Billy Woods’s Literary Intertexts

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2083-2931.10.11

Keywords:

Billy Woods, Daniil Kharms, Flannery O’Connor, rap structure, the absurd

Abstract

While—like all artistic forms—it allows for deviation from this standard rule, rap is heavily reliant on building blocks of sixteen bars and a refrain. In addition, rhyme plays a prominent role in structuring rap, which is why the form is also colloquially referred to as “rhyming.” In view of this, Billy Woods’s record Today, I Wrote Nothing was a considerable departure from the existing rap norm. On the record, Woods stylistically adapted a collection of works by Russian absurdist writer Daniil Kharms, which was also called Today, I Wrote Nothing. Kharms was known for writing short prose without any formal structure. Most of his stories deal with absurd situations and slapstick humour. The structure of the fragmented fiction is adapted into rap on Woods’s record. The long rap verses are replaced by short songs without any specific narrative. The record maintains the non-structure of Kharms’s writing, as well as its absurdity, but it abandons any semblance of traditional rap. The second important stylistic and structural choice made in Woods’s record was the integration of aspects of Flannery O’Connor’s writing, particularly its humour and darkness. The article will focus on how Billy Woods integrates intertextuality into his lyrics to give the songs additional layers of meaning.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Jožef Kolarič, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava

Jožef Kolarič holds a Master’s degree in Intercultural German and English studies. Currently, he is an internal PhD student in German Studies at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava in Slovakia. His research focusses on language change in rap and rap writing. For his Master’s thesis, “Intertextuality in Billy Woods’s Lyrics,” he received the Miklošič award for best thesis in 2017. He has published articles in the Inquis journal in Turkey and the XA Proceedings in Croatia, and is currently working on his first monograph, which is due to come out in the near future.

References

“Absurd.” A Glossary of Literary Terms. M. H. Abrams. Boston: Heine, 1999. 1–3. Print.
Google Scholar

Bellow, Saul. “Op-Ed: Papuans and Zulus.” Movies2.nytimes.com. New York Times 10 Mar. 1994. Web. 4 Aug. 2019.
Google Scholar

Boyagoda, Randy. “A Patriotic Deus ex Machina in Flannery O’Connor’s ‘The Displaced Person.’” The Southern Literary Journal 43.1 (2010): 59–74. Jstor.org. Web. 11 Aug. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1353/slj.2010.0006
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/slj.2010.0006

Bradley, Adam, and Andrew DuBois. The Anthology of Rap. New Hampshire: Yale UP, 2010. Print.
Google Scholar

Burgess, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange. London: Penguin, 1972. Print.
Google Scholar

Chang, Jeff. Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of a Hip-Hop Generation. New York: St. Martin, 2005. Print.
Google Scholar

Charnas, Dan. The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop. New York: New American Library, 2010. Print.
Google Scholar

“Cleaning Up.” The Wire: Season 1. Dir. Clement Virgo. HBO, 2002. TV.
Google Scholar

Coleman, Brian. Check The Technique: Liner Notes For Hip-Hop Junkies. New York: Random, 2007. Print.
Google Scholar

Dyson, Michael Eric, and Sohail Daulatzai, eds. Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas’s “Illmatic.” New York: Basic Civitas, 2009. Print.
Google Scholar

Edwards, Paul. How to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC. Chicago: Chicago Review, 2010. Print.
Google Scholar

Edwards, Paul. How to Rap 2: Advanced Flow and Delivery Techniques. Chicago: Chicago Review, 2013. Print.
Google Scholar

“Flannery O’Connor.” Britannica.com. Encyclopaedia Britannica 21 Mar. 2019. Web. 22 Apr. 2019.
Google Scholar

Gore, Tipper. “Hate, Rape and Rap.” Washingtonpost.com. Washington Post 8 Jan. 1990. Web. 4 Aug. 2019.
Google Scholar

Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five. The Message (Expanded Edition). Castle Communications, 2010 (1982). Deezer.
Google Scholar

“Grotesque.” Dictionary.cambridge.org. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Web. 22 Apr. 2019.
Google Scholar

Hardy, Donald E. “Towards a Stylistic Typology of Narrative Gaps: Knowledge Gapping in Flannery O’Connor’s Fiction.” Language and Literature 14.4 (2005): 363–74. Sagepub.com. Web. 11 Aug. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947005056343
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947005056343

Jay-Z. Reasonable Doubt. Roc-A-Fella Records, 1996. CD.
Google Scholar

Kharms, Daniil. Today I Wrote Nothing: The Selected Writings of Daniil Kharms. Trans. Matvei Yankelevich. New York: Ardis, 2009. Print.
Google Scholar

Kolarič, Jožef. Billy Woods: Virtuoso of Intertextuality. Forthcoming.
Google Scholar

Lamarre, Carl. “Watch Kendrick Lamar Receive the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music.” Billboard.com. Billboard 30 Aug. 2018. Web. 5 Dec. 2018.
Google Scholar

McCarthy, Cormac. Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West. New York: Vintage, 1992. Print.
Google Scholar

Menand, Louis. “Young Saul: The Subject of Bellow’s fiction.” Newyorker. com. The New Yorker 4 May 2015. Web. 22 Apr. 2019.
Google Scholar

O’Connor, Flannery. The Complete Stories. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1971. Print.
Google Scholar

Pate, Alexs. In the Heart of the Beat: The Poetry of Rap. Lanham: The Scarecrow, 2010. Print.
Google Scholar

“Piece.” Dictionary.cambridge.org. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Web. 22 Apr. 2019.
Google Scholar

Schloss, Joseph G. Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan UP, 2004. Print.
Google Scholar

Schmidt-Jones, Catherine, and Russell Jones. Understanding Basic Music Theory. Houston: Connexions, 2007. Print.
Google Scholar

Sharpton, Al. “No Justice, No Peace: Why Mark Duggan’s Family Echoed My Rallying Cry.” Theguardian.com. The Guardian 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2019.
Google Scholar

Toynbee, Arnold Joseph. “Julius Caesar.” Britannica.com. Encyclopaedia Britannica 13 Feb. 2019. Web. 22 Apr. 2019.
Google Scholar

Woods, Billy. Today, I Wrote Nothing. Backwoodz Studioz, 2015. CD.
Google Scholar

Zilla Rocca. 96 Mentality. Three Dollar Pistol Music, 2019. Digital.
Google Scholar

Downloads

Published

2020-11-24

How to Cite

Kolarič, J. (2020). Billy Woods’s Literary Intertexts. Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture, (10), 182–193. https://doi.org/10.18778/2083-2931.10.11