We’veallgotten a taste of isolationover the pastyear.
Desert Island Rapper
We’ve all gotten a taste of isolation over the past year. Despite the wealth of media the internet provides us, the experience nonetheless drives home the idea of the “desert island album,” that old game in which you name a single album you would like to have if stranded on a desert island, and argue the reasons why.
For this essay I’d like you to choose your desert island rapper. If you could only listen to one rapper, who would it be, and why? They can be contemporary or old school. Make a case for them: why should we pay attention to this artist? Why should their work be included not only in places like rap-specific anthologies, but in places representative of all of English Literature? Show us why this rapper should be part of the canon of Great Works (the label this course falls under).
Your discussion may include a look at this artist’s use of poetic devices, a consideration of how their work holds up when compared to other works of literature (or, how well does their work explore the intricacies of human nature?), and how this work might be read in terms of the historical and cultural contexts out of which it was born. It can also include personal experience, anecdotes, opinion, etc. Make it lively.
Answer preview
Lawrence Kris Parker (KRS One) is an American Rapper, and I consider him my Desert Island Rapper. He is best known as a Boogie Down Productions (BDP) member. Even though the hip hop genre is credited to the old school rapper Coke La Rock (who is included in the Counterculture Hall of Fame), they had not recorded any works. Moreover, KRS one improved the performance from the experiences gained by watching Bronx hip-hop artists such as Grandmaster Flash and Africa Bambaataa, whose work had been recorded (Himes, 1). Rap music took long before it gained a foothold in America; half-sung rhyming boasts were common in Jamaica. Later reggae toasters and hip-hop rappers collaborated to deliver among the best rap music albums in the 1980s, and KRS One was one of them. Sly & Robbie’s “Silent Assassin”
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