The short answer is “no,” of course. To state the obvious, things can share certain attributes and not be the same sort of thing, and asking whether rap is poetry has always struck me as a useless ...

Poetry is the structural rhetoric used to evoke emotional qualities. Rap is, at the etymological root, the chanting of rhymed lyrics in time to a beat. The literary facet of poetry has been around for ...

The rapper and poet Noname first rose to prominence in 2016 with her breakout album “Telefone,” which seemed to be bumping on every speaker that year. Her most recent album, “Sundial” (2023), further ...

Most people would never put Shakespeare and Kendrick Lamar in the same sentence. One composed sonnets for the Elizabethan ...

Now almost 40 years old, rap burst out of the Bronx to become one of the dominant musical and cultural forces in this country. A new book, The Anthology of Rap, tracks the development of the genre -- ...

One hears a certain baleful cry regularly in writerly circles that Americans don’t care about poetry anymore. A widely read Atlantic piece by Dana Gioia in 1992 was a signature statement. Granted, ...

Digital tools and platforms are driving young, hip readers and writers of poetry in ever increasing numbers to practice and appreciate the ancient art. Here's a round up of four to watch. The ...

If rap lyrics like “Real G’s move in silence like lasagna” stump you, check out Rap Genius. The crowdsourced hip-hop lyrics explanation site will inform you that Lil Wayne is describing how skilled ...

This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today. Listen 8:16 Now almost 40 years old, ...