Livin' in 1920s Harlem
Langston Hughs
Project Assigned: Poet Background
Langston Hughes; A poet born in 1902 that steadily rose to be one of the prominent strong african american figures of the Harlem burgeoning cultural movement (i.e. the Harlem renaissance) While living with his grandmother Langston Hughes whose full name is John Mercer Langston Hughes was a fruitful young poetic boy active in his schools language arts scene, often contributing to the high school literary magazines and other poetry magazines roaring at the time. Although having seen rejection more than success in his work he persevered and graduated high school in 1920 because his parents were divorced before birth and he was living with his grand mother from which later passed away mid-high school he was finding a harder time having a harder upbringing. Right after high school he went to go live with his father in Mexico, which at this time his poem “The Negros speaks of Rivers” was published and praised by CRISIS Magazine. In the following year Langston Hughes returned to America and attended Colombia University in New York. He found a niche in harlem and because of what he is particularly known for, his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties added on to the fact pushing him to become in which he and his works became legends of the Harlem renaissance and to Harlem itself. During the twenties when most American poets were turning inward, writing obscure and esoteric poetry to an ever decreasing audience of readers, Hughes was turning outward, using language and themes, attitudes and ideas familiar to anyone who had the ability simply to read.
Langston Hughs
Juke Box Love Song
I could take the Harlem night
and wrap around you,
Take the neon lights and make a crown,
Take the Lenox Avenue busses,
Taxis, subways,
And for your love song tone their rumble down.
Take Harlem's heartbeat,
Make a drumbeat,
Put it on a record, let it whirl,
And while we listen to it play,
Dance with you till day--
Dance with you, my sweet brown Harlem girl
and while we listen to it play
I can dance with you all day
dance with you my sweet brown Harlem girl
and wrap around you,
Take the neon lights and make a crown,
Take the Lenox Avenue busses,
Taxis, subways,
And for your love song tone their rumble down.
Take Harlem's heartbeat,
Make a drumbeat,
Put it on a record, let it whirl,
And while we listen to it play,
Dance with you till day--
Dance with you, my sweet brown Harlem girl
and while we listen to it play
I can dance with you all day
dance with you my sweet brown Harlem girl
Poem Remix // Rework (Rap)Let me take you out in the Harlem night/
Wrap the city roads all around you tonight/ Let me introduce you to Rap make you feel aight/ Jukebox loud to deliver bars to those ears delight/ Yes this is Langston Hughs and if you don't know that than/ sayonara you're old news/ R A P rhythme and poetry Iets explore it between you and me/ Driving under neon lights, making crowns out of all our fights/ Seeing the Lenox Avenue busses moving with the tide/ Finding revenue in the back alleyways of Morningside/ Lets not forget where we reside/ Forget the taxi’s and the subway’s let me take you on a runaway/ Always on the run, its never acapella but in this little play/ we're still at the foreplay/ Jump To the Harlem heartbeat/ Inner city queens with the fine two-seater car seats/ Where we always have the better wetter drumbeats/ put it on record while I'm dining on fine meats/ Let it whirl around the world from Harlem to Baghdad/ and while we listen to it play I can dance with you all day/ dance with you my sweet brown Harlem girl/ Self Analysis & Reflection I am proud of this piece and I would definitely try to actually rap over the beat made in class with this piece. I believe the that I have a strong sense in rhythme and poetry which really define the way I write, text, type and speak. Sadly this won't be presented in class due to its complexity and fluxiation in tempo of rap from slow steady to fast and aggressive but I do like the many references I put into it and hope that I could garner attention or have some more time to work on it. |
Meaning & Context InterpretationAt first glance the poem seems to be an introduction to the nights had in Harlem. What to do with girls Not being native to Harlem and with little to no background information aside from personal experience of being in Harlem its very hard to sympathize, however I would not have think what it is like to live in the roaring 1920s of the full swing Harlem renaissance of what exactly could a "jukebox" play to let you "whirl around the world".
After in depth studies I created what can be seen to our left here, a rigid draft of what would be a master piece to be rapped by Kanye or someone more closer to god like Myself. I've used Japanese characters full-width romaji to practice my use of japanese in rap. I find it to be more appealing if you can rap bilingually. The first couple of lines I reworded and relooked at to pick apart what would be my own experiences to be infused together with what can be seen in the first four bars. The part about "Langston Hughs" & "Old News" was really the first line I came up with to mock the other poets chosen in the class. The original line went about like "You look at us and may have said why choose Langston Hughs, but we look back at you to say that all you other poets are old news." this sadly didn't make it in to the draft here but I still enjoy it as one of my 1 liners or for those who do not know what it means a single bar that is really good invoking meaning poetry and truths. The style of rapping of this line that was never used I accredit to my influence of Joey Bada$$ a talented rapper from New York. Going on I got the other lines of "R A P Rhythme and poetry" from a closer to home and a person I would like to call a friend Jaden Smith I really liked this line so definitely incorporated it and changed it up to befit the class requirement as well as of course convey the meaning and definition to Rap to people who may see it as something foreign. The next two of lines are my own iterations of the original, to move like Tides meaning to pull back and forth on a beach as busses tend to from station to station, I also added in Morninside Street which is an actual street in Harlem where one of my favorite rappers used to live at A$AP Rocky. I do enjoy adruptness and blunt words so these next four lines really show that, despite Langston having been more pacifist and jazz enthusiasts being more peaceful. The last stanza was an more "let us be heard" message and emotion sharing, with a fast paced ending to try and catch what would be A$AP Rocky's style of rapping. Retaining the last bit of Langstons original work. |