Poetry and Hip-hop seem very unrelated, but they chracterise the Black culture in keeping the oral story telling tradition and keeping relevance to each generation.
• The Last Poets and the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1968)
Excerpt from "This is Madness" (1971)
"All my dreams have been turned into psychedelic nightmares with
Rosemary's baby pissing in my face and Tiny Tim
sticking his moldy penis into my bleeding mind as it cries for the
strength to repel the sanctimonious sounds of the white rock group
the Grateful…DEAD!
DEAD!…
are my aspirations..."
• ‘The revolution will not be televised' by Gil Scott-Heron (1970)
Excerpt:
"You will not be able to stay home, brother
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag
And skip out for beer during commercials
Because the revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
Blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John Mitchell
General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat hog maws
Confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary
The revolution will not be televised"
Read more: Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Lyrics | MetroLyrics
• The Nuyorican café (1973)
Excerpt from http://www.nuyorican.org/poetry-slam/
"The first poetry slam ever in New York City was held at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in 1989, and 20 years later, we've become part of the cultural history of this city, still going strong."
• Wanda Coleman (1979)
Excerpt from "About God and Things"
"i want to have your child
cuz upon losing you
i'll have more than memory
more than ache
more than greatness
i'll have laughter
i do not mean to be fatalistic
know the limits put on you black man
me, black woman
when you are k**ed or imprisoned
desert or separate from me
i'll continue
fill the void of your absence with
love between me and ours"
Spoken word poetry will go on to influence the rap and hip hop movement.
• “ Gotta let you go” by Joe Hill Louis (1950)
Excerpt:
"Baby we all gotta go to jail
but I don't care
I'm tired of messin with you"
• Melvin Van Peebles (1968)
Excerpt of "Lilly done the Zampoughi every time I pulled her coattail"
"What's the prettiest sight in the
world?
Some say a white on white or red
on red machine
Some say the connection coming
around the corner
Some say a plate of collard and
mustard
The prettiest thing I ever seen is Lilly
Lilly doing the zampoughi"
• Cultural Origins of Hip-Hop (1970)
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
"Hip hop as music and culture formed during the 1970s when block parties became increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among African American youth in the Bronx"
• The Sugarhill Gang's “ Rapper's delight” (1979)
Excerpt:
"I said a hip hop
Hippie to the hippie
The hip, hip a hop, and you don't stop, a
rock it
to the bang bang boogie, say, up jump the
boogie,
to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat."