Articles

Hip Hop poets and Poetry

hip hop and poetry
tupac shakur


Hip Hop poets are taking the world by storm. The last few decades have seen a rise in popularity of Hip Hop artists and their music, but it’s not just about the lyrics anymore. These days, hip hop is also an art form that includes poetry.
There are many different types of Hip Hop poetry: some rappers like to call themselves “songwriters” because they perform original song lyrics at live performances while others may be more interested in performing spoken word pieces with no backing soundtrack or beat; whichever style you choose, there’s plenty out there for everyone to enjoy!


Mainstream Hip Hop

Since Hip Hop has come to the public eye in the 80’s, it has had its share of bad publicity. From Gangsta Rap and the violence in its lyrics and the industry and the murder of two of his prominent figures Tupac Shakur and the Notorious BIG. The Hip Hop community has been blamed for gun crimes and derogative lyrics towards women.

Conscious hip hop

But not all lyrics in Hip&Hop and rap contain violent and explicit lyrics, they also talk about emotional pains and problems encountered by people around the world. Hip hop poets and poetry are highlighted by artists such as Tupac Shakur despite all the controversy surrounding him during his short life, wrote some beautiful and heartfelt lyrics, songs such as Brenda got a Baby, which talks about teenage pregnancy, is a song that will make any person thinking that Hip Hop and Rap only talk about violence think twice and realise that it isn’t always the case.

The rose that grew from concrete

“The Rose that grew from the concrete” also illustrates his poetic talent. Many other Hip Hop poets and rap artists showcase their poetical skills throughout their lyrics in various songs. Hip Hop & poetry if used with positive lyrics like any other music can be a powerful tool and the same energy used by some artists to write explicit lyrics could be changed in a positive manner to highlight their own struggle in life and teach the upcoming youngsters positive things about life and how not to go through the same problems they sometimes had themselves and teach them that despite all the hard times they might have at the moment, they can always strive forward and become whatever they wanna be in life.

For an example of Tupac’s poems go to http://www.thehiphopworld.com/tupac-poems.html, which will give you an insight on some of his poetic thoughts.

Related articles