Rappin’ for Danez Smith and the Cave Canem crew
I had the fortune to be one of the poets chosen for Cave Canem’s Minneapolis Regional Workshop on “Laboratory Poetics” taught by National Book Award-nominated poet Danez Smith. The 12-week workshop held at the Minneapolis writing center The Loft was an educationally and emotionally uplifting experience of learning and communing with other poets of African descent. The workshop ended with a public reading for the poet students and the teacher in May.
One of the in-class writing assignments was to write rap verses starting with the line “I roll with…” Even though I haven’t attempted writing a rap verse since I was a teenager, a wild, Dirty South-swinging, Memphis gangsta walk-inspired rhyme (I lived in the Southern metropolis for five years) just poured out of me. When I read my verses to the class, they were almost as amazed by it as I was.
When it was time to pick two-to-three poems to recite at the public reading, I decided to shape up and add verses to my in-class rap, title it “Steph’s Cypher” and use it as humorous final rhyme to read after two more-serious poems.
In his introductory speech at the reading, Danez Smith mentioned some of his favorite moments from the workshop classes, and he included my reciting of my rap! When it was time for me to read, after my first two poems I introduced “Steph’s Cypher.” At hearing I was going to read my in-class rap Danez, who was sitting right in front of me in the audience, got excited and broke out their phone to record me. I spit my verses to a wildly responding crowd. Even the ASL interpreter on the screen behind me looked like she was having a good time with my rhyme.
Last week, Danez Smith sent to all the workshop students a cloud-storage folder link to photos from the reading — and the video of my rap. They have graciously given me permission to post it on my YouTube channel (content advisory for foul language).
Thank you, Danez Smith, Cave Canem and all my Laboratory Poetics classmates. May we all take our poetry work to the next level.
