Hampshire Poet blog - December 2025
- Damian Kelly-Basher
- 10 minutes ago
- 3 min read
During his two year tenure, your Hampshire Poet - Damian Kelly-Basher - will be writing a series of blog posts for us sharing what he has been up to, telling us his poetic plans for the future, and inviting you to get involved in poetry in Hampshire. Read on to find out what's happening in Damian's world!
Damian's final blog of 2025 is about Hip Hop and Poetry
Damian says: This month’s blog will deal with hip hop. So, I’m handing it over to a brilliant poet/spoken word artist, Issa Loyaan Farah-Kelly.
Here, Issa will share his wide knowledge, expertise, and love, of the art of hip hop.
Because hip-hop does deal very directly with adult themes, some of the language in the links might be challenging for some readers.
Hip Hop and Poetry - guest blog by Issa Loyaan Farrah-Kelly
Hip hop, by definition,…is spoken (rapped) aloud,…to a beat and 99% of the time…rhymes.
Listen to the pastoral trio of verses on idyllic first love to the backdrop of Chicago’s skateboarding scene of Lupe Fiasco’s ‘Kick Push’…the didactic polemic against conscription, the USA’s military industrial complex and the USA’s prison system of ‘Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos’ by Public Enemy…and the free-form, haiku-esque beat poetry of ‘In The Ghetto’ by Eric B and Rakim, traversing esoterica, Black American culture, systematic racism and the drive to self-actualize.
Often sadly, hip hop has often been misrepresented, to the curious outsider, as a circus of Black
caricatures gunning, sexing and drugging themselves to cash-money and oblivious excess over catchy music and jingle worthy choruses.
But, I…and others say …hip hop is poetry to music. Some of the finest examples of storytelling and self-awareness in art I have come to were through listening to hip hop.
Scarface’s ‘I Seen a Man Die’…is a sombre meditation on mortality, set to a bluesy downtempo
instrumental, over which the refrain ‘I never seen a man cry, ‘til I seen a man die’ sums up the literal fragility of the toxic masculinity of Scarface’s nameless protagonist. Released in 1995 it remains relevant to 2025’s world of influencers peddling ‘alpha male’ aspirations to an impressionable audience of young angry men.
MF DOOM’s seminal debut single ‘Doomsday’ incorporates complex multi syllabic rhyme schemes, introducing the character of ‘Metal Face Doom’,…the self aware creation of Daniel Dumile, effortlessly narrating an origin story so vivid in imagery and word jugglery that it’s like listening to the panels of a graphic novel, come to life. All this over a sample of Sade’s ‘Kiss of Life’.
Issa Loyaan Farrah-Kelly
Issa Loyaan Farrah-Kelly is a poet, musician and facilitator from St Mary’s, Southampton. He’s worked with many Arts & Health projects , and creative commissions with The Third Orchestra, Tangle Theatre Company, The People’s Front Room, and Sombrero Fallout.
Issa was also Poet in Residence for Southampton 2022 City’s City of Culture bid. He now hosts ‘The Clifford Street Corner: Poetry With Issa’ on Voice F.M a monthly delve into the world of poems, lyrics and literature.
Contact Issa on Facebook at Issa Loyaan Farrah-4Kelly or by e-mail: issatheiman@hotmail.com.
Damian Kelly-Basher is Hampshire Poet Laureate 2024-26. The appointment of the Hampshire Poet takes place every two years and is jointly led by Winchester Poetry Festival and Hampshire Cultural Trust. The position of Hampshire Poet provides the opportunity for a Hampshire-based poet to undertake commissions, lead workshops and give readings and talks throughout the county, as well as acting as an advocate for poetry and poets.
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