How Rap bypassed Poetry and became African American literature

For years now, folks have been discussing and often debating whether rap is poetry. The discussion has been going on for years and years, but things heated up a little more a few years ago when Jay Z's Decoded and Adam Bradley and Andrew DuBois's The Anthology of Rap were released. The press surrounding those works elevated the ongoing exchanges about the rap as poetry question.

But in other realms, in particular, in black literature courses across the country where students were using The Norton Anthology of African American Literature (1996, 2003, 2014), the question of rap as poetry was less pronounced. Instead, readers had evidence, based on the inclusions, that rap was certainly part of African American literary tradition, regardless of whether it was poetry. 

In 1996, the first edition of the Norton contains the category "rap," which has:

Gil Scott-Heron: The Revoltuin will Not Be Televised
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: The Message
Public Enemy: Don't Believe the Hype
Queen Latifah: The Evil That Men Do

In 2003, the second edition of the Norton renames the section "Hip Hop" and contains even more entries:

Gil Scott-Heron: The Revoltuin will Not Be Televised
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: The Message
Public Enemy: Don't Believe the Hype
Queen Latifah: The Evil That Men Do
 Eric B. & Rakim: I Ain't No Joke
Bigge Smalls (The Notorious B.I.G.): Things Done Changed
Nas: N.Y. State of Mind

In 2014, the third edition of the Norton will include:

Gil Scott-Heron: The Revoltuin will Not Be Televised
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: The Message
Public Enemy: Don't Believe the Hype
Queen Latifah: The Evil That Men Do
 Eric B. & Rakim: I Ain't No Joke
Bigge Smalls (The Notorious B.I.G.): Things Done Changed
Nas: N.Y. State of Mind
Jay-Z: Song Cry
Jean Grae: Don't Rush Me

Rap lyrics rarely appear in poetry anthologies. On the other hand, anthologies featuring work by African Americans do not circulate as widely circulated as the Norton does.

The "Hip Hop" subsection in the Norton appears under the main section entitled "The Vernacular Tradition," which includes gospel, blues, and jazz, and no poetry. Thus, the rap as poetry discussions will likely continue, even as generations of students are encouraged to view rap as part of literary traditions.

Related:
• Recent Rap as Poetry Debates, Conversations 
• Jay-Z, Adam Bradley, & the Rap-Poetry Conversations