Random Angry Poet shirt

Description

When I reviewed Drake’s book of poetry titled ‘Titles Ruin Everything’ (A Stream of Consciousness by Kenza Samir & Aubrey Graham), for Complex I asked a couple of award-winning poets to give me their thoughts on the book. They had some criticisms, which Drake responded to by posting on his Instagram story, calling them “random angry poets.” He criticized the criticizers!!!

I certainly am not an expert in the field of poetry, so I included their voices because I felt that their insight would help me and my readers better understand the book. The poets were New York Times best-seller, Hanif Abdurraqib, and the poet laureate of Houston, Aris Kian.

Let’s just say they told me it wasn’t the best poetry they’d ever read.

Hanif said, “Really, it’s kind of just a book of puns. Silly lil’ jokes.” Adding, “It is a struggle for me to tell how in on the joke he is… I’m not personally offended by anything that masquerades as poetry, because it happens so often in every possible arena of entertainment and consumption, but this is essentially a coffee table book of one-line jokes.”

For her part, Aris said the book is “a goldmine of mediocre mic drops,” and went on to say: “Drake’s poems operate within an excess of white space, a reduced set of images and limited punctuation. The tools of tension, breath and play are only explored through the typical two-line set up/punchline format.”

This observation of the white space is what prompted my lone bit of criticism:

“Much of Drake’s music is best consumed in clubs or house parties with low lighting and a bevy of intoxicants that offer the imbiber a euphoric blurring of the senses. It’s these conditions that can make his lyrics feel so real and serious and relatable and there is truly no one better at it than he. The lyrics from ‘Legend’ on their own might not hit quite as hard if Drake wasn’t singing them so emphatically, and if you weren’t standing on a couch in a reserved section in the club belting them out with intensity to match … Subjecting his lyrics to the bright white of a mostly empty book page takes away the crucial context that allows his words to feel profound. Reading this book often gives you the same sensation as when the lights come on at the club.”

Don’t get me wrong, I still love his music! I just had some thoughts!

What do you do when Drake criticizes your criticism? Well, in my case, I hit up Richie at Members Only Houston and we made some shirts. So we now present to you the Random Angry Poet shirt.

For the random angry poet in your life!