Comments on: Why all copywriters should listen to hip hop

By: Peter Stephen

Peter Stephen — Tue, 27 Dec 2016 13:13:12 +0000

I recently wrote (and performed for everyone at work) a rap about the technology of one of our clients. I was set a challenge by our ECD or produce something different, and it showed me how to use words differently (and use different words). Your post has convinced me to listen to more hip hop.
P

By: Chloe Marshall

Chloe Marshall — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 16:12:37 +0000

Hi Gill, thank you for reading the article and leaving your thoughts. I hope you enjoyed last Thursday as much as I did with so much poetry being recited and discussed on the radio! I love poetry too – nothing like a good grapple with a metaphysical poet to get the intellectual juices flowing. However, there are some writers who wouldn’t be able to place themselves on one side of a clear line between the two (hip hop and poetry) if you paid them. I’m thinking of poets who release audio albums as well as or rather than books – Kate Tempest; Celia Knapp; George the Poet; beat poets of the mid 20th century. Sometimes the words are accompanied by music, sometimes they’re not. I’m certain that those spoken word writers have learned from their more traditional forebears. At any rate, they make wonderful stuff that appeals to all sorts of people, within and beyond the bounds of hiphop fandom.

By: gill Knight

gill Knight — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 08:23:58 +0000

I don’t mind hip hop, I even have some on my iPod for when I work out. On the other hand, let’s not forget good old poetry. Let’s not forget that English poets are foremost in the world, with reason. Personal favourite, as a Yorkshire woman it has to be Ted Hughes ( you want controversy violence in nature?..Ted’s your man) For words jumping from a page- Birthday Letters and be careful, the Letters may well burn your fingers from the intensity.
Let’s not forget the Terrible Trio of Romantics, Byron, Keats and Shelley. You want youthful experience? Only Byron got beyond 30. There’s a big body count in their poems.
I don’t mind hip hop, fact of life and all, but…Hip hop artists certainly could learn from the Real Thing. All of life (and a lot of death) is there.

By: Chloe Marshall

Chloe Marshall — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 11:00:15 +0000

Thanks Gillian! May it continue to bring you inspiration combined with the handy extra of killer beats.

By: Gillian Jones

Gillian Jones — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 12:11:51 +0000

I totally agree! I love hip hop, rapping. You’re right about the skill involved and there’s poetry in there. I definitely think it helps with writing.