Chinaka Hodge came of age along with hip-hop—and its influence on her suitors became inextricable from their personal interactions. Form blends with content in Dated Emcees as she examines her love life through the lens of hip-hops best known orators; characters; archetypes and songs; creating a new and inventive narrative about the music that shaped the craggy heart of a young woman poet; just as it also changed the global landscape of pop.Praise for Dated Emcees:"In the old tellings hip-hop was a woman; a certain kind—one needing; even begging to be saved. In Dated Emcees; Chinaka Hodge gives her a voice and she tells of her loves and desires; her traumas and pains in words as hard; as lit; as loving; cunning; cutting; ecstatic; as tender and devastating as her big world requires. This is poetry that; in its infinite power and intimate grace; will still turn in your mind long after the music is over."—Jeff Chang; author of Who We Be: A Cultural History of Race in Post-Civil Rights America"Hodge writes with an unpredictable; rare honesty. This collection quietly and simply illustrates love in a complicated world."—Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino“This is an absolute powerhouse of a book; and a new pinnacle for Chinaka Hodge. Therersquo;s enough beauty and heartbreak and melancholy and humor and sorrow in here for three collections; or two lifetimes. Hodgersquo;s writing is so incredibly specific but somehow universal; so honest and raw but somehow polished to unimproveability. She deserves a wide audience; an attentive audience; an audience that wants to be astounded.rdquo;—Dave Eggers; author of The Circle"Chinaka Hodge is hands down; unequivocally; my favorite writer of words. All day. Every day. She writes with the grace of a dancer; the bars of a rapper; the heart of your best friend; and all of the swag and soul of Oakland. Dated Emcees made me cry. And I dont really do that. It doesnt use Hip Hop as a lens. It is Hip Hop. In the way that we; who have grown up with rap as our brilliant; estranged; mythological; abusive lover/father/son; are all Hip Hop. Aware of his flaws; and his potential. And loving him unconditionally. These are poems to read every day. To make mantras from. They are the best poems youve ever read."—Daveed Diggs; Actor/Rapper; star of Hamilton on Broadway"Every time I hear new work from Chinaka Hodge I wonder if she was always this good. She was; Irsquo;m pretty sure. And yet somehow; shersquo;s leveled up again. Dated Emcees is a dropped microphone; and a direct challenge to anyone listening. Step your game up."—George Watsky; author of How to Ruin Everything: Essays“Ms. Hodgersquo;s collection complicates dogmatic notions of feminist principles and hip hop pathologies. She is the steward of a candid and sonorous new form; a lyrical journalism expressed in a meter that climbs from West Oaklandrsquo;s Bottoms to the peak of a Wonder-laced rocket love. Dated Emcees is outlined in the matter of black life; streamlined through the filter of black womb … a smoke-filled lung in a sweat-filled club of safety and danger; and the bass of black moon.rdquo;—Marc Bamuthi Joseph; arts activist; spoken word artist; US Artists Rockefeller Fellow
#2598768 in eBooks 2016-04-14 2016-04-14File Name: B01EAHZHD8
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