Great Regulars: Whether it is a result or a cause

of this focus, or both, people who become poets today are less interested in verse, and less naturally gifted at it, than poets in previous eras.

In rap, on the other hand, verse technique--rhyme, rhythm, assonance, and witty simile, all of which constitute a rapper's "flow"--is valued above everything. The result is that people who are poetically gifted are drawn to the form, and their competitive efforts raise its level of sophistication higher and higher.

from Adam Kirsch: Poetry Magazine: How Ya Like Me Now

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