WHY I AM NOT A HIP-HOP SONG (Poem)

WHY I AM NOT A HIP-HOP SONG

By Farah Lawal Harris, 2025

16 bars is not, and never was enough to contain me.

I reject souped-up fantasies, labels, and 360s.

My only contract is with God.

And frankly, I’m tired

of being “hard as hell” like LL,

would hate to get shot like 2Pac,

and I’m way too private

to yap about my WAP.

I can and I will stop.

Uh-huh, uh-huh.

I take naps

cuz sleep is the cousin of life,

meditate when I’m angry

cuz I’m too grown to fight.

And I don’t repeat choruses or lessons.

These days I pack light.

Life is AOK without 808s.

These ain’t the breaks.

I enjoy being “Mommy” over commodity,

Under the will of God

rather than top 40.

Ooh, I don’t wanna be first

just cuz I’m a lady,

don’t want to squeeze into the narrow category of “female”,

volunteer my body and lines be scrutinized,

only to see some men act surprised

when my words actually rhyme.

Y’all can’t compare me to my old era,

Say “I miss the old Farah”

when she was underground

just cuz now I’m up above.

I done conquered too much stuff

to be played out or washed up

then pop up twenty years later

as a sped-up sample

on an digestible hook.

My legacy will be in books—

uncensored, unco-optable, inimitable, un-fuck-wit-able, unskippable.

—

Written for Day 7 of National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo