The definitive account of rap and hip hop as forms of American poetry
Bradley is a visionary critic, skillful and wise....Book of Rhymesis a tour de force, brilliantly renovating hip hop criticism as [lit] rescues the forgotten vanguard of American poetry. --Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Rap may be the most revolutionary development in poetry over the past forty years, yet its originality is hidden in plain sight. Often overshadowed by the beat, bluster, and hype surrounding the music, lyrics are the heart of hip hop.Book of Rhymesexplores America's least-understood poets by unpacking their complex craft and according them the respect they deserve as lyricists. Examining the language and techniques of hip hop's most memorable artists, literary scholar Adam Bradley argues that a new world of rhythm and rhyme awaits us if we put aside preconceptions and encounter rap with new ears and new eyes.
Updated to reflect nearly a decade of the genre's evolution,Book of Rhymesremains the definitive work on the poetry of hip hop.
is a professor of English at the University of Colorado Boulder where he directs the Laboratory for Race and Popular Culture. The author or editor of six books, Bradley has contributed to the
New York Times,
Wall Street Journal, and
Washington Post, among others. He lives in Boulder, Colorado Adam Bradley's Book of Rhymes is a marvelous exploration into the genius of rap and the cultural gravity of hip hop. His analysis is subtle, sophisticated, and soulful!
Cornel West I [am] fascinated by what I would call the emergent 'artcademic' perspective [Bradley] was describing. Here was someone who grew up with the music and had gone on to study it in a social context as well as 'getting down to it' on the level of language.
Chuck D'Bradley delivers the inl=
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