Authors: Adam Bradley
Book of Rhymes (27 page)
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“Childz Play.” Words and music by Christopher Bridges, Thomas Callaway, Patrick Brown, Raymon Murray, and Rico Wade. Copyright © 2004 EMI April Music Inc., Ludacris Music Publishing Inc., Chrysalis Music Ltd., and Organized Noize Music. All rights for Ludacris Music Publishing Inc. controlled and administered by
EMI April Music Inc. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission.
EMI April Music Inc. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission.
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“Dr. Carter.” Words and music by David A. Axelrod, Dwayne Carter, and Kasseem Dean. Copyright © 2008 Morley Music Co., Young Money Publishing, and Swizz Beatz. All rights reserved.
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“Drug Ballad.” Words and music by Marshall Mathers, Jeff Bass, and Mark Bass. Copyright © 2000 Ensign Music LLC and Eight Mile Style Music. International copyright secured. All rights reserved.
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“I Know You Got Soul.” Words and music by Eric Barrier, Charles Bobbit, James Brown, Bobby Byrd, and William Griffin. Copyright © 1987 Universal-Song of Polygram International Inc., Robert Hill Music, and Unichappell Music Inc. All rights for Robert Hill Music controlled and administered by Universal-Songs of Polygram International Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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“The Bizness.” Words and music by Lonnie Lynn, Kelvin Mercer, David Jolicoeur, and Vincent Mason. Copyright © 1996 Songs of Universal Inc., Senseless Music Inc., Daisy Age Music, Tee Girl Music, and Vincent Mason. All rights for Senseless Music Inc. controlled and administered by Songs of Universal Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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“Wrath of Kane.” Words and music by Antonio Hardy (Big Daddy Kane) and Marlon Williams (Marly Marl). Published by CAK Music Publishing, Inc.
Notes
RAP POETRY 101
xiv
“An enormous amount of creative energy”:
Jeff Chang,
Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
(New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005), 82-83.
“An enormous amount of creative energy”:
Jeff Chang,
Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
(New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005), 82-83.
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xiv
“Rap was the final conclusion”:
KRS-One,
Ruminations
(New York: Welcome Rain Publishers, 2003), 217.
“Rap was the final conclusion”:
KRS-One,
Ruminations
(New York: Welcome Rain Publishers, 2003), 217.
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xvii
“aspires towards the condition of music”:
Walter Pater, “The School of Giorgione” (1877), reprinted in
Selected Writings of Walter Pater,
ed. Harold Bloom (New York: Columbia University Press, 1974), 55.
“aspires towards the condition of music”:
Walter Pater, “The School of Giorgione” (1877), reprinted in
Selected Writings of Walter Pater,
ed. Harold Bloom (New York: Columbia University Press, 1974), 55.
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xvii
“The lyric poem always walks the line”:
Edward Hirsch,
How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry
(New York: Harcourt Brace, 1999), 10.
“The lyric poem always walks the line”:
Edward Hirsch,
How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry
(New York: Harcourt Brace, 1999), 10.
ONE Rhythm
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4
“I can go to Japan”:
David Ma, “Bear Witness: Dilated Peoples' Evidence Testifies to Hip-Hop's Longevity,”
Wax Poetics
, No. 26, December-January 2008, 55.
“I can go to Japan”:
David Ma, “Bear Witness: Dilated Peoples' Evidence Testifies to Hip-Hop's Longevity,”
Wax Poetics
, No. 26, December-January 2008, 55.
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5
“Poetic forms are like that”:
Paul Fussell,
Poetic Meter and Poetic Form
(New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1979), 126.
“Poetic forms are like that”:
Paul Fussell,
Poetic Meter and Poetic Form
(New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1979), 126.
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5
from a groan to a sonnet is a straight line:
Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren,
Conversations on the Craft of Poetry
(New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1961).
from a groan to a sonnet is a straight line:
Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren,
Conversations on the Craft of Poetry
(New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1961).
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5
“an elaboration of the rhythms of common speech”:
William Butler Yeats, “Modern Poetry” (1936), reprinted in
Essays and Introductions
(London: Macmillan, 1961), 499-500.
“an elaboration of the rhythms of common speech”:
William Butler Yeats, “Modern Poetry” (1936), reprinted in
Essays and Introductions
(London: Macmillan, 1961), 499-500.
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5
“Music only needs a pulse”:
The RZA,
The Wu-Tang Manual: Enter the 36 Chambers
, Vol. 1 (New York: Riverhead, 2005), 204.
“Music only needs a pulse”:
The RZA,
The Wu-Tang Manual: Enter the 36 Chambers
, Vol. 1 (New York: Riverhead, 2005), 204.
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6
“The beat of the heart seems to be basic”:
Robert Frost, “Conversations on the Craft of Poetry,” reprinted in
Robert Frost on Writing
(New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1973), 155-156.
“The beat of the heart seems to be basic”:
Robert Frost, “Conversations on the Craft of Poetry,” reprinted in
Robert Frost on Writing
(New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1973), 155-156.
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6
“inspire that feeling in an MC”:
The RZA, 208.
“inspire that feeling in an MC”:
The RZA, 208.
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7
“Well, initially, [I would] probably just [write] my rhymes”:
Andrew Mason and Dale Coachman, “The Metamorphosis:
Ever-Evolving Q-Tip Emerges with New Sounds,”
Wax Poetics
, No. 28, April 2008, 93.
“Well, initially, [I would] probably just [write] my rhymes”:
Andrew Mason and Dale Coachman, “The Metamorphosis:
Ever-Evolving Q-Tip Emerges with New Sounds,”
Wax Poetics
, No. 28, April 2008, 93.
Â
8
“what results when the natural rhythmical movements”:
Fussell, 4.
“what results when the natural rhythmical movements”:
Fussell, 4.
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10
“Today one almost hesitates to say”:
Timothy Steele,
Missing Measures: Modern Poetry and the Revolt Against Meter
(Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1990), 281.
“Today one almost hesitates to say”:
Timothy Steele,
Missing Measures: Modern Poetry and the Revolt Against Meter
(Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1990), 281.
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12
“rap pretty much is subservient to the beat”:
H. Samy Alim,
Roc the Mic Right: The Language of Hip Hop Culture
(New York: Routledge, 2006), 96.
“rap pretty much is subservient to the beat”:
H. Samy Alim,
Roc the Mic Right: The Language of Hip Hop Culture
(New York: Routledge, 2006), 96.
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13
“Just to hear the bass was like everything”:
Jim Fricke and Charlie Ahearn,
Yes Yes Y'all: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip-Hop's First Decade
(New York: Da Capo Press, 2002), 43.
“Just to hear the bass was like everything”:
Jim Fricke and Charlie Ahearn,
Yes Yes Y'all: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip-Hop's First Decade
(New York: Da Capo Press, 2002), 43.
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14
“The Kool Herc style at the time”:
Fricke and Ahearn, 74.
“The Kool Herc style at the time”:
Fricke and Ahearn, 74.
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15
“MCs were elevating the art of rhyme”:
Marcus Reeves,
Somebody Scream! Rap Music's Rise to Prominence in the Aftershock of Black Power
(New York: Faber and Faber, Inc., 2008).
“MCs were elevating the art of rhyme”:
Marcus Reeves,
Somebody Scream! Rap Music's Rise to Prominence in the Aftershock of Black Power
(New York: Faber and Faber, Inc., 2008).
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15
“Every subsequent generation of MCs”:
William Jelani Cobb,
To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic
(New York: New York University Press, 2007), 47.
“Every subsequent generation of MCs”:
William Jelani Cobb,
To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic
(New York: New York University Press, 2007), 47.
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17
“I was 12, the same age my oldest daughter”:
Lonnae O'Neal Parker, “Why I Gave Up on Hip-Hop,”
Washington Post
, October 15, 2006, B1.
“I was 12, the same age my oldest daughter”:
Lonnae O'Neal Parker, “Why I Gave Up on Hip-Hop,”
Washington Post
, October 15, 2006, B1.
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19
“Blacks alone didn't invent poetics”:
Robert B. Stepto and Michael S. Harper, “Study and Experience: An Interview with Ralph Ellison,” 1976, reprinted in
Conversations with Ralph Ellison
, ed. Maryemma Graham and Amritjit Singh (Oxford: University of Mississippi Press, 1995), 330.
“Blacks alone didn't invent poetics”:
Robert B. Stepto and Michael S. Harper, “Study and Experience: An Interview with Ralph Ellison,” 1976, reprinted in
Conversations with Ralph Ellison
, ed. Maryemma Graham and Amritjit Singh (Oxford: University of Mississippi Press, 1995), 330.
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22
“You may not realize it”:
Robert Frost, “The Way There” (1958),
Robert Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, and Plays
(New York: Library of America), 847.
“You may not realize it”:
Robert Frost, “The Way There” (1958),
Robert Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, and Plays
(New York: Library of America), 847.
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25
“If he uses ten syllables in a line, I'm going to use fifteen”:
Jon Caramanica, “Bun B,”
The Believer
, June-July 2006.
“If he uses ten syllables in a line, I'm going to use fifteen”:
Jon Caramanica, “Bun B,”
The Believer
, June-July 2006.
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29
“Rhythm science is not so much a new language”:
Paul D. Miller,
Rhythm Science
(Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004), 72.
“Rhythm science is not so much a new language”:
Paul D. Miller,
Rhythm Science
(Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004), 72.
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32
“an individual time signature”:
Cobb, 87.
“an individual time signature”:
Cobb, 87.
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37
“What you find with a lot of rappers”:
“Dead Cert,”
The Observer
, April 25, 2004.
“What you find with a lot of rappers”:
“Dead Cert,”
The Observer
, April 25, 2004.
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40
“If, in rap, rhythm is more significant”:
Simon Frith,
Performing Rites: On the Value of Popular Music
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), 175.
“If, in rap, rhythm is more significant”:
Simon Frith,
Performing Rites: On the Value of Popular Music
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), 175.
41
“My style of writing”:
Tom Breihan, “Status Ain't Hood Interviews Rakim,”
Village Voice
, June 6, 2006.
“My style of writing”:
Tom Breihan, “Status Ain't Hood Interviews Rakim,”
Village Voice
, June 6, 2006.
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42
“I had long had haunting my ear”:
Gerard Manley Hopkins, July 24, 1866, journal entry, reprinted in
Gerard Manley Hopkins: Poems and Prose
(New York: Penguin, 1953), 185.
“I had long had haunting my ear”:
Gerard Manley Hopkins, July 24, 1866, journal entry, reprinted in
Gerard Manley Hopkins: Poems and Prose
(New York: Penguin, 1953), 185.
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43
“Once I figure out in my mind”:
Caramanica, “Bun B.”
“Once I figure out in my mind”:
Caramanica, “Bun B.”
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44
“In early hip-hop”:
The RZA, 108.
“In early hip-hop”:
The RZA, 108.
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47
“Crafting a good flow is like doing a puzzle”:
Stic.man
,
The Art of Emcee-ing
(New York: Boss Up, Inc., 2005), 53.
“Crafting a good flow is like doing a puzzle”:
Stic.man
,
The Art of Emcee-ing
(New York: Boss Up, Inc., 2005), 53.
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TWO Rhyme
50
“Along with word choice and sound patterns”:
Frances Mayes,
The Discovery of Poetry: A Field Guide to Reading and Writing
(New York: Harcourt Brace, 2001), 167.
“Along with word choice and sound patterns”:
Frances Mayes,
The Discovery of Poetry: A Field Guide to Reading and Writing
(New York: Harcourt Brace, 2001), 167.
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52
“Where there is no similarity, there is no rhyme”:
Alfred Corn,
The Poem's Heartbeat: A Manual of Prosody
(New York: Story Line Press, 1997), 77.
“Where there is no similarity, there is no rhyme”:
Alfred Corn,
The Poem's Heartbeat: A Manual of Prosody
(New York: Story Line Press, 1997), 77.
Â
54
“The coincidence of sound in a pair of rhymes”:
Corn, 75.
“The coincidence of sound in a pair of rhymes”:
Corn, 75.
Â
Â
55
“The search for a rhyme-word”:
Steve Kowit,
In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet's Portable Workshop
(Gardiner, ME: Tilbury House Publishers, 1995), 161.
“The search for a rhyme-word”:
Steve Kowit,
In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet's Portable Workshop
(Gardiner, ME: Tilbury House Publishers, 1995), 161.
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55
“The imagination wants its limits”:
Derek Walcott,
Conversations with Derek Walcott
(Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 1995), 105.
“The imagination wants its limits”:
Derek Walcott,
Conversations with Derek Walcott
(Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 1995), 105.
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58
“Perfection of the rhymes”:
James G. Spady,
Street Conscious Rap
(Philadelphia: Black History Museum Press, 1999), 550.
“Perfection of the rhymes”:
James G. Spady,
Street Conscious Rap
(Philadelphia: Black History Museum Press, 1999), 550.
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59
“Some artists use line after line”:
Emcee Escher and Alex Rappaport,
The Rapper's Handbook: A Guide to Freestyling, Writing Rhymes, and Battling
(New York: Flocabulary LLC, 2006), 28.
“Some artists use line after line”:
Emcee Escher and Alex Rappaport,
The Rapper's Handbook: A Guide to Freestyling, Writing Rhymes, and Battling
(New York: Flocabulary LLC, 2006), 28.
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69
“a constraint to express many things otherwise”:
John Milton,
Selected Prose
(Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1985), 404.
“a constraint to express many things otherwise”:
John Milton,
Selected Prose
(Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1985), 404.
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69
“popularitie of Rime creates”:
Thomas Campion, “Observations in the Art of English Poesie” (1602), reprinted in
Renascence Edition
(Eugene: University of Oregon, 1998).
“popularitie of Rime creates”:
Thomas Campion, “Observations in the Art of English Poesie” (1602), reprinted in
Renascence Edition
(Eugene: University of Oregon, 1998).
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70
“Staying in the unconscious frame of mind”:
Benjamin Hedin,
Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader
(New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004), 215.
“Staying in the unconscious frame of mind”:
Benjamin Hedin,
Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader
(New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004), 215.
Â
70
“It gives you a thrill to rhyme something”:
Hedin, 215.
“It gives you a thrill to rhyme something”:
Hedin, 215.
Â
79
“When I started out as a DJ”:
Fricke and Ahearn, 79.
“When I started out as a DJ”:
Fricke and Ahearn, 79.
Â
79
“So different DJs started embellishing”:
Fricke and Ahearn, 79.
“So different DJs started embellishing”:
Fricke and Ahearn, 79.
Â
82
“When we first started rhyming”:
Fricke and Ahearn, 74.
“When we first started rhyming”:
Fricke and Ahearn, 74.
THREE Wordplay
87
“shunned expressions of disposable people”:
Cobb, 6.
“shunned expressions of disposable people”:
Cobb, 6.
Â
87
“Thus if these [vernacular] poets”:
Ralph Ellison, “Some Questions and Some Answers,”
The Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison
(New York: Random House, 1994), 295.
“Thus if these [vernacular] poets”:
Ralph Ellison, “Some Questions and Some Answers,”
The Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison
(New York: Random House, 1994), 295.
Â
87
“When I was young”:
And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of Hip Hop
, VH1, 2004.
“When I was young”:
And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of Hip Hop
, VH1, 2004.
Â
87
“Hip hop has so much power”:
“Resurrection: Common Walks,” PopMatters music interview, September 21, 2005.
“Hip hop has so much power”:
“Resurrection: Common Walks,” PopMatters music interview, September 21, 2005.
Â
87
“The great body of Negro slang”:
Ellison, “What These Children Are Like,” 555.
“The great body of Negro slang”:
Ellison, “What These Children Are Like,” 555.
Â
88
“A language comes into existence”:
James Baldwin, “If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?”
New York Times
, July 29, 1979.
“A language comes into existence”:
James Baldwin, “If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?”
New York Times
, July 29, 1979.
Â
88
“People may look at it like”:
Anthony DeCurtis, “Wu-Tang Family Values,”
Rolling Stone
, July 24, 1997.
“People may look at it like”:
Anthony DeCurtis, “Wu-Tang Family Values,”
Rolling Stone
, July 24, 1997.
Â
90
“Rather than being about experience”:
Mayes, 427.
“Rather than being about experience”:
Mayes, 427.
Â
90
“It's just a vehicle”:
H. Samy Alim, “Interview with Ras Kass,” James G. Spady, et al,
The Global Cipha: Hip Hop Culture and Consciousness
(Philadelphia: Black History Museum Press, 2006), 241.
“It's just a vehicle”:
H. Samy Alim, “Interview with Ras Kass,” James G. Spady, et al,
The Global Cipha: Hip Hop Culture and Consciousness
(Philadelphia: Black History Museum Press, 2006), 241.
Â
90
“defamiliarizes words”:
Hirsch, 12.
“defamiliarizes words”:
Hirsch, 12.
Â
91
“It's one thing to say âI sell bricks, I sell bricks'”:
John Caramanica, “Keep on Pushin',”
Mass Appeal
39, 72.
“It's one thing to say âI sell bricks, I sell bricks'”:
John Caramanica, “Keep on Pushin',”
Mass Appeal
39, 72.
Â
92
“All poetry implies the destruction”:
Ellison, “Society, Morality, and and the Novel,” 702.
“All poetry implies the destruction”:
Ellison, “Society, Morality, and and the Novel,” 702.
Â
FOUR Style
Â
122
“We develop schemas”:
Daniel J. Levitin,
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
(New York: Penguin, 2007), 117.
“We develop schemas”:
Daniel J. Levitin,
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
(New York: Penguin, 2007), 117.
Â
124
“history, geography, and genre all at once”:
Adam Krims,
Rap Music and the Poetics of Identity
(New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 48.
“history, geography, and genre all at once”:
Adam Krims,
Rap Music and the Poetics of Identity
(New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 48.
Â
125
“a dynamic process”:
Ellison, “Going to the Territory,” 612.
“a dynamic process”:
Ellison, “Going to the Territory,” 612.
Â
126
“Hip-hop is a beautiful culture”:
Richard Cromlein, “Mos Def Wants Blacks to Take Back Rock Music,”
Los Angeles Times
, December 28, 2004.
“Hip-hop is a beautiful culture”:
Richard Cromlein, “Mos Def Wants Blacks to Take Back Rock Music,”
Los Angeles Times
, December 28, 2004.
Â
128
“Queens rappers have a special style”:
And You Don't Stop.
“Queens rappers have a special style”:
And You Don't Stop.
Â
132
“Technically, Tupac wasn't a great rapper”:
The Vibe History of Hip-Hop
(New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999), 93.
“Technically, Tupac wasn't a great rapper”:
The Vibe History of Hip-Hop
(New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999), 93.
Â
133
“Biggie's gonna win hands down”:
The Art of 16 Bars
, Image Entertainment, 2005.
“Biggie's gonna win hands down”:
The Art of 16 Bars
, Image Entertainment, 2005.
135
“A distinct voice tone is the identity”:
KRS-One, 247.
“A distinct voice tone is the identity”:
KRS-One, 247.
Â
136
“I suspect that the freshest and most engaging poems”:
Ted Kooser,
The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005), 14.
“I suspect that the freshest and most engaging poems”:
Ted Kooser,
The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005), 14.
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