I wasn't going to post about this Salon thing on hip-hop and spoken word vs. traditional poetry, because it's the type of article that annoys me without seeming worth the energy to rebut (which makes it annoy me that much more). But since I got roped into discussing it briefly at a friend's journal I will paste what I wrote there.
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I saw that article and thought it was very poor for various reasons.. I found Saul's emcee vs. spoken word take shaky also, cuz there is a great deal of introspective hip-hop, just check out DMX's records, for one example people might find unlikely.
Whether hip-hop is poetry has never struck me as a question worth asking. I see no value in seeking validation from that establishment.. Plus, hip-hop is music first and foremost, and too many people miss the point by focusing entirely on the lyrical content.. so many reviews of hip-hop albums give no indication that it is a work of music they are judging, as they only critique the topics discussed, ideas expressed etc., which are all secondary to the musicality, for the hip-hop ear. So attempting to judge hip-hop by the literary world's traditional poetic standards is not likely to bring anyone a better understanding of the form..
