Subliminal Valley zooms in on Black culture which is filled with a rich and vibrant oral tradition of storytelling. This tradition, which has been consistently honored through Black arts such as spoken word and urban music, is the stylistic backbone of the book.
The art of storytelling influences all aspects of the African American life, from entertainment to history, and words have always carried a special power in the eyes of people of African descent who find themselves having a deep and personal connection to them.
Spoken word, which Wikipedia defines as the “oral art that focuses on the aesthetics of word play and intonation and voice inflection”, is perhaps the most creative platform to nurture and express the power of oratory. Spoken word helped carry the Harlem Renaissance, an intellectual, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem in the 1920’s and that pioneered the hip hop movement.
Spoken word gained in popularity in the 1990’s and in the 2000’s thanks to national contests called poetry slams and to Def Poetry Jam, a television series hosted by conscious rapper Mos Def and airing on HBO between 2002 and 2007. Produced by Russells Simmons and his iconic music label Def Jam, Def Poetry Jam’ success helped bring African American oratory to the forefront of America’s pop culture at the turn of the century.
Many investors and tech leaders have showed their love to spoken word and poetry. In 2011, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers partner Bing Gordon wrote a well-received poem about TechCrunch Disrupt; Virgin founder Richard Branson tried his luck with A Poem For Entrepreneurs; and TechCrunch’s Josh Constine celebrated Dropbox’ 100 million user milestone with A Poem For Dropbox. Not to be outdone, Foursquare wrote a poem to gallantly refute TechCrunch’s Drew Layoff’s claim that their app drained his iPhone battery.
Spoken word is often associated with wordplay which is a “literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement” (Wikipedia).
The hip hop culture is one of the best platforms to discover and appreciate wordplay: by combining it with Ebonics, African American artists such as Nas, Common and Jay Z are able to communicate strong, uplifting messages through a combination of highly creative metaphors and complex imagery.