Rap, he tells us, “serves, consistently, contagiously, sometimes in spite of its own claims to the contrary, as a delivery mechanism for the most exhilarating and crafty and inspiring use of language in contemporary American culture.” His interests are less political than aesthetic. Parting is such sweet sorrow / That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”ĭaniel Levin Becker’s new book, “ What’s Good” (City Lights), argues that American hip-hop, wrongly praised and put down as an “authentic” form of expression, a “street” idiom, is both levelling and exalting it has renewed the language of American song by broadening its resources and sharpening its ear. In Shakespeare, it can offer the primitive force of incantation, as when the witches ask, “When shall we three meet again / In thunder, lightning, or in rain?” And it can also offer the lulling reassurance of stylized speech, as when Juliet tells Romeo, “Good night, good night. Rhyme turns language into ritual, and rituals tend to be either levelling and egalitarian, bringing different kinds together to be brethren, as in churches, or exclusive and exalting, advancing a narrow set to elect status, as in clubs. It is the material of a greeting card-“Roses are red / Violets are blue / Sugar is sweet / And so are you”-and the high-tragic language of Racine. Rhyme thrives at both poles of literature. This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
