Alexus Widemon

UWRT 1102
Hip Hop is Poetry
Hip Hop is not only a style of music but it is a culture. The culture is one that has evolved
over the years and has many elements that define it such as beatboxing, graffiti, Mcing and more.
Most people dont realize that hip hop was born from other art expressions like Jazz, and the
blues and is still very connected to those other musical genres. The hip hop culture is the window
of opportunity that allows people to express themselves however they please whether it be
musically, spiritually, or physically with dancing. While hip hop does have a lot of defining
factors what stands out to me is the ability for those in the hip hop community to express
themselves verbally through mcing and on paper through lyrical poetry.
It is often overlooked when talking about hip hop in todays time that Hip Hop is poetry.
The written art emphasizes the rhyme schemes, the metaphors, the lyricality that the writers
formulate. This interests me because Ive noticed that people outside of the hip hop community
or those who dont embrace the culture dont really have an idea of how it can be educational.
Its not easy being an artist and most people just look at theses artists and give them all the title
of rapper which really gets under my skin.
I chose this subject because I have a strong passion for poetry and Ive always loved old
school hip hop. Theres always passionate discussion between my friends and I about music and
poetry as those are two arts that really spark our interest. I thought it would be cool to
incorporate both of these into one paper and to emphasize the correlation between the two. Im
always watching hip hop documentarys and its been very beneficial to me for gain perspective
on the different aspects of hip hop and how it is different from rap.
Theres a lot of information that I want to gain regarding modern day hip hop
compared to 90s hip hop and how all of the different elements may no longer be used. I want to

Alexus Widemon
UWRT 1102
draw a clear line between the culture of hip hop and the commercial aspect that the media draws
on which is rap. Tuning in on how hip hop is poetry is the highlight of what my paper is going to
be about because poetry is my passion. After doing a little bit of primary research I know that Ill
be able to find a lot of information through documentaries, blogs, and books.