Turner, P (2026) 'Spinning staves in bars: hip hop comes to spoken-word.' In: Turner, R, ed. Hip hop and American culture. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 147-164. ISBN 9781009714761
Abstract
Rap has long enjoyed a generative relationship with spoken-word poetry, one that can be traced back to the politicized orientations and aesthetic preferences that distinguished the Black Arts poetry and early spoken word of the late 1960s/early 1970s. However, this chapter argues that differences between rap and spoken-word poetry are as salient as similarities. Rap’s relationship to the spoken word only starts to acquire political and strategic importance at the point at which gangsta rap – with its hyper-profanity and alleged nihilism – comes to prominence. Amid the antiblack racism and structural dislocation of Reagan’s America, rap in the spoken word can be seen as emblematic of hip-hop’s intra-cultural politics of uplift versus negativity. Yet, despite such claims, this does not suffice to settle the matter of the elevated and profane within rap. For in rap, carnality, irreverence, and high-mindedness are the alternating currents and tensions that make hip-hop penumbral, the goad to its intra-politics.
| Item Type: | Book Chapter or Section |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | rap lyricism, spoken-word poetry, rap carnality, Black Arts poetry, Golden Age, hip-hop, gangsta rap, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Saul Williams |
| Divisions: | School of Sciences |
| Related URLs: | |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Jul 2025 08:40 |
| Last Modified: | 27 Mar 2026 13:38 |
| URN: | https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/15988 |
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