Wordsmith - Chino XL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olVPXpGohII

Today's lesson is brought to you by the letter P. P for paranormasia, polyptiton, and ploce. And i can't think of a better song to talk about these poetic devices than with Chino XL's song Wordsmith. So far i've covered some rappers from Chicago, and one from Detroit, so now we go to SoCal, for a Latino Rapper that goes by the name Chino XL. I really wish this guy used a better name, because, honestly, its pretty lame. For someone that is so lyrically great, his stage name sucks.

So let me explain those terms: Paranormasia, Polyptiton, and Ploce. I promise that everyone knows what these are already, but they just don't know the proper, academic, terms for them. Paranormasia is essentially a pun. Quick question: How do you sound smart when you want to say 'Man, that was a great pun'? Answer: "Man, you're quite skilled at using paranormasia." In poetry, a good example of this is in Shakespeare's Sonnet 55, when he talks about the 'ever-fixed mark' of the church altar; alter vs altar. Chino XL uses this device all the time in this song. This device usually goes hand-in-hand with metaphor (saying something is something else). For example: You cut school because you didn't feel too good/ I cut school 'cus my cuts ain't healed too good'.

Now another device used in this song is Polyptiton. You have to love how those greek words just won't go away... Polyptiton is a little bit more complex that paranormasia. This is the repetition of a words base, but with a different suffix on the end. So, for example, if i use Shakespeare's Sonnet 55 again, when he says the "removers removed". Now, this is used a lot in rap, because it lends well to rhyme, because you can rhyme the inner vowels (what eminem does quite a bit), and not have closure to the line. It means you don't have to have the guttural stop at the end of a line, so for example, if i just make up a line: I used to sell rock on the block. There is a very abrupt end and closure to that thought. When you use polyptition there isn't necessarily that end to the line , so for example: raised with guns in the infantry/ In diapers and in infancy. You can see how there isn't that stop in the throat when you say that phrase, and its very leading; it makes you want to continue the line.

Now, ploce (pronounced ploes), is an interesting device. It seems that everything in poetry needs to be a device. Ploce, another word you can drop in conversation to confuse people, is almost like a common theme that is used. So for example, if i was to say: The day was long, the day was hard. It's very similar to parallelism, but a little bit more specific to one word, or sound. As juvenile as it is, Chino XL uses male anatomy in this one.

I’ll knock you to the asphalt
It’s your own ass fault
Your last thought
I’ll never sell my self short to be famous
And taking it up the anus just ain’t us
The world could get the penis
Of this classically trained pianist

My P.O. was p.o.'d

Handed me a cup, said 'pee in this'

Now, it can be argued that "asphalt" and "ass fault" is more paramormasia than it is ploce, but i think because of its juxtaposition (or how its placed, in relation to other words) it works well because of the next following images: "famous", "anus", "penis", "pianist", "p.o", "pee in this". Immature? Maybe. Funny? Kinda. Does it work? Yes.

This guy is seriously one of the best lyricists out there, and he really does show it in here.

Again, if anyone has suggestions, let me know.