A voice for rap? Cendrars re-emphasized

While a whole lineage of lyric poets (Apollinaire, Aragon, Verlaine) has inspired French song in a major way, Blaise Cendrars mostly makes his presence known in francophone rap. Not only is Blaise’s “blaze” often evoked, but his work itself has been taken up and adapted, notably by Ekoué, Eska, and JoeyStarr. This article examines how these re-enunciations infuse Cendrars’s writings with surprisingly renewed emphases, both thematically and aesthetically.