RAP: a backronym for Rhythm and Poetry

An English 9 lesson by Mrs. Colombo, notes & commentary by TA Abigail Handojo

Friday, February 7th, 2025, English teacher Mrs. Colombo led a presentation on “Poetry and Rap” for the first-period freshmen class. This was a highly anticipated lesson on my end, not so much for the students. They probably heard “poetry unit” and pictured trudging through 600 pages of The Iliad by Homer or spending days trying to find the deeper meaning behind a blue chair. 

Today, their minds were changed. Class started with a game and ended with an activity. The freshmen had to guess if a quote was from an Old English Shakespeare play or a modern rap song. Embarrassingly so, I only got one right! This proves the point that the “P” in “RAP” is not silent. Do you think you can beat me? 

“Shakespeare or Rap?” Questions:

1. “Hell is empty / All the devils are here” 

2. “Men would rather use their broken weapons than their bare hands”

3. “Maybe it’s hatred I spew / Maybe it’s food for the spirit”

4. “Broken dreams flyin' away on the wings of the obscene” 

5. “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind”

6. “Inhale deep like the words of my breath / I never sleep, because sleep is the cousin of death”

Take note of your guesses and then check the answer key at the end of this post.

Rap, at its core, is the harmonious collaboration of poetic lyrics and instrumental tracks. Although hip-hop has its roots in the 1970s Bronx, New York, many artists around the world have found comfort using rap as an outlet for expression or exasperation in times of adversity. 

The stereotype of rap music is associated with loud sounds, curse words, controversy, and hate. Because of this surface-level assumption, people are surprised to find rap music in my playlists. “What kind of poet would I be if I didn’t like Rhythm and Poetry?” I’d respond. 

My first publicly posted “rap” was “Directions to a Place You’re Wanted” in the second section of my chapbook Attached. 6 minutes and 15 seconds into my first Poem Roulette Challenge YouTube video, I jokingly rapped to the poem with Elle on the beatbox. On the day the stereotype fades away, I will rap without fear of not being taken seriously.

Link to video: https://youtu.be/fW9zWeXOa5E?si=nFkidGqqGy3QmPip&t=375

For the activity, students recited the words of childhood nursery rhymes over popular songs by American rappers. Notably among the rhymes were “Wheels of the Bus” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep.” Class ended with the freshmen humming tunes and laughing over their recorded performances. Poetry’s not so “boring” anymore, is it? If these young minds could be changed in a class period, maybe stereotypes can be broken after all. 

“Shakespeare or Rap?” Answers:

1. Shakespeare’s The Tempest

2. Shakespeare’s Othello

3. Eminem’s “Renegade”

4. Black Star’s “Respiration”

5. Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night's Dream

6. Nas’s “N.Y. State of Mind”

Comment your score!