# Most "poetic" rappers.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894 "2008-08-22T03:23:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894/21 "2008-08-26T13:11:25Z")
The Disposable Heroes and Michael Franti are a good source for memorable poetry. > [@](#): > > The first day of school was always the hardest > The first day of school the hallways the darkest > Like a gauntlet > the voices haunted > Walking in with his thin skin lowered chin > He knew the names that they would taunt him with > Faggot sissy punk queen queer > Although he’d never had sex in his 15 years > And when they harassed him it was for a reason > And when they provoked him it became open season > for the fox and the hunter, the sparks and the thunder > that pushed the boy under, then pillage and plunder > It kind of makes you wonder > how one can hurt another > But dehumanizing the victim makes things simpler > It’s like breathing with a respirator > It eases the conscience of even the most conscious > and calculating violator > Words can reduce a person to an object, > something more easy to hate > An inanimate entity, completely disposable, > no problem to obliterate ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894/22 "2008-08-26T17:23:56Z")
Grand Master Flash and The Message or White Lines,sheer genius. Vanilla Ice…who is/(Was) V.V.good. If its good it lasts over time. If its just the latest craze but lacks merit then basically its nothing. Someone mentioned The Streets who IMO are not bad. But if you really,really want to hear some absoloute,untalented,juvenile tripe with rhymes that would shame a five year old then just listen to any Brit Mobo Rap “Collective”,they couldn’t even look up talent in a dictionary…and creativity ? Just forget the word . They make me feel ashamed to be British. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894/23 "2008-08-26T18:34:45Z")
[QUOTE=Nzinga, Seated] Whoa! If you had mentioned KRS One, I would have thought we were the same person. But the OP makes me think of a different kind of poetry feel. I nominate a single line from an old LL Cool J song; “Pink Cookies in a Plastic Bag… Being crushed by buildings.” [/QUOTE] Well, then. If you had only mentioned Kool Keith as well, we would be a proper siamese family here.. ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894/24 "2008-08-28T03:37:05Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] The Disposable Heroes and Michael Franti are a good source for memorable poetry. [/QUOTE] I like Michael Franti and Spearhead a lot. It’s one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to, so full of energy. Yet, I think that MF’s also got some pretty corny, kumbaya lyrics. I’m not talking about all of his songs though. Songs like "[It’s a crime to be broke in America](http://www.lyricstime.com/spearhead-crime-to-be-broke-in-america-lyrics.html) " > [@](#): > > Six percent in college > From livin on the block > Twenty five percent in prison > The school of hard knocks > Fifty percent in poverty > Is livin on the rocks > Five hundred brothas on a death row box > > The punishment is capital > For those who lack in capital > Because a public defender > Can’t remember the last time > That a brother wasn’t treated like an animal. or "[Oh My God](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/spearhead-oh-my-god-lyrics.html) " > [@](#): > > you can make a life longer, but you can’t save it > you can make a clone an then you try to enslave it? > stealin’ DNA samples from the onborn > and then you comin’ after us > ‘cause we sampled a James Brown horn? > scientists who’s God is progress > a four-headed sheep is their latest project > the CIA runnin’ like that Jones from Indiana > but they still won’t talk about that (Jim) Jones > (People’s Temple mass suicide) in Guyana > This ain’t no cartoon > no one slips on bananas > do you really think that that car killed Diana > hell I shot Ronald Reagan, I shot JFK, > I slept with Marilyn (Monroe) she sung me happy birthday > singin’ are great. I’m not familiar with Disposable Heroes though. ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894/25 "2008-08-28T03:51:51Z")
Another I’d like to through in there that I haven’t yet is Zach de la Rocha. I mentioned him in the other thread about songwriters, but not here about rappers. He’s the former\* frontman of Rage Against the Machine (or "fuck"man as my parents would probably call him). As I get older, I don’t like Rage’s earlier stuff because, even to me, it seems a little too heavy on the “go fuck yourself” style. But as the band matured, Zach became truly poetic. [Without a Face](http://www.ratm.net/lyrics/wit.html) > [@](#): > > Uh! Got no card so I got not soul > Life is prison, no parole, no control > Tha jura got my number on a wire tap > 'Cause I jack for similac, fuck a cadillac > Survive one motive no hope > ‘Cause every sidewalk I walk is like a tightrope > Yes I know my deadline sire, when my life expires > I’m sendin’ paper south under tha barbed wire > Tha mother of my child will lose her mind at my grave > It’s my life for their life so call it a free trade [Sleep Now in the Fire](http://www.ratm.net/lyrics/sle.html) > [@](#): > > The world is my expense > The cost of my desire > Jesus blessed me with its future > And I protect it with fire > So raise your fists and march around > Dont dare take what you need > I’ll jail and bury those committed > And smother the rest in greed > Crawl with me into tomorrow > Or i’ll drag you to your grave > I’m deep inside your children > They’ll betray you in my name He has a new project with the drummer from The Mars Volta called [One Day as a Lion](http://www.onedayasalion.org/) , and I’m liking it so far. - I say “former” but I think RATM is actually touring right now… ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894/26 "2008-08-28T04:22:42Z")
Nas, Lucas, Sage Francis, Lauren Hill ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894/27 "2008-08-28T04:28:37Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Nas, Lucas, Sage Francis, Lauren Hill [/QUOTE] Dang, that was without reading the thread. I gotta add Michael Franti to this list. ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894/28 "2008-08-28T06:01:34Z")
This Aesop Rocks stuff is baddass! ---
**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:** [August 28, 2008, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894/29 "2008-08-28T06:45:41Z")
Has Seattle hip-hop started to get much attention outside the local scene? For example, I’m fond of [Joe Metro](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz79goWQrYU) by the Blue Scholars. ---
**Author:** ![mshar253](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@mshar253](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mshar253)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894/30 "2008-08-28T07:34:03Z")
**gallows fodder** quoted two songs from Nas’s “I Am…” album. I cannot be too emphatic: **DO NOT PURCHASE THIS ALBUM.** Nas has put out quite a few albums over the years; none of them, besides “Illmatic,” deserve your money. Also, my vote goes to Biggie Smalls. Listen to “Ready to Die.” ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894/31 "2008-08-28T13:21:39Z")
[QUOTE=mshar253] **gallows fodder** quoted two songs from Nas’s “I Am…” album. I cannot be too emphatic: **DO NOT PURCHASE THIS ALBUM.** Nas has put out quite a few albums over the years; none of them, besides “Illmatic,” deserve your money. [/QUOTE] “God’s Son” is worth buying. And “The Lost Tapes.” ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894/32 "2008-08-28T14:04:37Z")
[QUOTE=mshar253] **gallows fodder** quoted two songs from Nas’s “I Am…” album. I cannot be too emphatic: **DO NOT PURCHASE THIS ALBUM.** Nas has put out quite a few albums over the years; none of them, besides “Illmatic,” deserve your money. Also, my vote goes to Biggie Smalls. Listen to “Ready to Die.” [/QUOTE] All the songs I quoted were from Aesop Rock, unless he’s done covers or something. 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-poetic-rappers/460894.md?page=1)