y oral tradition, interesting similarities between the two ages come to the surface, illuminating elements of pre-literate tradition in the modern genre of hip-hop. Tricia Rose, author of Black Noise, discusses the various constituents that go into the creation of the rap sound in her work. She examines the cultural implications and potential of rap music within American society, illustrating the ways in which the art form represents its creators as a voice for their marginalized position within society. Rose discusses rap's legitimacy as a musical form, the significance of rap's starting in urban centers, and the ways in which the music utilizes technology and industry. By addressing the larger scope of issues associated with rap music, Rose tends to sidestep a deeper analysis into rap's cultural influences, taking the art form at face value in order to apply her analysis of the various causal relationships between rap and its environment. Rose uses lingustic theorist Walter Ong's term "postliterate" to describe the arena in which rap music was created. "Postliterate orality describes the way oral traditions are revised and presented in a technologically sophisticated context." (Rose 86) Rose places considerable emphasis on rap music as an emblem of the age of mechanical reproduction. She goes into great detail regarding the commodification of rap, the advent of sampling technology, and the consciousness of authorship in modern rap acts. Rose views any intimation of rap's having roots in African American oral tradition as an undermining of rap music as a form of cultural expression. To link modern rap back to traditions such as jump- rope songs or the dozens is to take the art form out of its cultural context; her analysis cements rap music into its cultural milieu, excluding any exploration into historical, transcultural connections between rap and past oral traditions . If we avoid looking at rap culture as a means to an end, or as a...
