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schnurln's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Favorites:
"Turning the Tables" - Joel Dias-Porter aka DJ Renegade
"mascot" - Quraysh Ali Lansana
"duck, duck, redux" - Evie Shockley
"B- Boy Infinitives" - Patrick Rosal
"Beat Boxing" - Adrian Matejka
"Pull down the earth" - francine j. harris
"how to get over (for my niggas)" - t’ai freedom ford
"the World tells how the world ends" - Marty McConnell
"Bronx Bombers" - John Rodriguez
"What I Saw Was Not Your Funeral" - John Rodriguez
"Switch" - Tara Betts
"BREAK" - Aracelis Girmay
"I Have a Drone" - Paul Martinez Pompa
"BLOSSOMS IN THE DARK" - Tarfia Faizullah
"Ode to a Star Fig" - Samantha Thornhill
"Harbor" - Aleshea Harris
"Let Me Handle My Business, Damn" - Morgan Parker
"Ghazal for My Sister" - Angel Nafis
"Prayer for The Newly Damned" - Ocean Vuong
"When Tip Drill Comes on at the Frat Party Or, When Refusing to Twerk Is a Radical Form of Self- Love" - Fatimah Asghar
"UNEMPLOYMENT" - Fatimah Asghar
"PLUTO SHITS ON THE UNIVERSE" - Fatimah Asghar
"Dinosaurs in the Hood" - Danez Smith
"Lesson one" - Nile Lansana and Onam Lansana
"Turning the Tables" - Joel Dias-Porter aka DJ Renegade
"mascot" - Quraysh Ali Lansana
"duck, duck, redux" - Evie Shockley
"B- Boy Infinitives" - Patrick Rosal
"Beat Boxing" - Adrian Matejka
"Pull down the earth" - francine j. harris
"how to get over (for my niggas)" - t’ai freedom ford
"the World tells how the world ends" - Marty McConnell
"Bronx Bombers" - John Rodriguez
"What I Saw Was Not Your Funeral" - John Rodriguez
"Switch" - Tara Betts
"BREAK" - Aracelis Girmay
"I Have a Drone" - Paul Martinez Pompa
"BLOSSOMS IN THE DARK" - Tarfia Faizullah
"Ode to a Star Fig" - Samantha Thornhill
"Harbor" - Aleshea Harris
"Let Me Handle My Business, Damn" - Morgan Parker
"Ghazal for My Sister" - Angel Nafis
"Prayer for The Newly Damned" - Ocean Vuong
"When Tip Drill Comes on at the Frat Party Or, When Refusing to Twerk Is a Radical Form of Self- Love" - Fatimah Asghar
"UNEMPLOYMENT" - Fatimah Asghar
"PLUTO SHITS ON THE UNIVERSE" - Fatimah Asghar
"Dinosaurs in the Hood" - Danez Smith
"Lesson one" - Nile Lansana and Onam Lansana
mcipswitch's review
I think this is a bit ambitious for the time being. Gonna read some smaller poetry collections and revisit this once I have a sounder rhythm.
erickaonpaper's review
5.0
If you’ve ever heard of this collection of poems before, you would know that there has yet to be a single negative word spoken on it (rightfully so). In this anthology, compiled of 78 poets born anywhere between 1961-1999, we read an inspiring fusion of what we know about the genre of poetry and hip-hop culture. In the blurb written on this book’s web series, it says, “The Breakbeat Poets are the scribes recording and remixing a fuller spectrum of experience of what it means to be alive.” This collection included everything, from drugs, to abuse, to family relationships, partner relationships, police brutality, and so on. I wish that my words were enough to suffice how great this collection is. I’m passing it off to my partner, who I know will be inspired, maybe even more than me, by all the great musings of the artists this book holds. I’m astounded by the many #ownvoices writers we have yet to discover, and this book gives me so much hope that our future holds even more #ownvoices authors. For those interested in creative, innovative poems, for those who are not looking to be bored by what they read, for those who are willing to respectfully learn more about cultures not their own, this one is for you.
allisonplus's review
4.0
"She would have wanted to wear ponytails to class picture day
She would have sketched a poem and left it on my pillow
She was surrounded by a circle of street pigeons in a city square
I miss train stops thinking of what her name
Would have been"
"..blessings to the cadence of combat
captured on concrete and cardboard battlefields."
"Say she learns the tongue as a weapon
and when she speaks up that her husband is not bullet proof,
and that children vanish like smoke but hers
are not considered
proof of burning."
"..we scribble sunlight in the margins of horizons with our songs
for all the voices tangled with the silence on our tongues."
She would have sketched a poem and left it on my pillow
She was surrounded by a circle of street pigeons in a city square
I miss train stops thinking of what her name
Would have been"
"..blessings to the cadence of combat
captured on concrete and cardboard battlefields."
"Say she learns the tongue as a weapon
and when she speaks up that her husband is not bullet proof,
and that children vanish like smoke but hers
are not considered
proof of burning."
"..we scribble sunlight in the margins of horizons with our songs
for all the voices tangled with the silence on our tongues."
kingjason's review
4.0
I'm a big fan of Hip-hop, some of my favourite artists are Salt 'n' Pepa, Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer and Sting. I'm also a fan of Poetry, some of my favourite artists are Raegan Butcher, Harry Whitewolf, MJ Black and JA Carter-Winward. I remember the first time I heard the sugar Hill gang's Rappers delight, it was the first time I realised that words could be a form of art, so when I saw this book I had to get myself a copy just to see what else was out there.
The Breakbeat Poets is a collection of poems by 70 different artists and they have been published in the order the poets were born 1961-1999. The layout is brilliant, you can really see how things have evolved, early poets wrote about music, the way it made them feel and they wrote about their heroes and the people they love. As we move into the work by poet's born in the 90's you can feel the mood change, there is more anger and outrage in their words. Another good thing with the layout, the editors have left the formatting and spelling as it is, no touch ups, it makes it feel more real.
I'm not going to admit I loved every poem, a lot was way about my head. Example, a few poets keep mentioning 'erasure' at first I thought "what is this obsession with the band?" At the end of the book it gets explained and it is a pretty cool form of poetry.
Here are a few highlights for you:
jessica Care moore. mic check, 1-2. the first poem in the book I loved, has a real feel of hip hop to it and it's easy to read, I read this one a number of times.
Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie. Global Warming Blues. Best line in the book. "seems like for Big Men's livin/little folks have got to die"
Douglas Kearney. all his poems are like little works of art, you gotta check them out. You could easily frame these to go on yer wall.
Tarfia Faizullah. 100 BELLS. the second poem I loved. Probably the scariest thing I've ever read.
Fatimah Asghar. PLUTO SHITS ON THE UNIVERSE. haha what a title. I laughed loads at this one, you could really imagine Pluto thinking this. Favourite in the book, tough to choose but this is the winner.
The cover is awesome, spent ages trying to figure out all the comic characters. The book is finished off with a collection of essays by the poets, made interesting reading to find out how they had got into hip-hop and the effect it has had on their life.
Loved this collection and glad I actually own a copy. Now all I need is for Mr. Kevin Coval to produce an audiobook version of each of the poets reading their work.
Blog review is here> https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2018/04/24/the-breakbeat-poets-new-american-poetry-in-the-age-of-hip-hop/
The Breakbeat Poets is a collection of poems by 70 different artists and they have been published in the order the poets were born 1961-1999. The layout is brilliant, you can really see how things have evolved, early poets wrote about music, the way it made them feel and they wrote about their heroes and the people they love. As we move into the work by poet's born in the 90's you can feel the mood change, there is more anger and outrage in their words. Another good thing with the layout, the editors have left the formatting and spelling as it is, no touch ups, it makes it feel more real.
I'm not going to admit I loved every poem, a lot was way about my head. Example, a few poets keep mentioning 'erasure' at first I thought "what is this obsession with the band?" At the end of the book it gets explained and it is a pretty cool form of poetry.
Here are a few highlights for you:
jessica Care moore. mic check, 1-2. the first poem in the book I loved, has a real feel of hip hop to it and it's easy to read, I read this one a number of times.
Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie. Global Warming Blues. Best line in the book. "seems like for Big Men's livin/little folks have got to die"
Douglas Kearney. all his poems are like little works of art, you gotta check them out. You could easily frame these to go on yer wall.
Tarfia Faizullah. 100 BELLS. the second poem I loved. Probably the scariest thing I've ever read.
Fatimah Asghar. PLUTO SHITS ON THE UNIVERSE. haha what a title. I laughed loads at this one, you could really imagine Pluto thinking this. Favourite in the book, tough to choose but this is the winner.
The cover is awesome, spent ages trying to figure out all the comic characters. The book is finished off with a collection of essays by the poets, made interesting reading to find out how they had got into hip-hop and the effect it has had on their life.
Loved this collection and glad I actually own a copy. Now all I need is for Mr. Kevin Coval to produce an audiobook version of each of the poets reading their work.
Blog review is here> https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2018/04/24/the-breakbeat-poets-new-american-poetry-in-the-age-of-hip-hop/
wcsheffer's review
5.0
Brilliant collection of powerful poems that focus around or deal with the poetics of rap and hip hop. I found the anthology by looking for works by some of my fave Twin Cities poets and stumbled into many more poets. Brilliant and intentional introduction. Enjoyed every minute of this book.
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