Bibliograph

The dozens, a history of rap's mama, Elijah Wald

Type

Label

The dozens, a history of rap's mama, Elijah Wald

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-231) and index

Illustrations

illustrationsportraitsplatesfacsimiles

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The dozens

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

757486018

Responsibility statement

Elijah Wald

Sub title

a history of rap's mama

Summary

A game which could inspire raucous laughter or escalate to violence, the dozens provided a wellspring of rhymes, attitude, and raw humor that has influenced pop musicians from Jelly Roll Morton and Robert Johnson to Tupac Shakur and Jay Z. Wald explores the depth of the dozens' roots, looking at mother-insulting and verbal combat from Greenland to the sources of the Niger, and shows its breadth of influence in the writings of Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston; the comedy of Richard Pryor and George Carlin; the dark humor of the blues; the hip slang and competitive jamming of jazz; and most recently in the improvisatory battling of rap

Table Of Contents

A trip down Twelfth Street -- The name of the game -- Singing the dozens -- Country dozens and dirty blues -- The literary dozens -- Studying the street -- The martial art of rhyming -- Around the world with your mother -- African roots -- Slipping across the color line -- Why do they (we) do that? -- Rapping, snapping, and battling

Classification