# Can anyone give me a popular rap/hip hop song that I can use to teach poetry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-give-me-a-popular-rap-hip-hop-song-that-i-can-use-to-teach-poetry/487534 "2009-02-26T18:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-give-me-a-popular-rap-hip-hop-song-that-i-can-use-to-teach-poetry/487534/1 "2009-02-26T18:00:00Z")
I teach 7th Grade in the middle of Whitesville, USA, so naturally all the kids love rap and hip hop music. Anyway, I used to use some Eminem lyrics that were clean enough to introduce poetry. I think that’s getting dated, however. I want to use something a bit more recent and I have a couple rules. 1. It has to be clean, or at least have an extended section of clean lyrics(I used the chorus to "Follow Me’ for Eminem). 2. It has to be popular enough that I don’t look like an old fogie idiot(I’m 30, by the way, but clueless about this music). 3. It has to have some poetic elements, like rhyme and alliteration, or even repetition. Similes and Metaphors are nice, too. Rhymes can be imperfect and grammar, obviously, does not matter. My co-worker suggested “In the Ayer” by Flo Rider, but I’m not sure if it is clean. Any better suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-give-me-a-popular-rap-hip-hop-song-that-i-can-use-to-teach-poetry/487534/2 "2009-02-26T18:02:21Z")
I would say Aesop Rock - [No Regrets](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/No-Regrets-lyrics-Aesop-Rock/7B7021668EB2B68448256D0B00111999). I don’t know exactly how popular it is, but it’s a good one and is relatively well known. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-give-me-a-popular-rap-hip-hop-song-that-i-can-use-to-teach-poetry/487534/3 "2009-02-26T18:02:39Z")
Look at Will Smith’s stuff. He’s usually pretty clean, though he may be perceived as dated now. You may even have some kids say, “Will Smith? The actor?!? He used to RAP?!?” His version of “Just The Two Of Us” is sappy yet positive. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-give-me-a-popular-rap-hip-hop-song-that-i-can-use-to-teach-poetry/487534/4 "2009-02-26T19:52:00Z")
It’s a couple of years old, but Lupe Fiasco’s “[Kick, Push](http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858588576/).” The song focuses on skateboarding, but it’s really an extended metaphor for being different in life and not giving into the pressure to be like everyone else (my interpretation, at least). There’s some really nice rhymes (“He said, ‘I would marry but I’m engaged to the aerials and varials’”) and the chorus uses repetition (“So they kick, push, kick, push, kick, push, kick, push, coast …”) as well as the end of the verses. For something a little more current, maybe “[See You in My Nightmares](http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858749059/)” by Kanye West and Lil Wayne, or “[Swagga Like Us](http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858737328/)” if you edit it. ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-give-me-a-popular-rap-hip-hop-song-that-i-can-use-to-teach-poetry/487534/5 "2009-02-26T19:58:41Z")
This is a question I’ve always had, why is hip-hop, in general, NOT considered to be poetry, be it “good” or “bad”? Well for the basics, let’s start with **Haiku D’Etat** ’s [Outro](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QZXQGE/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1233256069&sr=102-1), from their (wonderful)album _Coup De Theatre_. It is a song composed almost entirely of haiku poems, except for the chorus which simply explains what a haiku is- “written in 5, 7, 5; three lines that don’t rhyme” The whole album has great poetry, and music, through out; it is a clean album too. Other songs to check out- “Kats” and “Transitions and Eras” Perhaps my all time favorite hip-hop song, **Illogic** ’s [1000 Whispers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aavBigXvy4)(w/The Who sample). IMHO, I would say it is pure poetry. [Lyrics](http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/illogic_lyrics_13109/celestial_clockwork_lyrics_39943/1000_whispers_lyrics_433086.html); only the talking intro has one f-bomb, otherwise it’s clean. More from Illogic- [Celestial Clockwork](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duqvHQlwzjw), [The Only Constant](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z1m69w5s3I&feature=related) > [@](#): > > If a picture’s worth a thousand words I’ll paint a thousand pictures > To symbolize the decibel levels bred of a thousand whispers > To mummify useless unknown poems spit a shower with gold glitter > Pressure increase unleash the catacomb splitters > And for some reason you wonder why your puzzle is a jigsaw > When you fail to decipher the mores code to simply avoid the pitfalls > If need be I can get raw - just pocket the latex > But that’s like asking why the man with no legs crawls to see the apex > Or why the young planet’s seeds won’t blossom into a garden > Parallel to your search for stardom where you leave breadcrumbs and jargon > That you can’t even feel. So how’s that for surface tension? > Every step shows you’re a worthless henchman itching to meet your maker > I’d rather finger-paint than take a tainted pen and curse the paper > Voice box turns cauldron, saliva boils, then thoughts are vapor > If seeing foremost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades > Then a thoroughbred’s accuracy isn’t the focal point of perfection > Therefore you trudge through waist-high sludge and caramelized paints where > Prints left, taint every breath > … > I’ll take a rain check in the same breath of a checkmate - in three moves > I know everything is everything and nothing’s still something else > So I cleared my shelves of any signs of wealth to impress the elves > My neck it holds bricks that weighs down my liftoff > As a precaution I replaced the wood in the loft with something soft > Your windows - they look clear but my pane’s a stained glass > To dampen the impression of expression anything has > Do the hues you use, do they capture the pain my frame has? > Or are you caught in the faces we weave, scared to changes masks? > I’m the lawnmower man on a mission to slaughter the strange grass > But first I must erase cyberspace and rape the track before train pass > You strain cash > Well I take the root of evil, make tea > Patiently holding hands with anxiousness, I can already taste it > There’s the kettle whistle, interrupting my vision of rainbow bands > The steam scolding my hand > The mug shattered and I wasted it > Now if a picture’s worth a thousand words I painted a thousand pictures > On the beautiful backdrop of butterfly kisses **Qwel** tells the story of a race up a mountain between a Salmon, Sparrow, and Billy Goat in [Fabel Salt](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHZM9kKn0hE)(some language) > [@](#): > > No problem said the Salmon, lets swim up this mountain > Cause my school mates are all fish and in no danger of drowning > But fuck that Mountain Goat though that chose his own route > The Mountain Goat sang I don’t swim well > Well, my road is the ground > See that sounds just like a challenge, a race! Sang out the Sparrow > I’m game guys, but I call the grey skies my short and narrow > You hear those storms approaching quick as the warm water ripples(?) > Little Billy Goat on your mark > Start! > The Billy Goat broke > The Fish split > The Sparrow barreled. > A semi-close start… And of course, anything, ANYTHING! by **Saul Williams** -[Amethyst Rock(SLAM(movie))](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSR7H580e5U), [Banged and Blown Through](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcteSyLcp18&feature=related), [Children of Night(wow, wow, wow!)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5cOJjlyh7w&feature=related), [Coded Language(Slam)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzY2-GRDiPM&NR=1), [Convict Colony](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM5VS97Jx-U&feature=related), [DNA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSz2ix4Fi7U), [List of Demands](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1llNYAlYrc&feature=related), [Act III, Scene 2 (Shakespeare)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kQAwNczweY&feature=related), [Sunday Bloody Sunday](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keqAQk1YuOs&feature=related)/[(live version)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MVNRAySI2s&feature=related), [Wine (verses at: 3:50, 7:58)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LEdGIcBheM). One of the few poems I’ve made more than a conscious effort to memorize(from the second verse of Wine)…(some language) > [@](#): > > I could recite the grass on a hill > And memorize the moon > I know the cloud forms of love by heart > And have brought tears to the eye of a storm > My memory banks > Vaults of autumn forests and amazon river banks > And I have screamed them into sunsets > That echo in earthquakes > Shadows have been my spotlight > As I monologue the night > And dialog with days > Soliloquies of wind and breeze > Applauded by sun rays > We put language in zoos > To observe caged thought > And tossed peanuts and p-funk at intellect > Motherfuckers think these are metaphors, I speak what I see > All words and worlds are metaphors of me > My life is authored by the moon, footprints written in soil > The fountain pen of martian men noveling human toil > And yes, the soil speaks highly of me > When earth seeds root me > Poet tree > Now, maybe I’m too serious > Too little here > Too matter > Though I’m riddled with the reason of the sun > A stand-up comet with the audience of lungs > This body of laughter, is it with me or at me > Hue more (humor) or less though genders mute > And the punchline has this lifeline at it’s root > I’m a star, this life’s the suburbs, I commute …get [this](http://www.amazon.com/Seventh-Octave-Early-Writings-Williams/dp/0965830810)book. One last one, **Substantial** ’s [Think Different](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LwAkavpCvA&feature=related), where in he breaks down the difference between “Rap” and “Hip-Hop”. [Lyrics](http://lyricwiki.org/Nujabes:Think_Different)(a little more than some language) > [@](#): > > You fall in love with body parts, I connect mentally > With my female counterpart before we bond physically > Cats I chill with rap about revolution > While you rap about drug abuse and distribution > You wanna be like Mike, yo I wanna be me > My queen’s hard to obtain while yours is easy > We both from Maryland but be reppin’ D.C. > We all front sometimes, that’s how emcees be > My word is bond and yours is worthless > You’re mainstream, I’m beneath the surface > I stay working hard while you’re hardly workin’ > All you want is money and your dick sucked, are you certain? > I want a better world for our seeds to live in > I put faith in myself, not the system > Yo, we trying to travel so why you making pit stops? > You cats is rap and I’m hip-hop > > Is the glass half full or half empty? > It’s based on your perspective quite simply > We’re the same and we’re not, know what I’m saying? Listen > So I ain’t better than you, I just think different [Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10522139&postcount=11) is my list of good hip-hop on youtube. Most of it is pretty clean and/or generally positive. I would probably, for the kids, \*avoid \*\*\*Immortal Technique \*\*and **Jedi Mind Tricks** , but do be sure to check out two home town favorites(Seattle and Denver)- \*\*Blue Scholars \*\*and **Flobots** ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-give-me-a-popular-rap-hip-hop-song-that-i-can-use-to-teach-poetry/487534/6 "2009-02-26T20:08:23Z")
I’ll second **mswaw** ’s suggestion of Aesop Rock, a master of word play. One of my favorite lines of his- “Now I’m thinking who am I? Jabberwocky Superfly…” I’m also with\*\* Lisa-go-Blind \*\*on Lupe Fiasco. For talent + widespread appeal he is one of, if not tops, in the game right now. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-give-me-a-popular-rap-hip-hop-song-that-i-can-use-to-teach-poetry/487534/7 "2009-02-26T20:34:42Z")
They’re not well known tracks, but you might find it interesting to take a look at the pair of videos released by the [Blue Scholars](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qREupDMEPAU) and [Common Market](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR81pG2DI5A) when their shows got canceled by one of the Seattle snowstorms this winter. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-give-me-a-popular-rap-hip-hop-song-that-i-can-use-to-teach-poetry/487534/8 "2009-02-26T20:39:16Z")
[The Cool Kids](http://www.coolxkids.com/) have some stuff that’s clever and might be something your students could relate to. Playing video games, eating cereal, people trying to be the cool kids. > [@](#): > > I’m in the crib Saturday night with my sega thass right > Playing a game of that street fighter, street fighter, street fighter > I guess that makes you think you cooler then me > But any girl you can pull I can pull em with ease > Like the letter after D not ecstacy, It’s easy to me yess yess indeed > It’s hard to believe but swallow it > So much game I that I could put it in a bottle and sell it too lames > And getting graphics in ya fade was fresh in the day > But it was jacked by the losers I’m bout too say screw it and > Grow a jerry curl wear a diaper like cupid or something else stupid > And see if people do it and if they do it then that proves it > People are juss losers and they’ll anything if someone cool do it > But they won’t do it first so I guess they not cool > And it’s the end of the verse so I’m chucking that deuce ---
**Author:** ![HolyFreakingMoly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ba0ec/32.png) [@HolyFreakingMoly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HolyFreakingMoly)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-give-me-a-popular-rap-hip-hop-song-that-i-can-use-to-teach-poetry/487534/9 "2009-02-26T20:47:00Z")
Well I can advise AGAINST Soldjaboy! LMAO. My kids were singing non words as lyrics so I said, “let’s look up the words!” Big mistake! It’s not about a soldier or a boy! I told them, “by golly, you’ve already got it right!”