Adrian Matejka’s book Mixology has a rhythm to it that is the most unique out of all the readings we’ve done so far this semester. I can feel the beat to it while reading it in my head and aloud. This gives the feeling of a distinct flow, and the fact the title is Mixology makes me think of this book as a perfect blended mix of words. I say that Matejka has flow, but this is not like a calm river—more like a river with rapids that shape jagged rocks into smooth curves. An example of this is with the poem “Synth Composite Basketball: No More Leather,” when he says, “Rust makes / my hands hurt, / busts jumpers / and lungs. All my theories / and historic stamina left / in the Gus Macker me and my team / almost won.” (16). The smooth “s” sounds in “rust,” “makes,” and “hands” compliments the harsher sounding syllables in “jumpers,” “historic,” and “Macker.” Matejka has seemed to master the placement of words and how to make his poetry smooth. The beats of the harsh and smooth syllables throughout this book make the rhythm incredibly distinct. His poetry isn’t music, it isn’t lyrics, but rather a mix of both.
One word that is one of the main themes in this book is “Mulatto.” This word is used in a couple titles and in many poems. Mulatto means a mixed race, and this was a concurrent theme. He uses this theme to portray this mix of cultures and uses his own stories to allow readers to experience his thought processes about life. That’s another thing about Matejka’s poetry—it is incredibly dense. There are so many words packed into short stanzas, something I am still in awe about. For a poem as short as “Samson and Delilah”, there are so many different sounding words in each line: “guitar pick circling reverb’s foxhole.” (30). Try saying that ten times fast. Since a lot of poems have tricky sounding lines, it made me slow down and hear the rhythm more closely. This corresponds to the hip-hop culture and the urban lifestyle that Matejka continually displays. You don’t have to be one specific culture, race, or ethnicity, but rather, I think Matejka was trying to convey that one should be proud of their mixed heritages.
I enjoyed this book a lot, although I am not “hip” enough to know a lot of these references he wrote about, which made me Google a lot of phrases, words, and names. I think he was successful overall; I genuinely enjoyed reading every poem. I found that I’m taking away from this book that there shouldn’t be so much black and white, but rather people should celebrate the shades of gray.
I'd agree with you on the point of the poetry having a lot of flow to it, but I'm not sure if I'd compare it to a river full of rapids. I'd say it's more rhythmic than that. Yes, it doesn't exactly flow like a well constructed rap or hip-hop song, but it does feel like it have rhythm. I would actually compare it more favorably to the Gorillaz songs that have rap interludes, like "November Has Come" which combines fast (and rather nonsensical) rap lyrics with a haunting, slow, soothing refrain of "Don't you know, November has come," and I get a similar feel from Matejka's poetry. It shifts from smooth to jagged to smooth and vice-versa several times throughout the book.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of references, the fact that he chooses to reference more modern figures makes sense considering the book's origins lie in hip-hop, rap, and the surrounding culture. It's true, I didn't get many of the references either, but it's embedded in a time when many people from the past few generations would be familiar with quite a few of them, as opposed to the downright obscure references made by Levis or Howe at points in their book.
I'll say that my feelings on this book were mixed, because I'm not a big fan of hip-hop culture, but I will say that this is a book that does it right, as opposed to plenty of more recent rappers who for some inexplicable reason are popular without having any sort of talent. Matejka does have talent and he uses it to an excellent extent. While I'm not a great admirer of the culture itself, it's easy to see why his poetry is so beloved because it actually does appeal to a very wide, rather mainstream audience.