Ode To The Clown Prince

By Kevin Coval | July 26, 2021 | Originally posted at medium.com

for Biz Markie

boogers & vapors.

the odd long islander

from new jerusalem.

big brother of the native

tongues. who let hip-hop

be weird & hilarious

who lead a youth culture

of hard knocks to keep

a schoolyard crush

& expand the possibility

of what a generation could feel

about love & love ourselves.

you couldn’t sing but from dug

from the gut a blues with such longing

we cried from laughing & sung

with you, surprising ourselves

of what we might become. we grew

with each note, record. party

-rockin man of the people

in a powdered wig & gold rope.

an alchemist mixing the improbable

improv-able, in-the-moment entertainer.

improving the sound of terror

when faces crack rocked

& mean mugged. you cracked

us up, humpty dump-ied

put the pieces back together

in new & thrilling ways.

nobody beats the Biz. even the biz

-ness of white people trying to regulate

& legislate freedom. they tried to serve

you, said sampling is taking. only acceptable

when down by the empire. now the record

companies are failing & scrambling

& sampling’s considered high art, post-modern

pastiche.dissertated at all the museums.

you won the war. you got what i need.

a haircut ahead of your time. four decades

of boxing beats, a master of the technique

& techniques. controller of the needle & 45

beloved court jester, jack-of-all-trades

telling the king(s) where they could sit

& spin

Image made by jashua77