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Book Of Rhymes
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Book Review
Book Of Rhymes
By Adam Bradley
Literary scholar Adam Bradley's new book Book Of Rhymes demonstrates the connection between old school literary poetry and the rhymes of today‘s lyricists. Bradley utilizes a litany of lyrics and classic lines of poetry to support his claims. Each chapter is packed with analysis and anecdotes. The chapter titles are poetic devices: Rhythm, Rhyme, wordplay, Style, storytelling and signifying. Citing lyrics from Big Daddy Kane, Eminem, Nas, Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill, Rakim, KRS-One, Outkast, Lil Wayne, as well as poets like Lord Byron, Milton, Shelley, Shakespeare, Yeats, Langston Hughes, Derek Walcott, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Wallace Stevens and Edgar Allen Poe, Bradley sheds light on the poetics of hiphop with a meticulous eye. He is one of the few people alive that knows Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner and Sugarhill Gang's "Rappers Delight" both utilize the ballad form and similar methods of storytelling.
The book is the perfect blend of being accessible to every man and still deliver intelligent analysis for the graduate students. Bradley has a PH.D. in English from Harvard and is equally versed in hiphop lyrics and classical poetry. Those serious about poetry, hiphop or both will appreciate the comprehensive history presented and well timed examples. Bradley makes a great case that rappers rank among the greatest public poets of all time. Whether he's breaking down Shakespeare's similes, puns by John Donne, how Lauryn Hill and John Milton use alliteration or how Jay-Z uses metonymy, Bradley offers a fascinating read for heads and academics.
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