ABSTRACT
In “Follow the Leader,” Rakim states “Rap is rhythm and poetry.” Having covered musical aspects of rap in the previous chapter, this chapter examines its poetic aspects. The chapter begins with a summary of some common poetic techniques—devices like rhyme, alliteration, and metaphor. The middle of the chapter examines questions of subjectivity and narrative in order to ask, who is telling the story and how are they telling it? Intertextuality is the belief that texts have no inherent meaning, but that their meaning emerges through comparisons with other texts. This is an important strategy for listening to rap, given its heavy reliance on borrowing. The chapter closes with an overview of how different languages—Spanish, Japanese, and American Sign Language—reflect the transformations that language undergoes in the process of crafting rhymes.
