Earlier today, one of my favorite hip-hop blogs, Oh Word, linked to this post I wrote appreciating The Coup’s classic “Me & Jesus the Pimp in a ’79 Grenada Last Night.” The self-same post included a link to a very interesting piece on Big Daddy Kane’s use of lyrical irony, and that reminded me that I once wrote a piece that argued for Boots as a Gramscian “organic intellectual,” as well as a self-aware pracitioner of the griot tradition. It also related Boots to two folks who had come up in the class, Nikki Giovanni and Gil Scott-Heron.
Anyway, I thought some folks who read this blog might enjoy it. Keep in mind I wrote it when I was 19, and I still don’t have any advanced degrees or anything, so… you know… be gentle. Also, like everything I wrote when I was 19 (and shoot, even today), I’m pretty sure I only made one draft :). I must admit that I was too chicken to re-read it all these years later.
Heeding the Message to the Messengers: Boots Riley & the Griot Tradition