From Page to Stage to Lyrics Database to Page: BreakBeat Poets, Lyrics Databases, and the Textual Capacity of Hip Hop Verse

Authors

Victorio Reyes Asili, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0003-1486-6705

Abstract

As a multimedia artistic movement, Hip Hop is known for its contributions across the arts, from music to dance to graphic arts. However, Hip Hop is also a form of poetry, which we can call Hip Hop verse, and it is rooted in performance but also exists in the world as a textual art. While scholars have analyzed Hip Hop’s contributions to the world of poetry, there has yet to be a proper accounting for Hip Hop’s function as a textual poetry that is regularly consumed by Hip Hoppas. Accordingly, this study is focused on Hip Hop’s role as a textual art by focusing on two phenomena, the rise of lyrics databases and the emergence of BreakBeat Poetry. These two parallel developments help to illustrate the resonance of Hip Hop verse as a textual art form. By focusing on the rise of BreakBeat poetry and the role Hip Hop lyrics databases as sites for the reading of Hip Hop verse, this article demonstrates that Hip Hop verse, as a textual art that springs from its Afro-diasporic roots as a performance art, holds an important role in shaping Hip Hop culture by offering an avenue for expanding the culture’s discourse and aesthetics through poetry.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.34718/9jnf-bz02

Volume

10

Issue

1

Recommended Citation

Reyes Asili, Victorio (2024) "From Page to Stage to Lyrics Database to Page: BreakBeat Poets, Lyrics Databases, and the Textual Capacity of Hip Hop Verse," Journal of Hip Hop Studies: Vol. 10: Iss. 1, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/jhhs/vol10/iss1/4