More Evidence

The New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre (NZEPC) is one online article used to show the direct correlation between Hip-hop and Peotry. By examining semantics and poetic techniques, the article is able to provide direct examples of poetry employing stylistic components also found in Hip-hop verse.

For example, "In order to write lyrics that do not rely on melody and which require only minor accompaniment, Hip Hop artists have adopted many traditional poetic devices, a process which appears to have been organic rather than intentional. For example, consider the following set of King Kapisi lyrics:

…thoughts bewitched like Salem's LotPresence of preachers I'm an atheist, glad to meet ya!Rape of consciousness in my Pacific, rememba it tug wool on opticsJust a switch of catatonic perception, dimension on this tune called religionOr just a ruined slender lead over greed, false hopes who feed beliefs in hierarchyGreed stained facts about the original manFi-fi-fo-dum, Polynesians origin, Pacific basin, my backyard, kinfolk, soft-spoken relapseRaps crush venues til mics collapse, the haps is I the Polynesian rebelTo all systems submit to nothing, elevating mindstate, annihilate,Monday to Friday, weekend stress the day of homage that keeps brothers in bondageFools follow, that's why I fight for my people Sixth or Seventh day adventuristsOpen doors to enlightenment? Bickering, who's idol is greater, who's idol is real?Or true masters of deception … ask yourself the question! (King Kapisi, ‘Reverse Resistance.’)

In this fragment we can see a number of the common elements of Hip Hop poetics: regular use of alliteration and assonance; metaphors/similes drawing from popular culture (in this case, the Stephen King novel Salem's Lot); a loose structure of rhyme and metre. Interestingly, many of the poetic devices that rap lyrics have reintroduced are relatively uncommon in contemporary English-language poetry, which has adopted a style that is closer to everyday speech. Contemporary poetry, in its written form, also tends to use line-breaks in order to emphasise certain meanings; clearly this technique is less relevant in rap since it is an oral form and is written out according to the points where the rhyme (or assonance) falls."

---information provided by article on Hip-hop and Poetry by the NZEPC