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Showing posts from 2015

Chief Keef DECODED: The Tantric Mantras of a Burgeoning Rap Guru

CHIEF KEEF DECODED: The Tantric Mantras of a Burgeoning Rap Guru  by Kreston Kent, author of
 The Literary Genius of Lil Wayne:  the case for Lil Wayne to be counted among Shakespeare and Dylan At first, Chief Keef sounds like a mumbling, repetitive drone; but once you catch on, Chief Keef will stop you in your tracks and captivate you. His celebrity is bewildering to the outside observer, but his success is not an accident: Chief Keef is no flash in the pan . His rap has a mysterious, elusive, but undeniable genius to it. Keef is not a literary genius; there will be no comparisons to Shakespeare and Dylan here. I find no overarching literary merit and precious few literary devices in his rap. But Chief Keef is an arresting* lyrical genius. *no pun intended The same two aspects of Chief Keef's raps that will initially drive you to dismiss him (as a lucky oaf who won the fame lottery) are actually the keys to his virtuosity:  The first key aspect is Keef&#

2nd Edition!

Lil Wayne Book Signing in D.C.

Thursday, April 9th at 7:00pm at Upshur Street Books Kreston Kent will be doing a reading from his book,  The Literary Genius of Lil Wayne: the case for Lil Wayne to be counted among Shakespeare and Dylan Prof. Kent will do a Q&A and sign copies as well.  Refreshments of Margherita Pizza and Cannolis from Il Canale will be provided to attendees while they last. Please RSVP and share this event on your Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/748161011968032/ Upshur Street Books is located at 827 Upshur St NW Washington, D.C. 20011 Thursday, April 9th at 7:00pm For more information, please visit the event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/748161011968032/ Kreston Kent http://www.krestonkent.com

The Great Weezy Debate, Round 1:

The Great Weezy Debate,  Round 1:  PE I have received the book and sat up far too late devouring it all. It was a fascinating read; there were some points well made, particularly about Wayne's technical ability and prolific output. I am catching up on some of the songs you mentioned too. However, if you were a fellow emcee, instead of a scholar- I would totally challenge you to a battle right this moment. I do refute your claim that Wayne is worthy of study like Shakespeare, Dylan or even Dr Suess. And I think that you do the rest of Hip Hop a disservice wby fixating on him, seemingly to the exclusion of all other Hip Hop before him. By focussing on how he says what he says and not wha t; not only do you show a lack of understanding of how emceeing works (every emcee worth his salt employs all of the tricks that Wayne uses, at slightly different ratios and often to better effect) but you also ignore one of the fundemental parts of being an emcee.  Emceeing isn'

The Great Weezy Debate: Professor Elemental's Introduction

I have taken on a debate with Professor Elemental about the literary merit of Weezy's lyrics. My opening remarks, of course, are the book.  The Literary Genius of Lil Wayne:  The case for Lil Wayne to be counted among Shakespeare and Dylan Paperback  •  iBook   •   Kindle After reading the book, Prof. Elemental ( http://www.professorelemental.com ;  https://twitter.com/prof_elemental  ) began sharing his thoughts.  but before we get to The Great Weezy Debate, I give you Prof. E's opening remarks: "Professor elemental's introduction: I have been emceeing for bloody ages. When I was a teenager, it was mostly to my cat and / or little sister, in my twenties it was to other emcees and tiny local hip hop audiences. While in my thirties, it has been to an audience broader than I thought possible, in venues all across the world. Along with being an emcee, I am also a card carrying nerd. If I like something I want to know ALL about it- the samples in the t