In preparation for this weekâs new episode with Porscha Burke read this interview with her from @slicemagazine!Â
âI wish there were more rappers with book deals. Seriously.
Rappers are modern-day griots, their slick punchlines and syncopated storytelling can cover complex, thought-provoking subjects and lightweight humor alike. Rappers donât have to be memoirists only. The spectrum from, say, The Message to A Childrenâs Story, Steve Biko to Money, Cash, Hoes to Alright is as broad as all the literary genresânarrative nonfiction and history to memoir and poetry. Of course, poetry.
Weâve been fortunate to see books like Jay Zâs Decoded and Prodigyâs Commissary Kitchen highlight how dynamically hip-hop can be represented on the page. (Likewise, all of Ahmir â?uestloveâ Thompsonâs books differ from each other.) Novels like Styles Pâs Invincible (which he wrote on his Sidekick, by the way) and Dana Daneâs Numbers prove rappers with strong storytelling skills on the mic can translate those to the page. And the oral histories (Brian Colemanâs Check the Technique and Shea Serranoâs The Rap Year Book, for example) lend context and historical import to the art form, legitimizing it for those who still need convincing. (As if Nasâs Harvard fellowship isnât enough!)
I donât think book publishingâs role is just to historicize hip-hopâbooks are art as much as music is. I think books offer an opportunity to advance hip-hop, to communicate its beauty and power and legacy to new generations who will grow up in a world where Kendrick Lamar is old school. Books about hip-hop and by its artists can show readers whatâs possible if they grab a pad and a pen, a mic and a beats tape, and let their imaginations fly. Especially for young people of colorâwho all too often get a message that theyâre worthless or not as valuable as othersâexposure to hip-hop in books can exemplify how staid margins can be transcended.â