Friday, September 10, 2010

Check yo shelf

by Rachel

We don’t mind a bit of rap here at DGLM, as Lauren pointed out in her recent blog entry. So, if you are a fan of rap and literature also, you’re in for a real treat! Margaret Eby over at Flavor Wire has put together famous rappers and their 20th Century literary doppelgangers. From Ja Rule to Jay Z, Hemingway to Nabokov, you can see which rap artist matches up to which writer. Eby seems to hint that rap is on the rise and reading will soon be outdated by the new tech age, but I disagree—I think there’ll always be just enough space in our world for rap and reading!

So, can any of you match some of my favorite rap artists with their literary doppelgangers: Snoop, Lil Kim, Eminem?

4 comments:

  1. "So, if you are a fan of rap and literature also, you’re in for a real treat!"

    This is an odd pairing, and definately the exception as opposed to the rule. It's kind of like saying "If you like fine wine. . . and crystal meth, you'll never guess what I found."

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  2. Colin, I agree that many people might find it an odd pairing, but thanks for comparing rap to fine wine, anyway. :)

    ~ Rachel

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  3. Thanks for the link.
    I enjoyed the article though I was a bit disappointed, like some of the other posters about the lack of minority authors paired with rappers. But many of those commenting had good ideas on pairings. I'm basing my pairings on the writings, not the lifestyle.

    Snoop Dog - Richard Price, Claude Brown
    Lil' Kim - Zane, Sister Souljah
    Eminem - Has to be Steven King

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  4. Hmm, I wish it wasn't limited to 20th century because I see Eminem more as a Shakespeare type. Both have work laden with insults (we had a lot of fun in high school making up Shakespearean insults and yelling them at each other), both are incredibly funny, and both often have a message that is missed in a superficial reading (or listening) of the work.

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