hip hop as poetry

[Glorious Amok]

these aren't my words, but the poetry of one of hip hop's grandaddies, Rakim. i think they make an excellent daily source of poetry, but Litkicks couldn't publish them because they're the complete works of another artist. if this is problematic here too, just let me know and i can come back in to delete a verse or two. but really, i think this is an incredible example of hip hop as poetry.

"Mystery: Who Is God" - Rakim

Intro/Chorus:

If you can see if you can solve the mystery
The answer revolves around your history
So carefully I drop this degree
Scientifically and realistically (Who is God?)

Repeat Chorus

In eternal blackness in the midst of the darkest night
Proteins and minerals exist within specks of light
Solids liquids and gases and sparks of light within
infinite lengths and widths and depths and heights
No beginning or ending, the seven dimensions
Enough space for more than a million words and inventions
To travel through time within enough room to be the womb
of the most high's great mind which he will soon make shine
With intelligent elements in sight that he will gather
In the realms of relativity electricity struck matter
Energies explode he below to keep releasin
Atoms by the millions, til the numbers increasin
Til it was burnin he kept returnin itself to the source
The hotter his thoughts it gave the center more force
He gave birth to the sun which would follow his laws
All caused by his mental intercourse, who is God?

Chorus

He began to explain his craft, the master in the attic
He dealt with measurements his language, was mathematics
His theoretical wisdom of the numerical system
The complete number nine which means born or existed
He gave birth to all planets, inorganic, and organic
So you wouldn't take it for granted
They rotated they own distance around the sun
And fully submit to the existance of one
And each one was promised everlasting perfection
If each one keeps spinnin in the same direction
To the East, and each speak the motion of peace
and harmony, and each show devotion to teach
The universe is to come, the whole world must go according
Know your galaxies and mirages stars start fallin
So stay in your orbit maintain safe and sound
Like the planets each cipher remains perfectly round

Chorus

From unconciousness, to conciousness
By knowledging his wisdom his response is this
A understanding, which is the best part
He picked the third planet where new forms of life would start
He pursued show and prove every move in order
Back to the source he let off his resources in the water
Climb his climax, where the climate is at, high degrees
See he start to breathe deep in the darkest seas
And the plan is, to lay in the clays to form land
And expand, usin the same clays to born man
In his own image our origin begins in the East
Culture rise to breed, with the powers of peace
Deal in equality nature's policy is to be God
Build or destroy positively born life like Allah
And each one was given everlasting perfection
If each one keep living in the same direction
And life was life, and love was love
We went according by the laws of the world above
They showed us physically, we could reach infinity
But mentally, through the century we lost our identity
Life start and ending, we got trife and started sinning
Lost touch with the beginning now ciphers stop spinnin
And what was once easy became confused and hard
Which brings us back, to the mystic question, who is God?
Sixty-six trillion years since his face was shown
When the seventh angel appears, the mystery will be known
Check Revelations and Genesis, St. Luke and John
It even tells us we are Gods in the Holy Qu'ran
Wisdom Strength and Beauty, one of the meanings of God
G.O.D. you and me ?Gomars O Dubar?
Knowledge Wisdom Understanding Sun Moon and Star
Man Woman and Child, and so is Allah

Chorus

Bear witness to Allah, gave birth to all
For Allah was all, and therefore, life itself
And the universe gave birth to man
The universe was man, and man was the universe
And the universe was always existed
And existance was life
And life is Allah
And Allah had no beginning because he is, what always was
Rakim Allah, peace
Now who is God

[jimboloco]

What a creation story.
Awesome encompassing visions.!!!
I gotta mark this one, from last year's holiday season!!!

[knip]

my favourite:

Pebble by pebble, sand grain by sand grain
Shore turns to sea, shore turns to ocean
Serpent creates the high tides
to assure all good is floating
Good and righteousness is not intellectual
and the fabric that's good cannot be proven
and so that fabric is washed away
far from the shore from which it was woven
The shore is a place where persons live
Sowing fabrics that's a tangent of the real one
not wearable to most of the persons on shore
In fact, it's only wearable to the person of one
one person under an oath
An oath to a serpent, an evil snake
in search for being as powerful as God
and all God's good he'll try to take

[He'll try to take]
[He'll try to take]
[Good being washed away]
[Love being washed away]

Most of the persons follow the serpent
coz the serpent preaches "all for self"
But why follow someone in search of something
when you'll get nothing. Serpent's all for self
Some are dumb, some know no better
Some believe there is no Lord
The serpent uses this knowledge to help him
and wash away more of the shore
Serpent knows once shores are gone
there's nothing left but ocean and sea
A few persons trying to save the shore
Some of those persons are A.D.
Saving the shores means saving the faith
The faith that there is a mighty someone
Someone much more mighty that created everyone
Up the ocean without a paddle
is the fabric of God, the righteous clothing
And you wear non-righteous clothes of the serpent
Naively we keep on serving

[He'll try to take]
[He'll try to take]
[Good being washed away]
[Love being washed away]
[The ocean's owned by the serpent]
[We can stop being washed away]

Why we let them wash it away ?
Why are we allowing them to take what's good ?
why don't we teach our children what's good ?
Why don't we collect and save what is real ?
Look very hard and swim the ocean
We must find what needs to be found
Look all around and find a wise man
to feed us the truth and keep us sound
All of us must swim the seas
coz our path's been washed away
All of us must swim the seas
coz our path's been washed away
My only purpose is to swim the seas
Find the truth and spread it around
Give it to the children that know how to listen
so they can pass it after I drown

[We can stop being washed away]
[Sand grain by sand grain, pebble by pebble]
[we can stop this, we can stop]
[Can you help us ?]
[Will you help us ?]
[Please]
[Help us stop being washed away]
[All of us must swim the sea]
[All of us]
[Hey !]
[Can you help us ? Will you help us ?]
[Oooh please help us]

[knip]

oh yeah...this wasn't rejected, but was amended quite a bit

[jimboloco]

Say, did you write this little epistle, Knip?

There is something here that resonates with the first piece. It has to do with the use of the elements, imagery, reaching down to that underground stream, the perennial.