to ride to the bloody end, just me and my girlfriend.”
‘Me and My Girlfriend’
Tupac managed to stretch an entire metaphor about his love affair with a gun throughout an entire song. Nas would later take that similar route on his song ‘I Gave You Power,’ while Jay-Z and Beyoncewould interpolate Tupac’s hook for their collab ”03 Bonnie and Clyde.’

7
“Keep a vest for protection, from the barrel of a Smith & Wesson/ And all my n—-s in the pen, here we go again/ Ain’t nothin’ separatin’ us from a Mack-10.”
‘Nothing to Lose’
Tupac’s mantra was two simple words: Thug Life. He carried this message to the very end. While this line first appeared on ‘Nothing to Lose,’ it made the greatest impact in the infamous freestyle between ‘Pac and Biggie, which was the last time the two shared a stage together.

4
“I see no changes, all I see is racist faces/ Misplaced hate makes disgrace for races.”
‘Changes’
This line was originally part of ‘I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto’ and retooled for the posthumous ‘Changes.’ ‘Pac spoke years ahead of his time and used music as his podium to voice his thoughts on race relations, infusing his views into his rhymes.

3
“Grab your glocks when you see Tupac/ Call the cops when you see Tupac/ Who shot me, but you punks didn’t finish/ Now you’re ’bout to feel the wrath of a menace.”
‘Hit Em Up’
When Tupac was shot five times at Quad Studios in New York City, the blame was unfortunately placed upon the late Notorious B.I.G. and his crew. The lyrical product was ‘Hit Em Up,’ one of the most potent and vicious beef-related tracks in hip-hop history.

1
“They say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice/ I say the darker the flesh, then the deeper the roots.”
‘Keep Ya Head Up’
‘Keep Ya Head Up’ was one of Tupac’s most inspirational tracks, aimed to pay homage to Black women. While Tupac harbored many lyrical styles, his intense metaphors were one of his strongest attributes. ‘Pac rhymed in poetry, painting pictures with his words.


http://hothiphopdetroit.com/3689456/15-best-lyrics-from-tupac-2/

JigsawKillah:
Sometime ago, during the workshop organizing by Divepen, oma4u countered Texanomaly's idea that rap is poetry.....

Today I'll correct that thinking by fire by force

Rap isn't poetry if you'd listened to Olamide, Lil Wayne and the likes of them. Listen to Tupac, Rakim, Jay Z and alotta them....if it isn't gangster, it is something else....ranging from dark poetry to gangsta and them.

Rap is indeed poetry

Nice!