Rap As Poetry? Pharoahe Monch

Poetry: the classification of this term is so complicated that it is far beyond me to try and do so on this here blogspot (indeed, it's far beyond me in general), but the idea of rap as poetry has always intrigued me. Within the last 30 years the world has been exposed to the musical phenomenon that is hip hop whose figurehead has become the MC, and in turn it has in many ways brought poetry back into mainstream culture with an unprecedented vigour. But the question remains: to what degree can we consider the work of the MC as poetry? Can we approach it in the same way that we would the works of T.S. Eliot, Wordsworth or even Shakespeare? In what ways does it fit into this ever-expanding and increasingly elusive term? Is it possible to identify what classifies as good or bad poetry, or is it an entirely subjective notion?

The issue regarding rap as poetry always circulates around one key point for me: although some of the greatest verses ever written are undeniably poetic when delivered, they often fall down when read on the page. However, the issue of style vs. content is so central to all elements of hip hop that it realistically feels unfair to judge an MC's words when presented in a format in which they were not intended to be appreciated. Delivery, flow, vocal timbre and rhythm are such essential components of rap that we do it an injustice by analysing it without taking these elements into account. In this way, rap music fits into oral traditions that predate literacy where rhyme and rhythm were utilised simply as methods to aid memorisation. In this light, it could be considered to be one of the purest forms of poetry that exists in contemporary society. However, it is easy to see some of the counter arguments for rap as poetry when considering the work of even some of the most celebrated MCs, and the issue is still one that I find contains uncertainties, perhaps due to the difficulty of the term 'poetry' in itself, if nothing else.

One artist who has always blown me away in 'poetic' terms is the mighty Pharoahe Monch, an MC who not only fits into the notion of rap as a continuation of oral traditions, but whose verse also carries the hallmarks of quality poetry when considered on paper. As half of the celebrated duo Organized Konfusion, I believe that Pharoahe is perhaps the closest that we have seen to a true poet in both more traditional and postmodern terms in this here game called hip hop. Perhaps my favourite Pharoahe verse of all time comes from their sophomore release 'Stress: The Extinction Agenda', and from the album's third cut 'The Extinction Agenda':

I'm the poetical poltergeist I heist tracks from the past
And return 'em to the present time in rhyme form
What was once dead is now resurrected on the record
And the physical words are mere residuals for my bidding
For my disposal to dispose of... who are you kidding
Nightfall, I stop the rook, then I'm looking for
the original book which contains the words of God
Six hours until dawn, my quest to capture the queen
without being seen by the pawns
Call me Bishop, bishop takes rook, rook takes pawn
pawn takes knight, knight takes queen
Queen takes the original King James version
I'm surgin up when I'm emergin'
False clergymen you're urgin' me to call you a virgin
wind to save the lease
Who can you trust when a priest is now the beast?
(who? what? why?)
I'm the assassinator of rap
Hit rip rhyme rap ritual hit you with my best shot
Get you sit you down, let you know I never get dropped
When I flip-flop hip-hop, when I wreck shop (nigga)
I move, with the finesse and the smoothness
Even inside of the grooves of a record, check it
Check it again, check it again, check it again
Check the metaphors, make sure they're making sense and then
Gimme one-hundred percent credit
Let it, medi-tate, in your brain, like a seda-tive
I said it and I read it twelve in your bloodstream
Let it live
The verses of curses that burst in the face of the first time offenders
In the realm of the extinction agenda

Even without the delivery element, there is little doubting that this contains many of the hallmarks of what traditionalists would describe as poetry. Imagery: check, rhyme: check, symbolism: check, alliteration: check... the list goes on. What strikes me about this verse is that it seems also to be aware of its place within the tradition of poetry itself: as 'the poetical poltergeist...heist[ing] tracks from the past', Pharoahe seems consciously aware of his indebtedness to his forefathers and his ability to bring verse into a distinctly modern setting. The use of imagery is astonishing, switching between Biblical frames of reference all the way through to the spinning of a slab of vinyl on a platter, and it takes the listener on an almost visual journey that is incredibly captivating. I have at times tried to pin down a final interpretation of these lines, but I find it impossible to do so, instead losing myself in the various word images that flash before my eyes with every listen.

However much I may try to intellectualise the role of rap music in relation to a literary tradition that goes back thousands of years, I am aware of the potential to disappear up my own anus, so I'll leave it here (if you made it this far). Whatever our feelings about the proximity of rap music to poetry may be, the fact remains that it has challenged our expectations of a literary tradition that increasingly struggles to find relevance in the modern world and for this it should be highly celebrated. Pharoahe, amongst a host of other incredibly talented individuals, have effectively revitalised a dying art, and although at times the content of rap music may be at odds with traditional expectations of verse, for me there is little doubt: rap is poetry.

Organized Konfusion - The Extinction Agenda