My songs were influenced not so much by poetry on the page but by poetry being recited by the poets who recited poems with jazz bands.
Few rappers realize the genre sprang from West African griots through Delta slave songs to jazz poetry and the comedic trash talk of 'the dozens.'
I didn't know who Langston Hughes was till he met me backstage.
My novels and poems are meant to be read aloud. That's why jazz musicians have been able to adapt my stuff.
I used to take 'Visions of Cody' by Jack Kerouac on tour all the time. I don't really love Kerouac, but that book, you could just open at any page and find something incredible for that day.
I could hear music playing in the background of works by certain authors, like Poe and Shakespeare. And I discovered Nikki Giovanni when I was in eighth grade. Her writing has a musical energy with pulse and rhythm, almost like jazz or hip-hop.
When I began, poetry was very academic. You published little pamphlets from fancy presses. It was rather... chaste. There wasn't much public reading. Then there was poetry and jazz, which I don't think worked, though I love jazz.
To be able to play Jack Kerouac or Sal Paradise, it's mad to me.
