The Keep Your Friends Close EP is up-and-coming rapper Dylan
Owen’s newest musical project. Its first track, “Bookmarks,” begins with one of
multiple segments on the EP that are reminiscent of free verse poetry; these
portions are spoken rather than rapped completely in sync with the underlying
beat. Dylan tells his listeners that his newest work is dedicated to the camp
counselors “who taught me how to tell ghost stories,” and the teachers “who
made me write a book report about the story of my life,” in doing so teaching
him how to express himself. He also explains that his music is “for anybody who
woke up without a feeling or a sense of home, and hates being alone, cause
honestly I know how hard it can be to find yourself when you’re lost.”
But what does all of this mean exactly? With songs titled
“Keep Your Friends Close,” “The Comeback Home,” and “Ithaca is Gorgeous” (the
rapper is based out of Orange County, NY and attended Cornell University for
some time) it is fairly obvious that Dylan’s small-town roots have had a
profound effect on him: as much of an effect as urban environments have had on
artists from New York and other cities that we studied in class.
On that note, images of railroad tracks and a field of marigolds convey a
feeling that is distinctly rural in the rapper's song “The Book Report.” In this song he also confronts
personal loss (parts of this song address a childhood friend with a sick family
member) and reflects on his past and future. Those allusions to nature call to
mind the themes of pastoral poetry; those to grief and loss strengthen ties to
pastoral elegies such as Milton’s Lycidas.
I recommend at least a quick listen to the EP for those who
enjoy hip hop that blurs the line between rap and poetry—Dylan’s work is
impressive lyrically, not to mention it also tells a story that is as genuine
as any other stuff out there. Anyone interested should check out a few tracks from the EP, not to mention the rapper's song “The Book Report” (video below).
In conscious lyricism, both hip-hop and poetry have much of the same depth and complexity. This example you posted relates to this, and also pastorals which is found in both poetry and hip-hop. As written text, hip-hop lyrics could be considered poetry, and although this may be a bit extreme, a lot of poetry could possibly be rapped given a beat.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, I believe this type of hop-hop--a melange of conscious pastorals--is becoming more prevalent than the "gangsta" rap of the 90s and before.
I definitely agree that “The Book Report” is the perfect example of a pastoral elegy. An elegy is written to immortalize somebody, and Dylan Owen does this through nature in lines such as, “You are my favorite miracle. I have seen you in a field of marigolds.” These scenes of nature and rural imagery also add to the pastoral aspect of this song. We learned in class that pastorals often incorporate nostalgia. This can be found in this song in lines like “On your bedroom floor where I promised I would never grow up” and “I mean we traveled to September, the summer-killing month/And missed the cigarette kisses and the poems that I wrote that sucked.” Overall, I really enjoyed listening to Dylan’s work, and I think that it applies many of the themes that we have discussed in our class. Great post!
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