Lit Hop

I've made a very interesting discovery yesterday. Some guy who's got a masters in English decided to rap using Chaucer's pieces including the Canterbury Tales. Lit Hop. I like the sound of that. Unlike Nas' laments that hip hop is dead. This guy, Baba Birkman = easier to remember given the alliteration of course = has opted to take hip hop onto a new direction. There is one problem though. He's not black. I have a soft spot for black rappers and an almost no tolerance I'll-take-Eminem-only acceptance of white rappers. Why? The short answer is that I am prejudiced. My selfish reason is that white people have already taken opportunities left right and centre in other fields and now are trying to take rap and hip hop, among the last bastions of black domination off of their hands. Not that hip hop was ever exclusively black. Baba drew parallels between rap and poetry "battle" style back in Chaucer's days. This really brings rap back to what it is at it's very core. Rhyme in verse. Nothing special. Nothing urban. Non-denominational form of music.

I of course believe that while I am struggling with my prejudices and have to start taking away my favoritism towards quote-unquote ethnic and minority communities, I do believe that above all else, talent should prevail. And as Baba Birkman looks to be delivering the goods, I'd have to salute him. Lit hop's got a nice ring to it. Let's get it started.

m